Characters
What was the Main Character's name?
Jing-Mei
Jing-Mei's mother first wanted her to be a
"Chinese _______ Temple"
Shirley
What is the main conflict between Jing-mei and her mother?
Although Jing-mei and her mother care about each other, their cultural backgrounds influence their decisions and responsibilities.
What does the piano symbolize in the story?
The piano symbolizes Jing-mei and her mother's relationship together, it symbolizes the conflicts that they endure throughout the plot.
What is the name of the author who wrote "Of Two Kinds"?
Amy Tan
Who was Old Chong?
He was Jing-Mei's Piano teacher.
What did Jing-Mei call her Piano teacher?
Old Chong
How does the theme of the American Dream play into the story?
The mother believes that you can become anything in America and tries to influence that idea of her daughter's life.
What does the mother tell Jing-mei that there are two kinds of?
Her mother tells her that there are two kinds of daughters, ones who obey and the ones who don't.
Was Amy Tan born in America or in China
America
What are some words to describe Jing-Mei's mother?
Tiger Mom, mean, brutal, unloving, unsympathetic, ambitious.
What Happened at Jing-Mei's Piano recital
She played very horribly and Embarrassed her parents.
How does Jing-mei's desires differ from her mother's?
Jing-mei wants to make her parents proud, but she also wants her mother to accept her for who she is.
What does Shirley Temple symbolize in the story?
Shirley Temple symbolizes American fame and seems an attainable goal for Jing-mei to aspire to be.
What was Amy Tan's relationship with her mother like, and did it have an affect on her writing career.
The relationship was very bad and dysfunctional. The abusive relationship influenced a representation of dysfunctional mother - daughter relationships throughout her whole writing career.
How many people were in Jing-mei's family?
3
Jing Mei, her mother, and her father.
What did Jing-mei do that caused her mother to no longer force her to take piano lessons.
Jing-mei remembered the babies her mother had lost in China, the ones they never talked about. And then she said, "Then I wish I'd never been born!" I shouted. “I wish I were dead! Like them."
What activities does Jing-mei attempt to do in order to become a prodigy?
Attends beauty training school, does ballet, memorizes the Bible, learns the piano, etc.
What do Christ and Cinderella symbolize in the story?
Jing-mei compares herself to people who have been unjustly treated because she feels that way with her mother.
What sort of relationship setting did Tan write novels about over 4 times?
About the relationship between a Chinese immigrant mother and her American born Chinese daughter.
What was the thing that Jing-Mei's mother wanted her to be.
A genius.
What were the names of the two pieces at the end of the story?
"Perfectly Contented" and "Pleading Child"
How did Jing-mei initially feel about becoming a prodigy? What made her change her mind?
Initially, Jing-mei liked the idea of becoming a child prodigy. However, she realizes that she will only disappoint her mother and finds that she can only be ordinary.
What do the two songs in the plot symbolize?
The two songs symbolize the two sides to Jing-mei, the ideal daughter she tries to be and who she really is.
Which popular book did Amy Tan write?
A. The Joy Luck Club
B. The kitchen God's Wife
C. Mrs. Dalloway
D. Of Mice and Men
Both A and B
A. The Joy Luck Club
B. The kitchen God's Wife