User talk:Sopher99

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^ When children leave their homeland for good, they are enlisted in a metaphysical de-schooling program called “a new life”. The eerie change of lifestyle and culture take hold of them, and their identity will become confused. They will become stuck in a sort of limbo between the dream of a better life and the comforts of their genuine culture and people that they had for the most part left behind. For second generation Americans, this process is subtler. Second generation Americans are granted a perception of their homeland that is far different from heir parents. It is a view devoid of understanding about the true nature of their homeland, people and culture. What best emulates this diaspora in this imbalance between the second generation Americans and their homelands, are two short tales by author Amy tan. In those two short tales A Pair of Tickets and Two Kinds, a fine image emerges of the relation between mother, daughter, and their home country, China. The identity of the children clashes with that of their parents, and their individual degrees of diaspora profoundly influence their identity. Their identity is not only changed by their or their parent’s displacement, but further changes when the struggle of Chinese identity, long forgotten in their hearts, re-emerges. In some ways, the Chinese identity of protagonist Jing Mei of A Pair of Tickets and Two Kinds, becomes more potent through diaspora. As previously stated, the relation between the homeland and a second generational American or one who had moved too young to remember, is often a very distant one. In such cases, diaspora is often paired with ignorance, misunderstanding, misperceptions, and confusion. This is greatly apparent in such scenarios such as Jing Mei’s, who as an adult visited China for the first time to see her half sisters, and her Chinese identity was overtly weak. Her identity as a Chinese woman was so absent, that Jing Mei claimed she had no Chinese heritage within her. She was reluctant to go to China, and had become comfortable in America. Jing Mei felt that she had to become Chinese to enjoy a trip to China, and that it would be a radical change form the way she was then. Jing Mei has two train tickets, one for her father and one for herself. The train ride through China radically alters her identity, and even how that identity is placed. Jing-Mei’s father accompanies her on the train, and describes how Jing-Mei’s mother and himself moved to America to escape war. He also describes that before that happened, her mother, unable to take care of her two baby twins (Jing Mei’s half sisters) reluctantly left them by the roadside in hopes that someone who is able to take care of them will find them. For the rest of Suyuan’s (Jing Mei’s mother) life, her greatest wish is to re-unite with her two lost daughters. Suyuan coincidently dies one month before Jing Mei’s half sisters contact Jing Mei and her father through mail. Jing Mei learns that in reality, she and her father are on a journey to fulfill her mother’s dream. In fact Jing Mei discovers that name Suyuan mean “long cherished wish” in Chinese, which is exactly what they are completing through the train ride through China. This gives Jing Mei an epiphany that through her mother and her heritage, she was Chinese all along, and that it is not something that simply changes based on where one lives. Jing Mei’s diaspora which consisted primarily of doubt and skepticism of her Chinese heritage radically changed to self-identification as a Chinese woman through her mother’s diaspora – that of longing for China, for her family. Two kinds takes a different approach to diaspora versus self identity. The story focuses on Jing Mei and her mother, where her mother wishes for Jing Mei to pursue the American dream, or at least her version of it. Jing Mei’s mother pressures Jing Mei to become a pianist to compete with other family friends whose children are prodigies. Her mother, a Chinese immigrant, eagerly pursues the American dream, but her perception of it is deeply influenced by the American culture around her, such as the television. After much piano practice Jing Mei eventually enrolls in a talent show, but when he tries to demonstrate her piano abilities to the audience she makes many mistakes and hits many wrong notes. She expects that her failure at the talent show meant she did not have to try at the piano anymore, yet never the less her mother wants her to keep practicing. At that point Jing Mei staunchly refusing telling her mother that “You want me to something I’m not… Ill never be the kind of daughter you want me to be!”. Her mother responds by telling her that there are only two kinds of daughters: Obedient ones and ones that follow their own minds. The mother demands her daughter to be obedient. Jing mei then states how she wishes she was not her mother’s daughter, to which the responds that it is too late for that. Jing Mei then states how she wish she was dead – like her twin sisters rarely mentioned in the household. When states this her mother quickly backs off, concluding their struggle. The mother gives up pursing her daughter to follow her American dream of being a prodigy. It is my interpretation that the story was trying to evoke a different interpretation of the American dream. The mother had interpreted it as meaning one can try to achieve any talents or any profession one desires. The story however conveys that the “being anything you want” really means one is free from other people making their choices for them – a concept quite contrary to the parental system in China. The mother had identified her self as an American because her daughter had the ability to pursue any activity she wanted. But the daughter identified herself as an American because she had the freed of choice, and her choice alone. This diaspora, the different between her and her homeland ended up with a greater sense of what it means to be Chinese and what it means to be American, even though her Chinese heritage was not thoroughly explored in this short story. Online links to the short stories A Pair of Train Tickets: http://books.google.com/books?id=2mgnEzzaJrIC&pg=PA267&lpg=PA267&dq=%22a+pair+of+tickets%22+Amy+tan&source=bl&ots=CXLSkHvNNV&sig=0Dq7duyrjHGasINnyCPntO4Nrts&hl=en&ei=6914TojUE4bu0gGr6OySDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CFAQ6AEwCDgK#v=onepage&q&f=false Two kinds:

