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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. Jing-Mei describes her mother having given her a Bible page to study and then report everything she could remember when she was a child. What does Jing-Mei tell her mother is all she can recall from the passage?

2. Of her lack of ambitions in music, Jing-Mei says “I was so determined not to try, not to be anybody different that I learned to play only the most ear-splitting preludes, the most discordant” what?

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

4. What is the name of the street that Jing-Mei’s family lives on when she is a child?

5. How does Jing-Mei describe the Schumann piece that she was to play at the talent show?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What happens when Suyuan Woo quizzes her daughter on country capitals? What other activities does she test out on Jing-Mei when she is young?

3. What are Suyuan Woo’s views of opportunity in America, as noted by the narrator in the opening of the story?

4. How does Jing-Mei describe the process of playing scales for Mr. Chong?

5. What does Jing-Mei say in defense of the performer on the Ed Sullivan Show when she is criticized by her mother? How does this defense backfire?

6. What does Jing-Mei overhear her mother saying about her to Auntie Lindo midway through the story?

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

8. What arrangement is made between Suyuan Woo and Mr. Chong in regards to Jing-Mei’s piano study and practice?

9. How does Jing-Mei describe her mother’s immigration to America in the opening of the story? What did she leave behind?

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

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

Discuss Ed Sullivan, Ginny Tiu and Edvard Grieg. How influential was The Ed Sullivan Show on the culture of America during the time that it aired? Who was Ginny Tiu and how does her image factor into the story? What music does Ginny Tiu play on the show and how does Jing-Mei’s mother respond?

Essay Topic 3

Identify and discuss the elements of narrative style in “Two Kinds.” Is the story related in the past, present or future tense? Is the story told from a first, second, or third person narrator? Is the narrator involved in the action? Examine the different reasons the author may have chosen this style. What do you think it adds to the story?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,048 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample