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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. The majority of the narrative of “Two Kind” is related in what tense?
(a) Future-possessive tense
(b) Past tense
(c) Present tense
(d) Future tense

2. Jing-Mei says to her mother as they argue over piano practice after the talent show, “I’ll never be the kind of daughter you want me to be!” Her mother responds, “Only two kinds of daughters.” What are these two kinds?
(a) Those who marry young and those who are old widows
(b) Those who are obedient and those who follow their own mind
(c) Those who are respectful and those who are ungrateful
(d) Those who carry their name with pride and those who don’t

3. When Jing-Mei’s mother asks her for the capital of Finland, Jing-Mei responds with the capital of what country in the beginning of the story?
(a) Kenya
(b) France
(c) Great Britain
(d) Australia

4. What does Jing-Mei say Mr. Chong would balance on her wrists as she practiced piano so that she would keep them still?
(a) Dimes
(b) Apples
(c) Quarters
(d) Pennies

5. When Jing-Mei argues with her mother over piano practice after the talent show, she says, “As I said these things I got scared. I felt like” what were “crawling out of my chest”?
(a) Worms and toads and slimy things
(b) Phantoms and ghosts and darkness
(c) Demons and beasts and dragons
(d) The living dead and all my past

Short Answer Questions

1. After Jing-Mei’s performance at the talent show, she says, “We could have escaped during intermission.” What does she say “must have anchored my parents to their chairs”?

2. How does Jing-Mei describe the secondhand piano that her parents bought for her?

3. When her mother offered to give her the piano for her birthday, Jing-Mei says she saw this action as what?

4. Which of the following is a major theme throughout “Two Kinds”?

5. How many hours a day does Jing-Mei have access to the piano at Mr. Chong’s for practice when she first begins taking lessons?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Jing-Mei overhear her mother saying about her to Auntie Lindo midway through the story?

2. How does Jing-Mei describe Mr. Chong when she begins piano lessons with him? What does she secretly nickname him?

3. How does Jing-Mei describe the process of playing scales for Mr. Chong?

4. How does Jing-Mei feel as she prepares to perform at the talent show?

5. What does Jing-Mei find when she takes her bow after her performance at the talent show?

6. Describe the narrative style of the story. Who is the narrator and how is her perspective defined?

7. What innovations in literary style is Amy Tan known for?

8. In what ways can the reader see early in the story that Jing-Mei’s ambitions (and her mother’s) are misplaced?

9. Why does Amy Tan employ the techniques of oral tradition in “Two Kinds”?

10. How and when did the repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act influence immigration in the U.S.?

(see the answer keys)

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