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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Jing-Mei respond to her mother on the phone when her mother offers her the piano for her birthday and says, “You could been genius if you wanted to”?
(a) I love you
(b) I wish I’d known then
(c) No I couldn’t
(d) Yes, I know

2. What does Jing-Mei’s mother do to earn money for the family when Jing-Mei is a child?
(a) She teaches piano
(b) She cooks at a hotel
(c) She cleans houses
(d) She teaches English

3. The little girl that Jing-Mei and her mother watch playing piano on The Ed Sullivan Show is said to have what kind of haircut?
(a) A Raggedy Anne haircut
(b) A Barbie Doll haircut
(c) A Shirley Temple haircut
(d) A Peter Pan haircut

4. What musical term in the story refers to the sounding of notes in a chord in rapid succession instead of simultaneously?”
(a) Bass
(b) Trill
(c) Sonata
(d) Arpeggio

5. What does Jing-Mei do with the Chinese silk dresses she finds when sorting through her mother’s things at the end of the story?
(a) She gives them to her sister
(b) She takes them home with her
(c) She sells them
(d) She gives them to her father

Short Answer Questions

1. When was author Amy Tan born?

2. What is the name of the Schumann piece that Jing-Mei is to play at the talent show?

3. What refers to circular toys that are twirled around the waist, and that some of the children used at the talent show when Jing-Mei made her piano debut?

4. The majority of the narrative of “Two Kinds” is related from what perspective?

5. How does Jing-Mei describe her school achievements in “Two Kinds”?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Jing-Mei say to her mother to hurt her during their conflict in the climax of the story? How does Suyuan respond?

2. What offer does Jing-Mei’s mother make her approaching Jing-Mei’s thirtieth birthday?

3. How do Suyuan Woo’s ambitions in the beginning of the story set up the central conflict in “Two Kinds”?

4. What does Jing-Mei find when she takes her bow after her performance at the talent show?

5. What innovations in literary style is Amy Tan known for?

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

7. How does Jing-Mei respond to her mother’s comment about her to Auntie Lindo? What foreshadowing follows this scene?

8. How does Jing-Mei describe the piece she is to play at the talent show? How does she describe her practice for the performance?

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. Who attends the talent show when Jing-Mei performs? How does Jing-Mei take the stage?

(see the answer keys)

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