Phase 1 Task 2 IP

1) The story "Two Kinds" by Amy Tan is about a mother who excessively pushes her daughter to achieve and be talented, trying to live vicariously through the child. The daughter rebels against her mother's wishes. 2) The mother sees talented children on TV and in magazines and wants her daughter to be similarly gifted, drilling her with tests on various subjects without asking about her interests. 3) In the end, the daughter realizes her mother was trying to motivate and encourage her, though in an overbearing way, and that she herself had some musical talent after playing the piano again decades later.

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Phase 1 Task 2 IP

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Renee Watson-Divens

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Introduction to Literature INTRODUCTION TO LITERATURE

Introduction to Literature Phase 1 Task 2 IP LaTonia R. Divens Colorado Technical University LTR215-1004B-07 Professor Craig Brewer November 19, 2010

Introduction to Literature Literary Analysis

Each and every one of us have our own calling/or purpose; something that cannot be forced upon us by another. In the short story, Two Kinds by Amy Tan reminds me of parents who excessively push their children to either be their best or be what they want them to be, to the point the child shuts down. At the end of the day, yes, we do have to motivate, encourage and empower our children, but we also have to allow them to choose for themselves what they want to or were meant to be; find out what their talents are and the things that are of interest to them and then attempt to invest in whatever that may be for we tend to excel almost effortlessly at things that we enjoy. The mother communicates to the child that being in America she can be whatever she wants to be and she constantly drilled her with batteries of tests and quizzes on miscellaneous subjects however never asking the child what her aspirations are (Gardner, Lawn, Ridl & Schakel, 2009, p. 405). The mother reads about different children with special talents in magazines or sees them on television shows and envisions her own child being like them. Were not quite sure if the mothers true intent is to live vicariously through the child, whether or not her deceased twins were child prodigies and she was attempting to replace them through the living child or if she merely wanted a child superstar in which to be the bread winner for the family. Ever since the child was approximately nine years old, the mother pushed and pushed the child to be like this child or that child whom she saw on television or in a magazine to the point where the child became very offended by it and resentful as well; wondering why the mother could not or would not just accept her as she was. At one point, the child is filled with tears and rage, looking at herself and looking at her misery and decides that she will not be changed into what her mom wants or thinks she should be (Gardner, Lawn, Ridl & Schakel, 2009, p. 407).

Introduction to Literature Here, my point is evident, this child was not interested in the things/ subject matter her mother drilled her on, not really wanting to come out and say so, she shows her boredom and gives

wrong answers. If she attempts to give things a try that are suggested by her mother and she fails at it, seeing her mothers frustration and disappointment is injurious to the childs emotional state. It has to be instilled in children that no one is perfect and that it is okay to make mistakes but we must learn from them. From a cultural aspect though, not all cultures live by such standards, for example, if you come from generations of specialty doctors for some, it is a no brainer that you too will attend med school to become some kind of doctor; upholding the family name, tradition and possibly the family business and that may very well be the total opposite of what you truly want for yourself. The Ed Sullivan show seemingly was a favorite show in the household, to the mom at least therefore it would be safe to assume that this story took place somewhere between the 1950s to the 1970s, and during those times parents were very strict when it came to child rearing; what they told you to do is exactly what you were going to do, plain and simple. In these days and times, parenting has become extremely lenient, more or less a friendship as well as it has turned into the children telling the parents what they are not going to do, like Ni-Kan ultimately reacted when she saw how disappointed and humiliated her family was after her recital faux-pas. In the end, Ni-Kan realized some 21 years later (after her mom passed away) that she had never looked at her moms intentions for her from all sides. Ni-Kan seemingly had a revelation as she sat at her piano for the first time in 20 plus years looking over the sheet music from her recital. Several things were revealed to Ni-Kan, she did have somewhat of a knack for the piano because she still remembered the keys after all of these years without practicing. If she had continued her lessons and practicing, she had the propensity to be a child prodigy. She also took notice of the titles of the songs and where they came from. The songs were Pleading Child and

Introduction to Literature Perfectly Contented from Shummans, Scenes from Childhood (Gardner, Lawn, Ridl & Schakel, 2009, p. 410). All three of these titles relate to Ni-Kan in some form or another, they

were definitely scenes from her childhood. She was the pleading child; pleading with her mother to just accept her as she was and not try to make her be someone she felt she was not. Perfectly Contented, she realized was the second half of the previous song as it could also be symbolic of the second phase of her life; her mothers way of apologizing and forgiving her (offering her the piano to take to her place), the mother even though has passed on is now perfectly contented with Ni-Kans revelation about the premise behind her persistence in wanting her to strive to be the best that she could be. Ni-Kan has come to grips with the fact that her mom was trying to motivate, encourage and empower her to broaden her horizons; maybe now she can and will.