Annotated Bibliography
Student Name
Street Address | Phone Number | Email Address
Date
Ms. Westrick
Professor
GSU
100 Decatur Street SE
Atlanta, GA 30303
To Whom it May Concern:
I have decided to write about Amy Tan's short story, "Two Kinds". I will be using the topical/historical approach to analyze the story. The literary element that I will analyze is the tone. I am hoping to further discover how the tone relates to the theme. My main focus will be on the relationship of humor and seriousness within the story. My thesis: The humor and serious tone of “Two Kinds” help readers develop an understanding of the struggle of power between mother and daughter.
I have categorized my list of sources into three groups: Early Life/Childhood of Tan, Mother-Daughter Relationships, and Historical Background. The articles by Robert C. Evans and Matina S. Horner et al fits into the Early Life/ Childhood of Tan. Both articles discuss how Tan’s mother had to make a quick and life-changing decision right before her and the family fled communist troops. Tan’s struggle with self-esteem issues during her childhood was also discussed.
The sources that I have listed by Dinnall Hoyte Kirsten, Tamra Orr, and Michelle Gaffner Wood all fit into the Mother/Daughter Relationships category. . In Tan’s novel, The Joy Luck Club (1986), June finds out that her mother’s twin daughters are not dead like they had assumed. According to Hoyte, June get to know her sisters in order to understand the relationship she had with her mother (par.8). Many of Tan’s stories focus on mother-daughter relationships and are also based on events from her own life.
My third and final category is Historical Background. The sources that fit into this category are written by Parameswari, Lalshuni Priyam, and Karen F. Stein. The mother belongs to an older generation that believes mothers are supposed to run the life of the daughter. The daughter was brought up on the cultural values of more recent years and finds it difficult to understand why her mother wanted control over everything that she does.
I think that all of my sources relate to my thesis in some way. There is only one article that I really need to look deeper into for more information. I also believe that my thesis is unique. The tone of the story give readers a clear understanding of the “weird” relationship between Jin- Mei and her mother.
Sincerely,
Student Name
Street Address | Phone Number | Email Address
Date
Ms. Westrick
Professor
GSU
100 Decatur Street SE
Atlanta, GA 30303
To Whom it May Concern:
I have decided to write about Amy Tan's short story, "Two Kinds". I will be using the topical/historical approach to analyze the story. The literary element that I will analyze is the tone. I am hoping to further discover how the tone relates to the theme. My main focus will be on the relationship of humor and seriousness within the story. My thesis: The humor and serious tone of “Two Kinds” help readers develop an understanding of the struggle of power between mother and daughter.
I have categorized my list of sources into three groups: Early Life/Childhood of Tan, Mother-Daughter Relationships, and Historical Background. The articles by Robert C. Evans and Matina S. Horner et al fits into the Early Life/ Childhood of Tan. Both articles discuss how Tan’s mother had to make a quick and life-changing decision right before her and the family fled communist troops. Tan’s struggle with self-esteem issues during her childhood was also discussed.
The sources that I have listed by Dinnall Hoyte Kirsten, Tamra Orr, and Michelle Gaffner Wood all fit into the Mother/Daughter Relationships category. . In Tan’s novel, The Joy Luck Club (1986), June finds out that her mother’s twin daughters are not dead like they had assumed. According to Hoyte, June get to know her sisters in order to understand the relationship she had with her mother (par.8). Many of Tan’s stories focus on mother-daughter relationships and are also based on events from her own life.
My third and final category is Historical Background. The sources that fit into this category are written by Parameswari, Lalshuni Priyam, and Karen F. Stein. The mother belongs to an older generation that believes mothers are supposed to run the life of the daughter. The daughter was brought up on the cultural values of more recent years and finds it difficult to understand why her mother wanted control over everything that she does.
I think that all of my sources relate to my thesis in some way. There is only one article that I really need to look deeper into for more information. I also believe that my thesis is unique. The tone of the story give readers a clear understanding of the “weird” relationship between Jin- Mei and her mother.
