1) This idea of how only obedient daughters can stay under a parent's roof is one my mother uses on me all the time. If I don't immediatley obey what my mother says, she automatically uses the "Get out of the house" card.
2) This entire story reminds me of the movie Hairspray. In that movie, the young girl has a talent that she yearns to show others to become famous. But it is her mother who tells her to stop daydreaming and concentrate on schoolwork and studying. In this story, it is the exact opposite. Jing-Mei's mother wants her to use her talent (any talent actually) to become famous, while Jing-Mei just wants to give up.
3) My mother also made me and my sister take piano lessons at a young age (for me when I was in pre-school). I think this is just an average way of Asian family thinking.
4)Sometimes I want my mother to yell at me so I can have an excuse to yell back at her too. I know its not a good way to think about things and to take things, but honestly sometimes I just need to yell and get all of my thoughts out.
5) Just like the main character in this story, sometimes I do something entirely different in my head and do a different action on the outiside. For example, when I am actually playing piano, I am picturing in side my head a scene that matches with the type of music that I am playing. I usually imagine myself twirling in through the scenes and dancing or singing along with the music.
6) Like Jing-Mei, I am always nervous and most of the time unprepared for most (if not all) piano recitals. However, unlike Jing-Mei I actually try my best during practice time to perform my ultimate best during the actual performance.
--> Paragraph Reflection
While reading the short story "Two Kinds" I felt like every two sentences I could either say the words "AHA! EXACTLY MY SITUATION!" or "Aww...poor Jing-Mei". Throughout this whole story, I knew that there were many confucianist ideas swirling around in the story. I could tell that this particular Chinese family was heavily influenced by Confucianist ways of living. An example of this is a) respect for others b) having to study to become important (well this is more of an asian idea..sigh..) c) Obedience to elders and respect to others above you whether that be in age or status. In the areas where similar asian ways of living popped up I felt like I was watching a movie of my family that was unfolding throughout the story. However, in the parts where Jing-Mei forcefully rebels and doesn't practice piano contradicted sharply with my own way of growing up. I obeyed my parents with little or no question. I feel like "Two Kinds" was a story that I connected very easily with.
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