1. Two Kinds by Amy Tan Introducing the Story
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Introducing the Story
Literary Focus: Conflict and Motivation
Reading Skills: Making Inferences About Motivation

2. Two Kinds by Amy Tan

3. Two Kinds Introducing the Story
. . . the aspiring immigrant is not content to progress alone. Solitary success is imperfect success in his eyes. He must take his family with him as he rises.
Mary Antin, 1912

4. Two Kinds Introducing the Story
The mother in “Two Kinds” is a Chinese immigrant who sees promise in all that America has to offer. She pushes her daughter Jing-mei to become a prodigy. What will happen when Jing-mei pushes back?
What events helped shape the character of Jing-mei’s mother?
Click here to find out.
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5. Two Kinds Literary Focus: Conflict and Motivation
Conflict is the struggle between opposing characters, forces, or emotions.
external conflict—clash between a character and some outside force (another character, society, nature, a situation)
internal conflict—struggle between opposing needs, desires, or emotions within a character
An external conflict can often lead to an internal one, and vice versa.

6. Two Kinds Literary Focus: Conflict and Motivation
Motivation—the reasons characters behave as they do.
Literary characters, like real-life people, are motivated by their wants and needs. They make choices and behave in a certain way in order to get what they want.

7. Two Kinds Literary Focus: Conflict and Motivation
Conflict and motivation are closely tied. If characters weren’t motivated to fulfill certain wishes or desires, there would be no conflict.
Character is motivated to get something he or she wants.
Something or someone gets in the way.
Conflict

8. Two Kinds Literary Focus: Conflict and Motivation
The mother and daughter in “Two Kinds” are strongly motivated to influence each other.
Mother wants . . .
her daughter to excel so the mother can feel proud and brag to her friends.
Daughter wants . . .
to be allowed to be ordinary and still have her mother’s approval.
Conflict clash of wills
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9. Two Kinds Reading Skills: Making Inferences About Motivation
To understand a character’s motivation, you must make inferences, or intelligent guesses.
Base your inferences on clues from the text as well as on your own life experience.
Clues from Text
the character’s words and actions
how others react to the character
Inferences About Motivation
Prior Experience
experiences with people
knowledge of how stories work

10. Two Kinds Reading Skills: Making Inferences About Motivation
As you read “Two Kinds,” pay attention to
the mother’s words and actions
Jing-mei’s words and actions
how the two react to one another
Use your powers of inference to determine what motivates each of these characters.
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