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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. Of the composition that the piano prodigy plays on The Ed Sullivan Show, Jing-Mei says, “I remember the song, because later on” what?
(a) I heard it again on the radio
(b) It was the song played at my mother’s funeral
(c) I had to learn how to play it
(d) I had that song played at my wedding

2. Why does Jing-Mei say she sent a tuner to recondition the piano at her parents’ house?
(a) Because I planned to play it again
(b) Because I wanted to sell it
(c) For purely sentimental reasons
(d) Because I wanted to have it appraised

3. Who founded the Ripley’s Believe It or Not franchise?
(a) Robert Ripley
(b) James Ripley
(c) George Ripley
(d) Alexander Ripley

4. Jing-Mei says in the end of the story that “unlike my mother, I did not believe I could” what?
(a) Overcome my heritage
(b) Be talented or worthy
(c) Be free
(d) Be anything I wanted to be

5. Which of the following is a major theme throughout “Two Kinds”?
(a) Political corruption
(b) Sister-brother rivalry
(c) Mother-daughter relationships
(d) Father-daughter relationships

Short Answer Questions

1. How long ago does Jing-Mei say she sent a tuner to her parents’ apartment to recondition the piano at the end of the story?

2. What does Jing-Mei respond to her mother on the phone when her mother offers her the piano for her birthday and says, “You could been genius if you wanted to”?

3. When the instructor of the beauty school has to cut off Jing-Mei’s hair because of the bad perm, she tells Jing-Mei’s mother that what play is very popular these days?

4. How do Jing-Mei and her parents travel home after the talent show?

5. Of her childhood and the ambitions that Jing-Mei and her mother felt for her at this time, she says in the beginning of the story, “In all of my imaginings, I was filled with a sense that I would soon become” what?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Jing-Mei describe her performance at the talent show?

2. What arrangement is made between Suyuan Woo and Mr. Chong in regards to Jing-Mei’s piano study and practice?

3. When does Jing-Mei’s mother first introduce to her the concept of a child prodigy?

4. How does the concept of identity relate centrally to the conflicts in “Two Kinds”?

5. What “transformation” does Jing-Mei undergo while looking into the mirror as a child?

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

7. How does Suyuan Woo develop and maintain her sense of identity in the story?

8. How does Jing-Mei’s mother respond when Jing-Mei refuses to practice piano after the talent show?

9. How does Jing-Mei describe her relationship to the piano after her fallout with her mother after the talent show?

10. How does Jing-Mei describe her life as she passed from childhood to adulthood? In what ways does she say she disappointed her mother?

(see the answer keys)

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