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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Jing-Mei wear in her hair at the talent show?

2. How does Jing-Mei say her academic career ended in “Two Kinds”?

3. How old is the boy at the talent show that is described as wearing a fake moustache and doing a magic show?

4. What is the name of the song that Jing-Mei finds next to the Schumann piece she played for the talent show at the end of the story?

5. How long ago does Jing-Mei say she sent a tuner to her parents’ apartment to recondition the piano at the end of the story?

Short Essay Questions

1. In what ways can the reader see early in the story that Jing-Mei’s ambitions (and her mother’s) are misplaced?

2. What child star does Suyuan Woo attempt to mold her daughter into? What happens with this attempt?

3. How do Jing-Mei’s feelings about her mother’s ambitions begin to change early in the story? What causes her feelings to change?

4. In what ways does Suyuan Woo lack in communication with her daughter in the beginning of the story?

5. How does Jing-Mei describe the piano at her parents’ house when she returns following her mother’s death?

6. What performer fascinates Suyuan Woo while watching the Ed Sullivan Show early in the story? How does Jing-Mei respond?

7. How does Jing-Mei describe Waverly Jong in the narrative? What has Waverly gained recognition through?

8. What does Jing-Mei discover about playing the piano as she begins her studies with Mr. Chong?

9. How does Jing-Mei say her perceptions differed from her mother’s in regard to ambition as she looks back at the end of the story?

10. How does Jing-Mei describe Mr. Chong’s history in music? How does she describe her first lessons?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the history of Chinese immigration in the United States. In what ways have Chinese immigrants faced different hurdles in assimilating into American or other Western cultures as immigrants? How is this seen in Jing-Mei’s family in “Two Kinds”?

Essay Topic 2

Describe and discuss the song “Pleading Child” from Schumann’s Scenes from Childhood and examine the symbolism of this song in the story. How does this song correlate to Jing-Mei’s relationship with her mother? What does she later discover about the song?

Essay Topic 3

Analyze and discuss the character of Mr. Chong in “Two Kinds.” What was Mr. Chong’s profession prior to his retirement? How old does Jing-Mei perceive Mr. Chong to be? Where does Mr. Chong live? How does Mr. Chong relate to Jing-Mei?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 907 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample