Name: ___________________________ Period: ____ Date: ______________ Due: _____________
“Two Kinds” Anticipation Guide
Directions: For the “You” column, write “A” if you agree or “D” if you disagree for each statement. Do not
complete the “After” column until we have finished “Two Kinds”. Explain your responses in the blanks.
You
1. Parents just don’t understand their children.
Before
After
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______
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Explain:
2. Every conflict has a winner.
Explain:
3. Parents put too much pressure on their children to succeed.
Explain:
4. People can be whatever they want to be, and anyone can be a prodigy.
Explain:
5. High expectations can make someone fail or want to fail.
Explain:
Name: ___________________________ Period: ____ Date: ______________ Due: _____________
“Two Kinds” Comprehension or During Reading Questions
Directions: Answer the following questions while you read the short story.
1. What happened to Jing-Mei’s mother before coming to America? How do you think this affected or
affects her character? Why?
2. An allusion is a reference to a well-known person, place, or thing. Who does the author allude to at
the beginning of the story? Why?
3. What does Jing-Mei’s mother want her daughter to become? Why? What does she make her do in
order to reach her goal?
4. What is the turning point in the story? What does Jing-Mei decide regarding her mother’s wishes?
5. Explain the following simile: “It was like a stiff embraceless dance between her and the TV set.”
6. Why is Jing-Mei so determined not to try? What type of conflict is evident? Why?
7. What is the subtext or verbal irony (what a person is really saying) that Auntie Lindo is saying in her
conversation with Jing-Mei’s mother?
8. Who is to blame for Jing-Mei’s misery? Her mother or her? Why?
9. What realization does Jing-Mei make about the two songs? How do these songs symbolize or mirror
the relationship between her and her mother?