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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 nickname does Jing-Mei say she secretly gave Mr. Chong when she began taking piano lessons with him?

2. Why does Jing-Mei say she sent a tuner to recondition the piano at her parents’ house?

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

4. Where did Jing-Mei’s mother abandon her first children, hoping for them to become adopted?

5. How old does Jing-Mei say she was when her mother told her “Of course you can be prodigy too” in the beginning of the story?

Short Essay Questions

1. How do Suyuan Woo’s actions in the story encourage the wrong responses from her daughter? What effects does this have on Jing-Mei?

2. How does Suyuan Woo go about discovering her daughter’s “genius” in the beginning of the story?

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

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

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

6. What is the most significant element of the communication and culture gaps between Jing-Mei and her mother in the story?

7. How does Jing-Mei feel about her mother’s ambitions for her at first when she is a child?

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

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

10. How does the conflict that marks the climax of the story begin? How much time has passed since Jing-Mei’s performance at the talent show?

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

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?

Essay Topic 3

Describe and discuss the conflict between Jing-Mei and Suyuan Woo regarding Jing-Mei’s piano lessons in the narrative. How does Jing-Mei respond to her mother’s news that she has arranged for lessons? Why does Suyuan slap Jing-Mei? How does Jing-Mei respond?

(see the answer keys)

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