Sincerely,
Student Name
Bibliography
Becerra, Cynthia S. “Two Kinds.” Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition, Jan. 2004, pp. 1–2. EBSCOhost, ezproxy.gsu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lfh&AN=103331MSS23519620000479&site=eds-live&scope=site.
I am hoping to find information that is useful in identifying how the themes in “Two Kinds”relate to my thesis statement. I am also hoping to find out more information regarding Amy’s relationship with her Mom. I would also like to know how much Tan and her fiction character Jing-Mei relate and how do they differ as well.
Evans, Robert C. The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan. Salem Press, 2010. EBSCOhost, ezproxy.gsu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=364988&site=eds-live&scope=site.
While analyzing this article, I was able to find out more background information regarding Amy Tan’s early life. Amy Tan is the second of three children born to John and Daisy Tan. Her father was a Baptist minister. Daisy was forced to leave behind three daughters from a previous marriage when she fled Communist troops. Tan’s father and older brother both died of brain cancer.
Horner, Matina S., et al. “Amy Tan.” Amy Tan (0-7910-5889-1), Jan. 2002, pp. 7–32. EBSCOhost, ezproxy.gsu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ndh&AN=9240117&site=eds-live&scope=site.
Tan remembers that as a child she felt like an American girl trapped in a Chinese body. She once described how she tried to change the shape of her nose by pinching it with a clothespin, hoping it to make it narrower. "There was shame and self-hate," she said when explaining her childhood efforts to understand where she truly belonged (par.23). Basically, Tan just wanted to blend in with all of the other “normal” Americans. She considered her parents an embarrassment because of their old Chinese ways of living.
Kirsten Dinnall Hoyte. Contradiction and Culture: Revisiting Amy Tan’s “Two Kinds” (Again). no. 1, 2011, p. 161. EBSCOhost, ezproxy.gsu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edspmu&AN=edspmu.S2157418904000370&site=eds-live&scope=site.
“Two Kinds” brings to light the common struggle for power between mother and daughter. It also illustrates the cultural division between an Asian immigrant and her Asian American daughter. In Tan’s novel, The Joy Luck Club (1986), June finds out that her mother’s twin daughters are not dead like they had assumed. The twins were alive and well. According to Hoyte, June get to know her sisters In order to understand the relationship she had with her mother: “The connection between China and the United States is made even stronger by June’s desire to know her half sisters and, by doing so, to understand both her mother and herself”(par.8). It wasn’t until after her mother’s death that she found out the status of her sisters.
Orr, Tamra. Amy Tan : Author Extraordinaire. Abdo Publishing, 2010. EBSCOhost, ezproxy.gsu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=395116&site=eds-live&scope=site.
Amy Tan is the daughter of Chinese immigrants. A lot of her stories focus on mother-daughter relationships and are also based on events from her own life. “Tan writes about female characters who feel pressure from their parents to succeed. Tan’s parents put a great amount of pressure on her when she was a student, so she knows how to describe what her characters are experiencing” (11).
Parameswari, V. “Integral Bond between Mothers and Daughters in Amy Tan’s The Kitchen God’s Wife and The Joy Luck Club.” Language in India, vol. 17, no. 10, Oct. 2017, pp. 188–200. EBSCOhost, ezproxy.gsu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ufh&AN=125985931&site=eds-live&scope=site.
Asian American history is the history of ethnic and racial groups in the United States who are of Asian descent. Many Asian Americans felt their race didn’t hold much importance as other dominant races. Fortunately, the writings of Tan and other Asian American writers would create a new identity in America-making Asian American literature popular. “Asian American literature is now one of the most popular and important research areas within American literature and Comparative literature studies in China” (2). Asian American literature became a category during the 1970s.
Priya, Lakshmi. “Cultural Barrier through Communication - As Explained in Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club.” Language in India, vol. 12, no. 1, Jan. 2012, pp. 70–76. EBSCOhost, ezproxy.gsu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ufh&AN=71958480&site=eds-live&scope=site.
