Literary Devices Found in Two Kinds
Donte' Richardson August 24 2012
Setting
The setting for "Two Kings" is in San Fransico, California
San Fransico, California
Chinatown
San Franisco, California
Golden Gate Bridge
The State of California
San Franisco, California map location
Plot
The plot for "Two Kinds" is about a Mother who moves to America after losing everything she had in China. The mother had another daughter named Jing-mei. The mother wanted Jing-mei do be like an asian Shirley Temple, but Jing-mei didnt want to. The mother trys one last time and makes Jing-Mei take Piano lessons, which teach Jing-Mei a lesson.
Characters
Mother, Jing-Mei, Mr. Chong, Mrs. Chong, Aunite Lindo, Waverly Jong
Internal Conflict
The daughter decides to do the piano lessons, but when she finds out that Mr. Chong is deaf, she decides just to play around and not practice.
External Conflict
The mother has a problem with her daughter because she doesn't want to do anything speical with her life, so the mother keeps trying to get her daughter to do something that will honor her family. Since, the daughter doesn't want to try to do anything the mother gives up on her.
Theme
The theme of this story basically the title "Two Kinds". The daughter has kinds of people inside her. One is what her mother sees her to be and the other is what the daughter sees. The daughter wants to be herself, but her mother wants her to be more.
Symbolism
The symbolism in this story would be the piano because the mother still believes that her daughter can do something with her life. The two songs that represent the daughter would be the "obedient one" and the one the daughter doesn't want to be.
8.In the first part of the story there is a scene in which the daughter sees herself in the mirror. What does she see? What thematic significance could this scene have? How does it relate to the title?
When the daughter looks into the mirror, she sees her face staring back at her. She also saw a sad, ugly girl, that made hig pitch noises like a crazy animal trying to scratch out the face in the mirror. The thematic significance is this scene is that the girl believes that she is not like an another asian girl. This relates to the title "Two Kinds" because their are two sides to the daughter in the story.
9. Two strong willed-characters are pitted against each other in this story. What went wrong in the relationship between the mother and the daughter?
The thing that went wrong in the relationship between the mother and the daughter is that the mother wanted her daughter to do something great with her life. She wanted her daughter to do something that would honor their family. The mother wanted her to be something like an asian Shirley Temple or even play the piano. The daughter didn't want to do any speical, she just wanted to lay around and watch television.
10. Read carefully the parts dealing the mother's earlier life in China. How have her earlier expierences shaped her ambitions for her daughter?
The mother's earlier expiernces in China have shaped her ambition's for her daughter because the mother lost everything she had in China. Now, the mother wants her daughter just do something speical with her life.