2. Two Kinds by Amy Tan

3. Amy Tan Biography Amy Tan was born in Oakland, California in 1952. In 1989, The Joy Luck Club was published. Tan lives in San Francisco and New York with her husband, Lou DeMattei, and their two canine companions, Bubba and Lilli.

5. 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 Two Kinds Background 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?

6. Click here to find out. The mother in “Two Kinds” came to the United States in 1949 in order to escape a war in her native country. In the 1940s the Communist, led by Mao Tse-Tung, and the Nationalist, led by Chiang Kai-Shek, were engaged in a civil war in China. The Japanese invasions of China during WWII weakened the Nationalist, and they endured most of the front line fighting. The Communist, however, were able to establish popular reforms in the less troubled areas that they controlled. By the end of the war in 1945, the Communist controlled the North, which had a population of 100 million. Although far superior in numbers and supported by the United States, the city-centered Nationalist government was plagued by corruption and a weak economy. By the middle of 1948, the Communist equaled the Nationalist in number, and in 1949 they crossed the Yangtze River to defeat the Nationalist army, establishing Communist China.

7. In 1949, the Communist Party seized control of China. A number of Chinese, who feared Communist, fled to the United States. They placed their hopes in the children born in the new land. Pay attention to how the daughters in “Two Kinds” deals with her mothers expectations. Background Continued My Grandma Yung 1934 My Father, Uncle and Auntie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCBdoFMHpTU

8. CA Content Standards Reading 1.2 Use Knowledge of Greek, Latin and Anglo-Saxon roots and affixes. (Skills Book pg. 6,9 &10 and Selection Assessment) Language Conventions 1.7 Spell derivatives correctly by applying the spelling of bases and affixes. (Skills Book pg. 7-8) Listening and Speaking 1.3 Respond to persuasive messages with questions, challenges, or affirmations.

9. Plot Amy’s mom was a person with high expectations. She believed that anybody could do whatever they wanted to. Her mom thought that she was a prodigy. Amy always tried her hardest. Her mom kept pushing her harder and harder. Eventually, Amy got tired of her mother’s tests. She got to a breaking point. Amy wanted to quit piano and her mom didn’t want her too. An argument broke out and she said cruel things.

10. Plot Amy’s mother eventually gave up on her. She stopped making her go to piano lessons, and gave up on her dreams of having a prodigy daughter. When Amy was an adult, her mother offered her the piano for her birthday. Amy refused. However, when Amy’s mom passed away, she decided to take back up piano and figured out how to do it.

11. Amy’s mother is a optimistic person Amy’s mother believes that Amy is a prodigy Amy’s mother sends her to piano lessons Amy’s mother pushes her harder and harder and tests her Amy’s mother pushed her too hard, and after she did terrible at the talent show, she wanted to give up on piano. Her and her mother got in a fight. Amy’s mother stopped trying to get her to live up to her dream of having a prodigy daughter Amy’s mother offers her the piano many years later, but she refuses Amy’s mother passes away, and while Amy is restoring the piano she figures out that the song she had tried to play had two parts you had to play at the same time. Copy this chart into Composition book

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

13. The mother and daughter in “Two Kinds” are strongly motivated to influence each other. Two Kinds Literary Focus: Conflict and Motivation 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

14. 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. Two Kinds Reading Skills: Making Inferences About Motivation Clues from Text the character’s words and actions how others react to the character Prior Experience experiences with people knowledge of how stories work

15. Previewing the Vocabulary prodigy n.: child of highly unusual talent or genius. lamented v.: said with regret or sorrow. Lamented also means “mourned for; regretted intensely.” listlessly adv.: without energy or interest. mesmerizing v. used as adj.: spellbinding; fascinating. discordant adj.: clashing; not in harmony. Two Kinds Vocabulary

16. Previewing the Vocabulary dawdled v.: wasted time; lingered. stricken adj.: heartbroken; affected by or suffering from something painful or distressing. fiasco n.: total failure. nonchalantly adv.: without interest or concern; indifferently. betrayal n.: failure to fulfill another’s hopes. Betrayal also means “act of disloyalty; deception.” Two Kinds Vocabulary

17. Main Characters Amy is a little Asian girl with short cropped hair. She believes that she can be anybody she wants to be. She is determined to be herself and nothing other. She is very determined not let her mother change her. Amy’s mother is an older Asian women, she is very determined that she is right all of the time and she is constantly pushing her daughter to be her own little “prodigy”.

18. Man vs. Man Amy vs. Her mom Amy is constantly fighting her mother of the tests she is being given and how her mother expects so much out of her. Man vs. Self Amy vs. Amy Amy is battling with herself about what she is going to do about her mothers expectations What Type of Conflict is in this story?

19. The major theme in this story is individualism. For example, when Amy said, “I won’t let her change me, I promised myself. I won’t be what I’m not.” She is showing how she is herself and will not be changed unless she wants to change herself. Theme

20. Summary In this story, the narrator, Jing-mei, resists her overbearing mother's desire to make her into a musical prodigy in order to compete with one of her friend's daughters. The narrator recalls these events after a period of more than twenty years and still struggles to understand her mother's motivations. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iSSFYX85VE