“Two Kinds” is an example of misunderstanding resulting from a clash of cultural values and generational divide. The mother belongs to an older generation that believes mothers are supposed to run the life of the daughter. The daughter was brought up on the cultural values of more recent years and finds it difficult to understand why her mother wanted control over everything that she does. As I read more from this article, I wish to gain more info regarding generational differences in culture and values of Asian Americans-specifically Tan and her mother.
Stein, Karen F. “Amy Tan.” Critical Survey of Short Fiction, Second Revised Edition, Jan. 2001, pp. 1–3. EBSCOhost, ezproxy.gsu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lfh&AN=103331CSSF14230120000524&site=eds-live&scope=site.
In Amy Tan’s “Two Kinds”, Tan recreates the customs and values of old China in a new American setting. A mother hungers for her daughter to become a prodigy. By the end of the story, Ming realizes how two pieces that she played at a piano recital compares to her own life. “Perfectly Contented” and “Pleading Child: were “two halves of the same songs” (2). I didn’t understand the meaning of that part while reading the story initially.
Tan, Amy. “Two Kinds”. Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing, Compact Edition. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts and Robert Zweig. 6th Ed. New York: Pearson, 2015. 222-229. Print.
Amy Tan's "Two Kinds" is a short story about a relationship between mother and daughter. Suyuan believed that her daughter, Jing-Mei was capable of becoming a young prodigy. She put her daughter through many stressful tests, trying to discover her natural talent. The idea of the ‘American Dream’ both separates and connect both characters simultaneously. In America, immigrants can indeed be anything they want to be-even if they wish to only be themselves.
Wood, Michelle Gaffner. “Negotiating the Geography of Mother-Daughter Relationships in Amy Tan’s ‘The Joy Luck Club.’” Midwest Quarterly, vol. 54, no. 1, Sept. 2012, pp. 82–96. EBSCOhost, ezproxy.gsu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=slh&AN=82542184&site=eds-live&scope=site.
Many people believed that Tan would have a hard time getting readers to relate to the “weird” family conflicts that she shared throughout her stories. In fact, Dana Cioia, the chairperson of the National Endowment for the Arts commented, "I had no idea this was going to be anything but weird stories about a weird family that was unique to us. To think that they would apply to other people who would find similarities to their own families or conflicts was beyond my imagination" (49).
I am hoping to find information that is useful in identifying how the themes in “Two Kinds”relate to my thesis statement. I am also hoping to find out more information regarding Amy’s relationship with her Mom. I would also like to know how much Tan and her fiction character Jing-Mei relate and how do they differ as well.
Evans, Robert C. The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan. Salem Press, 2010. EBSCOhost, ezproxy.gsu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=364988&site=eds-live&scope=site.
While analyzing this article, I was able to find out more background information regarding Amy Tan’s early life. Amy Tan is the second of three children born to John and Daisy Tan. Her father was a Baptist minister. Daisy was forced to leave behind three daughters from a previous marriage when she fled Communist troops. Tan’s father and older brother both died of brain cancer.
Horner, Matina S., et al. “Amy Tan.” Amy Tan (0-7910-5889-1), Jan. 2002, pp. 7–32. EBSCOhost, ezproxy.gsu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ndh&AN=9240117&site=eds-live&scope=site.
Tan remembers that as a child she felt like an American girl trapped in a Chinese body. She once described how she tried to change the shape of her nose by pinching it with a clothespin, hoping it to make it narrower. "There was shame and self-hate," she said when explaining her childhood efforts to understand where she truly belonged (par.23). Basically, Tan just wanted to blend in with all of the other “normal” Americans. She considered her parents an embarrassment because of their old Chinese ways of living.
Kirsten Dinnall Hoyte. Contradiction and Culture: Revisiting Amy Tan’s “Two Kinds” (Again). no. 1, 2011, p. 161. EBSCOhost, ezproxy.gsu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edspmu&AN=edspmu.S2157418904000370&site=eds-live&scope=site.
“Two Kinds” brings to light the common struggle for power between mother and daughter. It also illustrates the cultural division between an Asian immigrant and her Asian American daughter. In Tan’s novel, The Joy Luck Club (1986), June finds out that her mother’s twin daughters are not dead like they had assumed. The twins were alive and well. According to Hoyte, June get to know her sisters In order to understand the relationship she had with her mother: “The connection between China and the United States is made even stronger by June’s desire to know her half sisters and, by doing so, to understand both her mother and herself”(par.8). It wasn’t until after her mother’s death that she found out the status of her sisters.
