What two kinds does the title refer to? Comparing the proper Chinese daughter to Jing Mei: Tan shows us, before Jing Mei's humiliation, a "real prodigy," the girl on TV who is so "properly modest" as well as talented: the model child her mother is hoping Jing Mei will become.
After the recital, Jing Mei sees another "real" prodigy, her school and neighborhood rival, the chess champion Waverly Jong. Waverly underscores Jing Mei's failures by putting it plainly: "you aren't a genius like me". This is, of course, the truth, but it comes from a person Jing Mei would rather not hear it from. Comparing mother and daughter. Do you think it is fairly common that some mothers create resentment in their children by trying to do things they feel are in their childrens' best interests?
Can you think of any examples? Answers will vary. Have you ever had an experience as embarrassing as Jing Mei's piano recital? Have you ever been asked to, forced to, or encouraged to try to do something that you just could not do? Do you believe people grow up with certain personality traits that can't be changed? What does Jing-Mei expect will happen at the recital?
Does she plan to give the kind of performance that she gives? Why or why not? Jing Mei things the recital will go just fine. She found the piece relatively easy during rehearsals, however, so was so accustomed to playing the wrong notes to be stubborn, that when the time came to perform the piece in front of an audience that could actually hear her, she played as she practiced…hitting the wrong notes. Why is the narrator's mother so fixated on making her daughter into some kind of prodigy?
Besides the competition with Lindo Jong, what larger cultural forces may be encouraging her to think this way? She has high hopes that her daughter will be a great success as a prodigy. A prodigy is a young person who is exceptionally talented or intelligent. Prodigies, however, are born with an innate talent that manifests itself under the proper guidance, as has Waverly Jong's chess genius. To discover the fallacy of Mrs. Woo's reasoning, all we have to do is contrast Waverly's instant fascination with chess to Jing-mei's refusal to practice the piano.
Furthermore, Waverly receives only a few chess pointers from an old man in the park before she begins winning tournaments; in contrast, Jing-mei is given extensive if inept personal tutoring, yet she still plays badly in the talent contest.
In addition, Jing-mei has no desire to cooperate with her mother. On the contrary, she fights her every step of the way. I wasn't her slave. This wasn't China. I had listened to her before and look what happened. She was the stupid one," she decides. Determined to thwart her mother's ambitions, Jing-mei neglects practicing the piano.
It is only after her mother's death that Jing-mei begins to realize what her mother had wanted for her. She looks back over the music that she formerly shunned and discovers something that she hadn't noticed before.
The song on the left-hand side of the page is called "Pleading Child"; the one on the right, "Perfectly Contented. This realization brings together the theme of the tension between mothers and daughters.
The mothers and daughters in this book are separated by many factors — age, experience, ambition, and culture. The "pleading child" cannot be "perfectly contented" because she cannot resolve her difficulties with her mother — and herself. In her struggle with her mother, she is struggling with her own identity. Who is Jing-mei? Some combination of the two? Looking back in adulthood, June realizes that, in her determination not to obey her mother, she may have missed out on learning something true about herself.
June reflects on the different ways she feels she disappointed her mother, Suyuan. Suyuan assumed that June could be successful not because she expected her daughter to excel but because she believed that anyone could do anything they wished in America. Readers learn that June assumes that Suyuan wanted her to be the best when, really, Suyuan simply wanted June to be the best version of herself. But then she remembers that her usual clients are always quite happy with her work.
This understanding brings June comfort and allows her to resist judging herself harshly. Later, after meeting her sisters, however, June realizes that being Chinese means being part of a family.
Connecting with her Chinese self makes June feel more complete. SparkTeach Teacher's Handbook. Clair Lena St. Themes Motifs Symbols. Mini Essays Suggested Essay Topics. Quotes Jing-mei June Woo Quotes. Never on time!
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