... piano teacher, "He was deaf. Like Beethoven!" (p. 503). Though he was deaf, he did hear the music, but only in his head. Jing-Mei decided that because of that, she could very well take advantage of that. You see, his eyes were too old to follow along to see if she was hitting the right notes ... as "Two Kinds." Suyuan and Jing-Mei are opposites in their natures and attitudes. The title also refers to two pieces of music on the piano. As a child, Jing-Mei had considered the two parts to be separate pieces, neither of which she could master. After her mother's death, however, she ... She re...

• Word Count: 501
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... cleaning services so that her daughter could receive lessons. Her mother got the idea from the "Ed Sullivan" show when she saw this little Chinese girl playing the piano. Amy's mother pushed her so hard to become a genius because she felt that her daughter could do anything she wanted to if she tried hard enough. I ... . Amy felt like Mr. Chong could not teach her anything because he was deaf. Mr. Chong could not hear her play the piano so how could he know if she was playing the notes right. Amy's mother made her feel as if she was not good enough to be her daughter. Everything that Am...

• Word Count: 1263
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... act of defiance. Since he is unable to hear her mistakes, he is not able to track her progress. "If I hit the wrong notes because I hadn't practiced enough, I never corrected myself" (719). Jing mei becomes very angry when her mother brags about her music progress. ... I hadn't felt so bad, I would have pulled her braids and punched her stomach" (721). Jing mei's mother was embarrassed when she was subjected to the disappointing piano recital. Jing mei felt bad, but she knew her failure was deliberate. Her biggest act of revenge came when she shouted "Then I wish I"d never been born! ... ...

• Word Count: 789
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... their children a shot at the American dream. As Tan indicates with the quote from the mother saying "You could open a restaurant. You could work for the government and get good retirement. You could buy a house with almost no money down. You could become rich. You could become instantly famous" ( ... mei is going to be great at piano. Soon enough, her mother had scheduled her piano lessons with a man from the first floor who is nearly deaf. She hated playing the piano and soon figured out that she could be lazy and not play the right rhythms and notes because Mr. Chong couldn't tell the ...

• Word Count: 813
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... of chess tournaments. Before she ever starts chess, Lindo has taught her the "art of invisible strength," which, before she starts playing chess, means to not ask for candy, and the candy will come to you. At least, that's what she thinks. When she is playing chess, the "art of invisible strength" means ... she gets the idea to have Jing-Mei become a piano prodigy. Jing-Mei is so determined to do badly, that she would have become a decent pianist if it had not been for the fact that she did not try. Her teacher, Mr. Chong is deaf so she becomes lazy and never bothers to correct herself ...

• Word Count: 1269
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... as it was part of Jing-Mei's in Amy Tan's Two Kinds in The Harbrace Anthology of Short Fiction. This affected Jing Mei more than anyone else for a number of reasons: Her mother's roots in a disciplined Chinese culture and Jing Mei having to deal with a Chinese background in an American lifestyle. Throughout ... time Jing-Mei's mother would impose a certain test on her she would try to fail it as miserably as possible, this was also true for the piano lessons that her mother made her take. The lessons were something that Jing-Mei really didn't want to do, she confessed to having regrette...

• Word Count: 845
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School