Two Kinds by Amy Tan

Two Kinds by Amy Tan

Dillon Redd

Mrs. North

English II Honors, Period 1

8 January 2016

Two Kinds by Amy Tan

Main Characters:

Jing-Mei Woo: The daughter of Suyuan Woo, who is motivated by her mother's influence on her life during her child hood, and pushed even further by her timely death. Her goal is to be who she wants to be and not what her mother wants her to be.

Suyuan Woo: The high-achieving mother of Jing-Mei. Her goal for her daughter to do well is for her to be better than her friends daughter. Her goal is to have Jing-Mei be the "Chinese Shirley Temple". "At first my mother thought I could be the Chinese Shirley Temple" (Tan 99).

Author Background: Amy Tan

Internal/External Conflicts:

Motivation:

Jing-Mei: She is motivated by independence and embarrassment. Her mother wants her to do all these things that she doesn't like doing. She was focused on how it's not what she wants, it's what her mother wants. She is angry her mother is using her like she's a prize to be won.

Tan is a Chinese-American writer, who was born and grew up in Oakland, California. She moved to Europe with her mother and younger brother after her dad and older brother died. She went to high school in Switzerland, and attended college back in the U.S. After graduating college she became a corporate freelance writer, and started writing her first and bestselling novel, The Joy Luck Club. Tan's influences were her relationships with her parents, teachers, readers, and language. Her mother was a big inspiration to her work. "Tan’s mother told her gory stories that consisted of warnings of things that she had actually seen and experienced" (Ferguson,TCU360).

Suyuan Woo: Her motivation is the fact that they now live in America, now they can do anything. She wants Jing-Mei to be super over the top talented, and better than he freinds daughter. "My mother believed you could be anything you wanted to be in America" (Tan 99). She isn't doing it for Jing-Mei, she's doing it for her own self-indulgent ways. That is the main reason Jing-Mei gets so angry and frustrated at her, and why Suyuan forces her to practice the way she does.

Jing-Mei Woo: Her external conflict is her wanting to be defiant towards her mother. She wants to do what SHE wants to do, not what her mother tells her to do. Her internal conflict is whether she wants to do what her mother wants to please her, or should she just do her because she can be whomever she wants to be.

Round/ Flat Characters:

Jing-Mei Woo- She would be considered a round character because she is chaotic, anxious, and defiant. She also tends to be independent, not wanting to listen to her mother. "I'll never be the daughter you want me to be!" (Tan 106).

Suyuan Woo: An external conflict with her is how she has to force Jing-Mei to practice her piano. She expects her to be better than her friends daughter, and becomes frustrated with Jing-Mei's inability to listen. Her internal conflict is how to feel about her daughter's failures. She's conflicted with the shame of losing her two daughters in China and wants to make up for it. "I wish I were dead! Like them." (Tan 106).

Suyuan Woo- She is a round character as well, for she is very demanding, strict, and high-strung. She wants her daughter to be the best and has high expectations of her.