Orr, Tamra. Amy Tan : Author Extraordinaire. Abdo Publishing, 2010. EBSCOhost, ezproxy.gsu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=395116&site=eds-live&scope=site.
Amy Tan is the daughter of Chinese immigrants. A lot of her stories focus on mother-daughter relationships and are also based on events from her own life. “Tan writes about female characters who feel pressure from their parents to succeed. Tan’s parents put a great amount of pressure on her when she was a student, so she knows how to describe what her characters are experiencing” (11).
Parameswari, V. “Integral Bond between Mothers and Daughters in Amy Tan’s The Kitchen God’s Wife and The Joy Luck Club.” Language in India, vol. 17, no. 10, Oct. 2017, pp. 188–200. EBSCOhost, ezproxy.gsu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ufh&AN=125985931&site=eds-live&scope=site.
Asian American history is the history of ethnic and racial groups in the United States who are of Asian descent. Many Asian Americans felt their race didn’t hold much importance as other dominant races. Fortunately, the writings of Tan and other Asian American writers would create a new identity in America-making Asian American literature popular. “Asian American literature is now one of the most popular and important research areas within American literature and Comparative literature studies in China” (2). Asian American literature became a category during the 1970s.
Priya, Lakshmi. “Cultural Barrier through Communication - As Explained in Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club.” Language in India, vol. 12, no. 1, Jan. 2012, pp. 70–76. EBSCOhost, ezproxy.gsu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ufh&AN=71958480&site=eds-live&scope=site.
“Two Kinds” is an example of misunderstanding resulting from a clash of cultural values and generational divide. The mother belongs to an older generation that believes mothers are supposed to run the life of the daughter. The daughter was brought up on the cultural values of more recent years and finds it difficult to understand why her mother wanted control over everything that she does. As I read more from this article, I wish to gain more info regarding generational differences in culture and values of Asian Americans-specifically Tan and her mother.
Stein, Karen F. “Amy Tan.” Critical Survey of Short Fiction, Second Revised Edition, Jan. 2001, pp. 1–3. EBSCOhost, ezproxy.gsu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lfh&AN=103331CSSF14230120000524&site=eds-live&scope=site.
In Amy Tan’s “Two Kinds”, Tan recreates the customs and values of old China in a new American setting. A mother hungers for her daughter to become a prodigy. By the end of the story, Ming realizes how two pieces that she played at a piano recital compares to her own life. “Perfectly Contented” and “Pleading Child: were “two halves of the same songs” (2). I didn’t understand the meaning of that part while reading the story initially.
Tan, Amy. “Two Kinds”. Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing, Compact Edition. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts and Robert Zweig. 6th Ed. New York: Pearson, 2015. 222-229. Print.
Amy Tan's "Two Kinds" is a short story about a relationship between mother and daughter. Suyuan believed that her daughter, Jing-Mei was capable of becoming a young prodigy. She put her daughter through many stressful tests, trying to discover her natural talent. The idea of the ‘American Dream’ both separates and connect both characters simultaneously. In America, immigrants can indeed be anything they want to be-even if they wish to only be themselves.
Wood, Michelle Gaffner. “Negotiating the Geography of Mother-Daughter Relationships in Amy Tan’s ‘The Joy Luck Club.’” Midwest Quarterly, vol. 54, no. 1, Sept. 2012, pp. 82–96. EBSCOhost, ezproxy.gsu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=slh&AN=82542184&site=eds-live&scope=site.
Many people believed that Tan would have a hard time getting readers to relate to the “weird” family conflicts that she shared throughout her stories. In fact, Dana Cioia, the chairperson of the National Endowment for the Arts commented, "I had no idea this was going to be anything but weird stories about a weird family that was unique to us. To think that they would apply to other people who would find similarities to their own families or conflicts was beyond my imagination" (49).