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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. When Jing-Mei refuses to practice piano after the talent show, she tells her mother, “Why should I? I’m not” what?
2. The little girl that Jing-Mei and her mother watch playing piano on The Ed Sullivan Show is said to have what kind of haircut?
3. At the talent show where Jing-Mei makes her piano debut, she describes an eleven-year-old boy who won first prize for what performance?
4. What does Jing-Mei say to defend the young piano player on The Ed Sullivan Show when her mother criticizes her performance?
5. Describing her mother’s reaction to her hurtful words, Jing-Mei says, “she backed out of the room, stunned, as if she were blowing away like” what?
Short Essay Questions
1. How does the conflict that marks the climax of the story begin? How much time has passed since Jing-Mei’s performance at the talent show?
2. How does Jing-Mei describe her life as she passed from childhood to adulthood? In what ways does she say she disappointed her mother?
3. How does Jing-Mei describe the piece she is to play at the talent show? How does she describe her practice for the performance?
4. What does Jing-Mei discover about playing the piano as she begins her studies with Mr. Chong?
5. How does the central conflict of the story begin to manifest in Jing-Mei’s mind following her revelation in the mirror?
6. What offer does Jing-Mei’s mother make her approaching Jing-Mei’s thirtieth birthday?
7. How does Jing-Mei say her perceptions differed from her mother’s in regard to ambition as she looks back at the end of the story?
8. What arrangement is made between Suyuan Woo and Mr. Chong in regards to Jing-Mei’s piano study and practice?
9. How do Suyuan Woo’s actions in the story encourage the wrong responses from her daughter? What effects does this have on Jing-Mei?
10. What does Jing-Mei describe doing every night with her mother at the kitchen table as a child in the beginning of the story?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Describe and discuss the song “Pleading Child” from Schumann’s Scenes from Childhood and examine the symbolism of this song in the story. How does this song correlate to Jing-Mei’s relationship with her mother? What does she later discover about the song?
Essay Topic 2
Discuss the actions, objectives, and obstacles of Jing-Mei Woo in “Two Kinds.” What is Jing-Mei’s ultimate goal (objective) in the story? How does she go about achieving this objective? What obstacles stand in her way? How does she overcome these obstacles?
Essay Topic 3
Analyze and discuss the character of Suyuan Woo in “Two Kinds.” How does Jing-Mei describe her mother’s tragic history and her immigration into the U.S.? What happened to Suyuan’s young twin daughters? What does Suyuan believe? How does she change in the story?
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This section contains 1,023 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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