Afterwards, Amy Tan dreamed of writing novels and short stories, which later became a reality. Tan’s first ever novel, “The Joy Luck Club”,was published in 1989 and gained huge popularity, sold astonishing of 275,000 copies upon its release. Her vivid idea as an writer came from all of her surroundings. Much of Amy Tan’s novel is related to her personal
Amy tan argues that not everybody is the same, and some want to obey and some want to pursue something they more interested in instead of something somebody else want them to do. The text says “Those who are obedient and those who follow their own minds” (tan pg. 412). Amy tan argues her point very well and describes it great in the story because i understood her point
In opposition to Waverly, the character Jing-Mei has experienced repeated rejection and failure in her attempt to become a prodigy and finally comes to the decision that“I could only be me,” and any attempt at developing new skills or talents was futile (Tan, 24). So, it is because of her past experiences of continuous defeat that she bases her perception of her self worth and capabilities. While in some cases, one may respond in the complete opposition of Jing-Mei, continuing to persevere in spite of their failures, they still draw on the previous experiences they’ve had, utilizing them as an inspiration or a learning
In the beginning of the story, Tan describes the mother as a stereotypical Chinese mother, who can be labeled as very strict. The mother was very determined, to make her child, Jing-Mei a success, “instantly famous...or a child prodigy.” Jing-Mei was forced to take piano lessons by a former piano teacher, who was deaf. Chinese children can be stereotyped as studious and obedient. Many Chinese families may fit into these stereotypes, but not every single one of them does and Tan exposes that in her story. Jing-Mei didn’t fit in the stereotype she, “ was so determined not to try, not to be anybody different, [she] learned to play only the most ear-splitting preludes, the most discordant hymns,” on the piano.
Her body of work contains a number of novels, poetry collections, and short stories that have won numerous awards. In 1986, she received the American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation for her poetry collection Seeing Through the Sun. In 1989, her short story “Aunt Moon’s Young Man” was featured in Best American Short Stories, and a year later her novel Mean Spirit was one of three finalists for the Pulitzer Prize. Since then she has been a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for another poetry collection, The Book of Medicines, and in 1998 she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers Circle of the Americas. She has also been the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Fiction, a Guggenheim Grant in Fiction, and the Lannan Award for Outstanding Achievement in
Grasping the same idea, she held onto her hard time back in her home. Jing-mei is her last hope to prove that her homeland can be just as talented as Americans. To follow through with this objective, her mother bends over backwards in search of the "right" kind of prodigy for her daughter. Although Jing-mei determinedly upsets her mother 's desires to make her a prodigy, it was as if it were decades afterwards in life that she picks up the understanding into her mother 's basic motives. This exposition will endeavor that "Two Kinds" is a compelling story to bring to light on the issues of identity.
Family in Chinese Culture As shown in Amy Tan's short stories A Pair of Tickets, Immortal Heart, and Two Kinds, one can see the importance of family in Chinese culture. In the piece A Pair of Tickets, it is shown how hard Jing-mei's mother Suyuan looks for the twin babies she is forced to leave behind. Her effort is shown when Jing-mei's father recalls the travels, saying, "We went to many different cities, back to Kweilin, to Changsha, as far south as Kunming. She was always looking out of one corner of her eye for twin babies, then little girls" (Tan, A Pair of . .
English 110 class truly helped her grow as writer. She took the structure and conformity she learned from her high school and applied it to a creative and freethinking side she learned from college to formulate her own personal writing style. Her attention to detail has improved causing her grammar and word choice to be even clearer. Most importantly, her enthusiasm for writing has drastically developed. Mary Anne knows the next three and a half years of paper writing will be a breeze because of the proper English introduction to a great liberal arts
As for Jing-Mei and her mother, their sacrifice came from the cultural clashes in which conflicting beliefs held by the mother and the daughter resulted in a broken family relationship. She wished for her daughter success and fame, and she made every endeavour to realize her prodigy child dream, doing unpaid housekeeping work in order to afford piano lessons for Jing-Mei, not to mention leaving behind everything she had in China: her whole family, including her twin baby daughters when she departed to America. Ironically, the liberal, self-asserting values that America has
“Two Kinds,” by Amy Tan, essentially revolves around the struggle of Jing Mei and her constant conflict with her mother. Throughout her life, she is forced into living a life that is not hers, but rather her mom’s vision of a perfect child; because her mother lost everything, which included her parents and kids, so her only hope was through Jing Mei. Jing Mei’s mom watches TV shows such as the Ed Sullivan Show, which gives her inspiration that her daughter should be like the people and actors. First her mom saw how on the television a three-year-old boy can name all the capitals of the states and foreign countries and would even pronounce it correctly. Her mom would quiz Jing Mei on capitals of certain places, only to discover that she would