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Mother and Daughter in Two Kinds

            "Two Kinds" is a story of a mother and a daughter living a life of high expectation in America which has always been looked at as the the country where dreams come true. Many people from other countries come to America to live the "American Dream". However, I believe that living in America has a lot of expectation behind it. Expectations have two sides, they either lead to achievement or disappointment. While the expectations Ni Kan's mother set her to live up to lead to disappointing both of them, I had a very opposite situation where the expectations others had of me pushed me to live above those expectations and achieve greater things. .
             Ni Kan is a young chinese girl growing up in America. Her Mother believes that anyone could be anything they want to be in America. Ni Kan's Mother wants big things for her daughter, but that leads to very high expectations. The first idea is for Ni Kan to become a Chinese Shirley Temple. Ni Kan ends up looking like Peter Pan. When beauty does not work out the next thing was to try intelligence. Ni kan's mother would test Ni Kan with trivia questions every night after dinner. When Ni kan and her mother realized that she could not do the tests either Ni Kan began to notice the disappointment her mother had in her. Her mother then arranges for Ni kan to begin taking piano lessons with Mr.Chong, a man who lives in the same building. Ni kan soon discovers she also wasn't very good at piano either. Mr. Chong was deaf so Ni Kan found ways to trick him into thinking she was doing well. After some time Ni Kan's mother signed Ni Kan up for a talent show. Her mother is so full of pride until Ni Kan played her first wrong note and every note following was wrong too. After doing so terrible at the talent show she stopped playing. Ni Kan felt that she had always disappointed her mother. Ni Kan does not believe in herself the way her mother does.


Essays Related to Mother and Daughter in Two Kinds

1. two kinds

Two kinds This short story is about a little girl named Jing-mei and her mother. The mother always wanted Jing-mei to be someone she wasn't. She always compared her to people on TV and would tell her that she could be better then them. Her mother would give her test that she took from magazines, in order to prepare her. At first she would also believe that she ... was better then those people on TV, until one night she realized that she could not be someone she wasn't. But this didn't stop her mother; she signed her up for piano lessons. A year later there was a talent show and she signed her...

  • Word Count: 264
  • Approx Pages: 1
  • Grade Level: High School

2. Two Kinds

... is often part of a child's life 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 the story, we find out what kind of life Jing ... . It explains in a way how cultural tensions can lead to serious misunderstandings, all the daughter wanted to do was to be herself and all the mother wanted was to have an accomplished daughter that she...

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

3. Jing Mei And Conflicting Values

... child hard enough that they will rebel, as Jing-Mei does in the short story "Two Kinds". " The story, "Two Kinds" set in California and written by author Amy Tan, portrays the situation between a young girl, Jing-Mei, whose mother makes numerous attempts for her daughter to become a "prodigy" (211). Throughout the story, Jing-Mei's mother pushes her to become something she is not, obviously not ... realizing the grief Jing-Mei endures. In Amy Tan's "Two Kinds," the author considers the themes of opposing values and mother-daughter relationships, by her use of the title, the characters th...

  • Word Count: 929
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

4. Two Kinds

Amy Tan's Two Kinds essay is about a Chinese mother who immigrated to America after losing everyone, and everything that she had knew back in China, to start a new life. The entire essay focuses on the mother and daughters" relationship with each other. Throughout the essay the mother tries to make her daughter become a prodigy in some way or another, scolding her and pushing her every time she has a new idea for her ... culture. In reference to Amy Tan's essay, the mother was trying to make her daughter's identity telling her what she should or should not do by making her try all of these t...

  • Word Count: 579
  • Approx Pages: 2
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5. Two Kinds

... to America was opportunity. America was the promise land and all you have to do is apply yourself. The story "Two Kinds" shows a relationship between a mother and daughter who have different opinions about success. The mother felt her daughter should be her prodigy and the daughter felt you should be the best that you can be and not necessarily a prodigy. In short her mother was determined to make something of her new life ... in America. She decided to live her dreams of America through ... ...

  • Word Count: 1263
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6. Mother-Daughter Relationships

... child to act a certain way or live its life in a way that the parents thinks will be beneficial to the child, a parent should step back and let the child be its own person and just direct the child in the right direction. In this story "Two Kinds," the mother is trying to mold her daughter into something she is not. "Two Kinds is a slice of events from her childhood that shows ... the conflict between Tan and her mother, the collision of old and new cultures, the past and the present, parents" expectations vs. ... reality, and obedience vs. defiance. Pairs of ... ...

  • Word Count: 1030
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

7. Mother Daughter Relationships in Two Kinds

... clearly not a piano prodigy. Mother screams, "Only two kinds of daughters, those who are obedient and those who follow their own mind! Only one kind of daughter can live in this house. Obedient daughter!" The fact that she is using Chinese language to say that shows that this values come from her Chinese background. It demonstrates the cultural gap that exists between mother and daughter. For Jing-Mei actually standing ... up to her mother and refusing to ... ...

  • Word Count: 1268
  • Approx Pages: 5
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8. Mothers in Everyday Use and Two Kinds

... education that Dee seemed to only care about her education on not her relationship with her mother. Her mother was successful at bringing her academic success, but their personal relationship was void of emotional connection. High expectations, teenage angst, and pressure get the best out of the daughter in "Two Kinds"" as she starts to get a little bit older. "I began to cry. Such a sad, ugly girl! I made ... high pitch noises like a crazed animal, trying to scratch out the face in the mirror " (Tan 337). At this point in the story, the daughter really breaks down. Her mother seemed so...

  • Word Count: 1114
  • Approx Pages: 4
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9. Two Kinds

... be a kid. On the other hand, her mother, dreams of nothing but making her daughter a prodigy. "Two Kinds" clearly illustrates that parents cannot control their children's lives; they can only guide them in the right direction and let them make their own decisions. Throughout the story, Jing-mei's mother does many things in an attempt to dominate and control her daughter's life. Jing-mei is forced to go through many ... lessons and tests given to her by her mother in order to try ... ...

  • Word Count: 629
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

10. Two Kinds

... Or perhaps you watched a movie and were told, you can do that to, you can become a star and you thought "maybe I can, maybe I can be perfect." Ahhh, the word perfect, can anybody really be perfect? In Amy Tan's short story "Two Kinds" the mother wanted her daughter to be a prodigy, but she wanted to be perfect, flawless, impeccable. "Two Kinds" examines how media influence can alter ... a persons conception of self, and also convince a person (the mother in this story) that you ... have to be great at something in order to succeeded in life. Media influence is everywhere, ... ...

  • Word Count: 669
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

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