[1] When children leave their homeland for good, they are enlisted in a metaphysical de-schooling program called “a new life”. The eerie change of lifestyle and culture take hold of them, and their identity will become confused. They will become stuck in a sort of limbo between the dream of a better life and the comforts of their genuine culture and people that they had for the most part left behind. For second generation Americans, this process is subtler. Second generation Americans are granted a perception of their homeland that is far different from heir parents. It is a view devoid of understanding about the true nature of their homeland, people and culture. What best emulates this diaspora in this imbalance between the second generation Americans and their homelands, are two short tales by author Amy tan. In those two short tales A Pair of Tickets and Two Kinds, a fine image emerges of the relation between mother, daughter, and their home country, China. The identity of the children clashes with that of their parents, and their individual degrees of diaspora profoundly influence their identity. Their identity is not only changed by their or their parent’s displacement, but further changes when the struggle of Chinese identity, long forgotten in their hearts, re-emerges. In some ways, the Chinese identity of protagonist Jing Mei of A Pair of Tickets and Two Kinds, becomes more potent through diaspora. As previously stated, the relation between the homeland and a second generational American or one who had moved too young to remember, is often a very distant one. In such cases, diaspora is often paired with ignorance, misunderstanding, misperceptions, and confusion. This is greatly apparent in such scenarios such as Jing Mei’s, who as an adult visited China for the first time to see her half sisters, and her Chinese identity was overtly weak. Her identity as a Chinese woman was so absent, that Jing Mei claimed she had no Chinese heritage within her. She was reluctant to go to China, and had become comfortable in America. Jing Mei felt that she had to become Chinese to enjoy a trip to China, and that it would be a radical change form the way she was then. Jing Mei has two train tickets, one for her father and one for herself. The train ride through China radically alters her identity, and even how that identity is placed. Jing-Mei’s father accompanies her on the train, and describes how Jing-Mei’s mother and himself moved to America to escape war. He also describes that before that happened, her mother, unable to take care of her two baby twins (Jing Mei’s half sisters) reluctantly left them by the roadside in hopes that someone who is able to take care of them will find them. For the rest of Suyuan’s (Jing Mei’s mother) life, her greatest wish is to re-unite with her two lost daughters. Suyuan coincidently dies one month before Jing Mei’s half sisters contact Jing Mei and her father through mail. Jing Mei learns that in reality, she and her father are on a journey to fulfill her mother’s dream. In fact Jing Mei discovers that name Suyuan mean “long cherished wish” in Chinese, which is exactly what they are completing through the train ride through China. This gives Jing Mei an epiphany that through her mother and her heritage, she was Chinese all along, and that it is not something that simply changes based on where one lives. Jing Mei’s diaspora which consisted primarily of doubt and skepticism of her Chinese heritage radically changed to self-identification as a Chinese woman through her mother’s diaspora – that of longing for China, for her family. Two kinds takes a different approach to diaspora versus self identity. The story focuses on Jing Mei and her mother, where her mother wishes for Jing Mei to pursue the American dream, or at least her version of it. Jing Mei’s mother pressures Jing Mei to become a pianist to compete with other family friends whose children are prodigies. Her mother, a Chinese immigrant, eagerly pursues the American dream, but her perception of it is deeply influenced by the American culture around her, such as the television. After much piano practice Jing Mei eventually enrolls in a talent show, but when he tries to demonstrate her piano abilities to the audience she makes many mistakes and hits many wrong notes. She expects that her failure at the talent show meant she did not have to try at the piano anymore, yet never the less her mother wants her to keep practicing. At that point Jing Mei staunchly refusing telling her mother that “You want me to something I’m not… Ill never be the kind of daughter you want me to be!”. Her mother responds by telling her that there are only two kinds of daughters: Obedient ones and ones that follow their own minds. The mother demands her daughter to be obedient. Jing mei then states how she wishes she was not her mother’s daughter, to which the responds that it is too late for that. Jing Mei then states how she wish she was dead – like her twin sisters rarely mentioned in the household. When states this her mother quickly backs off, concluding their struggle. The mother gives up pursing her daughter to follow her American dream of being a prodigy. It is my interpretation that the story was trying to evoke a different interpretation of the American dream. The mother had interpreted it as meaning one can try to achieve any talents or any profession one desires. The story however conveys that the “being anything you want” really means one is free from other people making their choices for them – a concept quite contrary to the parental system in China. The mother had identified her self as an American because her daughter had the ability to pursue any activity she wanted. But the daughter identified herself as an American because she had the freed of choice, and her choice alone. This diaspora, the different between her and her homeland ended up with a greater sense of what it means to be Chinese and what it means to be American, even though her Chinese heritage was not thoroughly explored in this short story. Online links to the short stories A Pair of Train Tickets: http://books.google.com/books?id=2mgnEzzaJrIC&pg=PA267&lpg=PA267&dq=%22a+pair+of+tickets%22+Amy+tan&source=bl&ots=CXLSkHvNNV&sig=0Dq7duyrjHGasINnyCPntO4Nrts&hl=en&ei=6914TojUE4bu0gGr6OySDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CFAQ6AEwCDgK#v=onepage&q&f=false Two kinds:

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