The Prodigy I Never Was

2. Two Kinds

3. This chapter can be related to almost every Asian child ever born. Even I can relate to this chapter. I felt so bad for Jing-Mei because her mom wanted her to be a prodigy so badly. They tried everything and when they finally found what Jing-Mei was good at, she never practiced, so she never reached her full potential. I was sad to see that such beautiful talent was being put to waste because she didn't want to practice and please her mother. It was so saddening how Jing-Mei rebelled against her mother, even though this was usually the way most children stopped their parents from pushing them so hard. I could relate to when Jing-Mei embarassed herself at the piano recital because I did that once myself, though not as badly as described in the text.

4. The relationship between Jing-Mei and her mother is similar to one that any parent and daughter would have. Jing-Mei's mother pushes her in hopes that she will someday reach her fullest potential. The only flaw is that she's pushed too hard and chooses to rebel instead of following what her mother wants. Jing-Mei's mother doesn't understand the struggle her daughter goes through, so she doesn't feel any remorse in pushing her too hard.

5. Tan uses flashbacks in this chapter. She flashes back to when her Jing-Mei's mother tries to force talent out of her and what that led to. Most of the story is in flashback and shows the person that Suyuan was. It also shows what happened when she was alive. Without the flashbacks in this chapter, we wouldn't understand what caused Jing-Mei to feel like the way she did after the passing of her mother

6. The main conflict is man vs. man. The conflict is between Jing-Mei and her mother. Her mother expected and wanted so many things from Jing-Mei. She eventually gets frustrated by the standards her mother placed and instead of trying to please her mother, she rebels. The conflict never did get resolved because Jing-Mei carries her hurt feelings for many years, even after the death of her mother.