Jing Mei

Presentation #1

• Main characters

-The main characters of "two Kinds are:

1. Jing Mei, a Chinese-American female who struggles with finding her identity because of the pressure of her parent's interests.

2. Jing Mei's mother, a Chinese immigrant who believes that "in America anything is possible and you can be whoever you want to be."

• Point of view

- A limited omniscient narrator told the story. The story was told behind each character's perspective of another person or subject at hand. The narrator was not exactly telling the story and stating what other characters said, but the narrator played a part, supposedly not knowing the thoughts of the others included in the story.

• Comments on mood, tone, & style

-Mood

* The story gives off a sympathetic mood. As you are reading, you can imagine a girl that has no voice. Her parents, the mother in particular, wants her to be the ideal child, but never once ask, "What do you want to do?"

- Tone

* The tone of the story was serious, angry, and ironic. First, I say serious because of the constant disputes between Jing Mei and her mother. Next, angry because that is the most common attitude given off in the story, mainly from Jing Mei. Lastly, ironic because when Jing Mei first started playing the piano in the beginning of the story, she hit the wrong notes and did not care to correct herself. Then by the end of the story, she there is evidence of her cherishing this instrument and seeing it as a sign of forgiveness form her mother.

-Style

*Personally, I like the style of the story. Amy Tan wrote it to where I did not have to look up every word in the dictionary. It was very understandable and I found it realistic and easy to imagine.

Central Conflict

- The central conflict, for me, is when Jing Mei decided she did not have to do what her mother said anymore (723).

*That moment was the beginning of her rebellious stage and from then on, she constantly expressed that she was not a genius and she refused to act like, or be made into some one she is not. I saw that as a turning point in finding out who she is and want to be because she attempts to say at least who she is not.

• Main themes (at least three)

- Culture

*I say culture because being a Chinese family; they have their own rules and expectation. In the story, Jing Mei steps out of