Literary Devices Found in Two Kinds
Vicente- 8/24/12
Setting
This story takes place in San fransico. California (chinatown)
Characters
The narrators mother was a chinese women that had high expectation of he daughter. She had lost everything in china. Ni kan was the "prodigy", or at least thats what her mother saw her.
Plot
The narrator is a chinese girl . She has a constant fight with her mother about her being a prodigy. Her mother belives that you can become anyone that you want in america. She tries to turn her daughter into a musical prodigy and to brag about her musical skill to her friend lindo, who has a chess champion daughter. Ni kans mother gets the musical idea from t.v when she sees shirley temple showing her musical skills. She then gets her daughter a piano teacher to try to mold he daugter into a star. When the time comes for Ni kan to performe her song, she emberrasses her mother by playing the piano in a horrible way. Ni kans mother then wants Ni kan to keep on going to the lessons. They then have an argument about Ni kan not wanting to go to the lessons. Her mother then commands her to go to the lessons. Ni kan brings up how her mother had lost everything she ever had in china. Later the years go on and Ni kan and her mohter make up and forgive each other.
Internal Conflict
Ni kans conflict was that she didnt want to be a progidy. She wanted to just be her self. She didnt want to be someone that she really wasnt.The conlfict that Ni kans mother had was that she thought her daughter could be a prodigy. She saw her as a satr but in reality Ni kan was just an ordinary child.
External conflict
Ni kans was forced to take piano lesson even though she didnt want to. She was aslo forced to do what her mother told her to do. Ni kans mother forced ni kan to be a prodigy. She made her take countless piano hours of piano lessons.
Theme
Family relationships are difficult. Ni kan embarrasses her mother by palying the piano even though she hadn't actually practiced to her best ability. Ni kans mother has the mentallity that her daughter is a prodigy even though Ni kan failed her and embarrasses her mother, she stills wants her to keep on doing the piano practices.
Symbolysm
The piano represents that the narrators mother still belives in her daughter. The other symbolism is the two songs that Ni kan plays. Its show the type of daughter that she was. She was an obidient daughter and she was a rebel daughter.