The Ungrateful Underachiever The definition of an underachiever as stated by Webster is “one (such as a student) that fails to attain a predicted level of achievement or does not do as well as expected.” In the short story “Two Kinds” written by Amy Tan, Ni’Kan is the queen of underachievers. She determines at a young age to become defiant to her mom. After experiencing disappointment from letting her mom down, Ni’Kan determined that she would become an underachiever and intentionally failed
cultural background. These two arguments are both valid, but is not giving the benefit of the doubt to the individual in which is being considered by their identity. Although most cultures are made up of languages and the traditions within we cannot limit an individual to be based off the language they speak. On the cultural aspect that does not apply necessarily because culture makes up only a part of your identity, whereas language is a source of communication. These are two factors people confuse
mother should always love, comfort, and support their child. A daughter should obey, listen, and respect their parent. “Two Kinds” was written by Amy Tan which is a short story focusing on the negative relationship of a mother and daughter. Suyan Woo wanted her daughter to be able to excel in America. The mother wanted to turn her daughter Jing Mei into a child prodigy. According to Tan, “My mother believed you could be anything you wanted to be in America” (543). Jing Mei starts to refuse doing what
Aydan Cota One source once stated, “By masking the discomfort, of being pre-judged” (Mora 40). People should examine their culture in order to better understand how it affects their identity and perceptions. In order to understand one’s cultural identity, he or she needs to understand what the term means. According to one source, cultural identity can be defined as “We all have unique identities that we develop within our cultures, but these identities are not fixed or static” (Trumbull and Pacheco
The story revolved between a mother and a daughter, the mother wants her daughter to be something that she don’t want.“ Why don’t you like me the way I am.” (Tan 8) The daughter can’t really express herself because her mother keeps pushing her, and wanted her to be a prodigy child. Too much pressure from her mother, the daughter began to changed her behavior by stop obeying her mother. All parents would want
An Unbreakable Bond After receiving a glimpse of the histories of the Chinese-American mothers in Feathers from a Thousand Li Away, Amy Tan transitions into her second group of stories, The Twenty-Six Malignant Gates, with a vignette about a young, rebellious girl and her mother. The daughter is warned by her mother of the dangers of riding her bike around the corner. Ignoring the warning, the daughter goes against her mother’s wishes and rides her bike, falling before she even reaches the corner
inevitable. Sometimes these desires make people go through tough times. Tragic occurrences such as death and broken relationships shape the lives of people positively or negatively. In the following essay, “Many Rivers to Cross” and the short stories, “Two Kinds” and “Everyday Use”, the protagonists of these texts struggle to achieve their desire, but because of those struggles the main characters do eventually come to a revelation. “Many Rivers to Cross” written by June Jordan is about a young lady who
every parent aspires for his or her own to become successful. However, circumstances such as negative parent-child relationships, cultural differences, opposing goals, and age gaps will affect a child in his/her upbringing. Similarly, Amy Tan, author of “Two Kinds,” discusses cultural differences through the upbringing of Jing-mei,
defining aspects of a person’s life, it is no surprise that the cultural identity borne from these factors have a huge impact on his point of view. One’s culture greatly influences the way one views others and the world. In the short story “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan, the differences in the cultural identities of Jing-mei and her mother greatly impacts their perspectives and attitudes. Due to their divergent cultural identities, Jing-mei and her mother have opposing views on Jing-mei’s abilities and
this paper are “Fish Cheeks” by Amy Tan and “Anxiety: Challenge by Another Name” by James Lincoln Collier. Both readings are similar in the way that they both overcome their worries. For example, in “Anxiety: Challenge by Another Name” Collier overcomes and embraces his anxiety, and in “Fish Cheeks” Tan embraces her family heritage and is not embarrassed to show what her culture is like. Fish Cheeks is an essay about a Chinese teenage girl and how she lives in two diverse cultures. The essay is set