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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. How many days have passed since Jing-Mei and her mother watched The Ed Sullivan Show when Jing-Mei’s mother tells her that she will be taking piano lessons?

2. What sensation does Jing-Mei describe as she begins hitting one wrong note after another during the talent show?

3. What is the nickname that Auntie Lindo’s daughter is known by in the area where Jing-Mei grows up?

4. How does Jing-Mei say she felt every time she saw the piano in her parents’ living room at the end of the story?

5. What is the neighborhood called where Jing-Mei’s family lives when she’s a child?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. Why does Amy Tan employ the techniques of oral tradition in “Two Kinds”?

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

6. What comment does Waverly Jong make to Jing-Mei after her performance at the talent show? How does this make Jing-Mei feel?

7. What discovery does Jing-Mei make regarding the song she played at the talent show in the end of the story?

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

9. How does the central conflict of the story begin to manifest in Jing-Mei’s mind following her revelation in the mirror?

10. Describe the narrative style of the story. Who is the narrator and how is her perspective defined?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe and discuss the ambitions that Jing-Mei might have pursued as a child if her mother had not attempted to mold her into her own ambitions. What subjects does Jing-Mei profess interest in? In what ways might her mother have attempted to pursue these interests for her daughter?

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

Who is “Chinatown’s Littlest Chinese Chess Champion” in the story? What is Jing-Lei’s relationship like with this character? How did this character earn her title? How does this character differ from the protagonist in “Two Kinds”?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 972 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample