Literary DevicesFound in Two Kinds
Mason Smith / 8-24-12
Setting
The short story takes places in Sanfrancisco, California( China Town ), which is one of the largest chinese communities.
Characters
Mother- She lost everything she had including her familly except her duaghter in China. She decided to move to America where she ended up in China town Sanfrancisco. She aslo wanted her duaghter to become a child prodigy so she would have something to be proud of. Even though she pushed her duaghter so much to reach that goal.Daughter- Pushed by her mother constantly to become a child prodigy, she fought her mother the entire way through because she just wanted to be a normal girl. While her mom thought she was really trying to learn how to play the piano, she just messed around on it and didn't really try.
Plot:
Exposition- Mother and duaghter move to Sanfrancisco from China to start a new life because they lost everything they owned living in China.Including ( possesions and family ). The mother neede some pride to fill in her missing gap but, the only pride she had in was her duaghter.Rising Action- The mother does everything in her power to make her duaghter into a child prodigy so she could have something to always make her proud. She first tried bueaty school which was a disaster. Next she tried piano lessons by cleaning Mr. Chongs( lives on the floor under the mother) apartment for free piano lessons. Next the duaghter would practice the piano (even though she never enjoyed it) everyday from 4 -6 pm.Climax- After the mother has put in time, money, and pride into her daughters piano lessons so it all could be shown off at the duaghters first recitle. When it is her turn, the duaghter knows that she is playing the wrong keys but can't stop playing anywways.Resolution- The mother was so disapointed that she said nothing but still wanted her duaghter to keep on trying. The duaghter refuses to play anymore and her and the mom get into a argument where the duaghter reminds the mother of her dead child and just makes her so sad she said nothing to her but left and went to her room. Later on it skips 30 years into the future where the duaghter plays the piano once more to relaize how special of a gift it was also because her mother had died.
Internal Conflict:
Ex- The duaghter "Jing-mei" was looking at her self in the mirrior after given multiple test on subjects she had not learned and did not remember. She was confused and irrated by her mother trying to push her so hardto become a prodigy.
External Conflict:
The duaghter starts giving up on her daily test, the mother loses hope untill she sees a little chinese girl playing the piano, fasinateted by this, she starts making her duaghter take piano lessons to give her an oppurtunity to become a prodigy.
Theme:
The theme is the conflict between the mother and daughter, how the mother constantly pushes jing-mei to become a prodigy because she has the opportunity .
Symbolisim:
The piano in the story represents the triumph of the mother and how she always encourages and pushes her duaghter to become very sucesful at playing it.
Miror:
Jing-mei went into the bathroom and saw herself in the mirror. After getting a good look at herself, she saw her angry side; a side that she hadn't seen before. Suddenly, she had the power to refuse her mother's tests.
Two Willed Charchters:
What went wrong between the mom and duaghter was that the mother constantly pushes jing-mei to become very sucesful while jing-mei wants to be a normal girl.
Ambitions of a mother:
In China, the mother had lost everything she had except for her daughter. Also her daughter had no chances to become very successful back in China but had the opportunity in America.