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Reading report: Two Kinds by Amy Tan

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Reading report: Two Kinds by Amy Tan
Reading report: Two Kinds by Amy Tan
A summary of the passage Two kinds, one of the short stories in The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan, first published in 1989, vividly displays a bittersweet relationship between Jing-mei, the narrator and protagonist, and her mother Mrs. Woo, and explores conflicts between a Chinese mother and her disobedient Americanized daughter. The story happened in the Chinatown in San Francisco throughout the 1950s and maybe the early 1960s. It begins with Jing-mei and her mother’s moving to America in 1949. Encouraged by the American Dream and the conventional Chinese parents’ values, Jing-mei’s mother imposed great hopes on her and expects her to become a child prodigy. She tried in all ways to discovery the special talent in Jing-mei. First, she pushed Jing-mei to be the next Shirley Temple,but that didn't work. Then she prepared intellectual tests which were clipped from popular magazines for Jing-mei everyday. Unfortunately, Jing-mei didn't show promise in this field, either. Finally, the mother stumbled upon the answer that Jing-mei must be a piano virtuoso, and forced Jing-mei into piano lessons which taught by Mr. Chong, an elderly piano teacher, who is deaf and whose eyes are too weak to tell when Jing-mei is playing the wrong notes. At the very beginning, Jing-mei believed in her mother that she could be a prodigy. Nevertheless, she did not enjoy the strict ways of her mother latter. As she grown up, she found her self-identity, “I won’t be what I am not”. Then she realized she must reject and rebel her mother. After that, she tried to fail her mother’s expectation in every way and made herself a nonconformist. To her surprised, her mother hit on the conclusion that she would be a pianist, and she was forced to take the piano lessons. Whereas, Jing-mei thought "And right then, I was determined to put a stop to her foolish pride" Latter, at a recital in the church, Jing-mei failed in her performance which deeply disappointed her



References: http://www.writework.com/writing-guides/how-to-write-a-book-report http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-person_narrative Contemporary College English 5 Unit 2

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