12.1.17+and+12.4.17

WU: Disagreement

Have you ever had a disagreement with your parent(s)/parental figure(s) about what kind of person you are, how you spend your time, or what you will do in the future?

List reasons why being “right” mattered/matters to you in this case, and why it mattered/matters to him/her/them.

What is this conflict really about? Can you name an underlying source? Has it been resolved? Is it ongoing? What does this conflict reveal anything about parent-child dynamics? What does this conflict reveal anything about parent-child dynamics? Group brainstorm: What types of conflict do we see in literature (and the world)? What are examples of conflict in "Two Kinds" and what kinds of conflict are they? Think of one of the disagreements between Jing-mei and her mother in “Two Kinds”. Make a T-Chart with two rows in your reading/writing journal. On the left side, list your reasons for why Jing-mei felt she was right. On the right side, list why Mrs. Woo felt she was right.

Conflict: Jing-mei's point of view: This mattered to her because:

Mrs. Woo's perspective: This mattered to her because:

Underlying cause? Discussion: Is Jing-mei the villain or victim in this story? Defend your ideas with evidence from the text. What is the significance of the title? What does Tan mean by "Two Kinds"? Where does this title come from in the text? What are the implications of the title? Ending analysis: “And for the first time, or so it seemed, I noticed the piece on the right-hand side. It was called “Perfectly Contented.” I tried to play this one as well. It had a lighter melody but the same flowing rhythm and turned out to be quite easy. “Pleading Child” was shorter but slower; “Perfectly Contented” was longer but faster. And after I played them both a few times, I realized that they were two halves of the same song”(133). Why does Tan end in this way? What is she trying to express through her use of these two parts of the same song? What are the two parts of the song symbolic of/for in her life? HW: Theme/device brainstorm: We started this in class, but your homework is to keep going. Please come to class with 3-4 specific themes that Tan communicates in "Two Kinds" and at least five examples of devices she uses in the text and what they suggest.

Example: The piano=symbol of tension and disagreement between mother and daughter and for the change in their relationship by the end. The piano is also symbolic of communication (or lack thereof) between mother and daughter.