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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 is the name of Jing-Mei’s mother in “Two Kinds”?
2. What answer does Jing-Mei give when her mother asks her early in the story, “What’s the capital of Finland?”
3. Jing-Mei says that Mr. Chong would have her curve her hand around what object and then keep that shape while playing chords?
4. How many sons does Auntie Lindo have in the story?
5. “Two Kinds” is a short story from Amy Tan’s book The Joy Luck Club. This collection of short stories revolves around the lives of Chinese immigrant women who form a club and play what game?
Short Essay Questions
1. How does Jing-Mei describe the piece she is to play at the talent show? How does she describe her practice for the performance?
2. How does Jing-Mei’s mother respond when Jing-Mei refuses to practice piano after the talent show?
3. What is the most significant element of the communication and culture gaps between Jing-Mei and her mother in the story?
4. How do Jing-Mei’s feelings about her mother’s ambitions begin to change early in the story? What causes her feelings to change?
5. How does Jing-Mei describe her mother’s immigration to America in the opening of the story? What did she leave behind?
6. Why do you think the author chose to set the story (and the others in The Joy Luck Club) in San Francisco?
7. How and when did the repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act influence immigration in the U.S.?
8. What cultural similarities can be seen between the author’s childhood and that of Jing-Mei in “Two Kinds”?
9. How do Suyuan Woo’s ambitions in the beginning of the story set up the central conflict in “Two Kinds”?
10. How does the concept of identity relate centrally to the conflicts in “Two Kinds”?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Describe and discuss the genre and tone of the story. Define these terms in your response and discuss how “Two Kinds” could be categorized into different genres. How does the author establish the tone of the story in the first pages?
Essay Topic 2
Discuss the setting of “Two Kinds” and examine the population, culture, and history of San Francisco’s Chinatown. How large is this neighborhood in the city? How diverse is its population? How did Chinatown differ in the 1950s from today?
Essay Topic 3
Discuss the imagery and symbolism of Jing-Mei’s transformation that occurs when she cries in the mirror. How does the image of Jing-Mei’s reflection give her strength? What does she do with this strength? What does this moment signify in Jing-Mei’s life?
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This section contains 904 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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