Abstract
The paper looks at Amy Tan's, "Two Kinds," and at how this well-received short story is a thoughtful look at how living one's own life (not the life others wish for you) is the secret to happiness - and also an act of considerable personal courage. The paper explores the constraints placed upon the story's protagonist by her mother, and addresses the notion of courage and how a lack of courage actually brought Amy Tan much pain and suffering in her formative years as she grappled with being something she was not. Lastly, the paper concludes by looking at the Chinese-American experience in America and how this shaped the dynamics of the Tan household. The paper highlights the message that life is about living - and living well means living as oneself.

From the Paper
"The following paper will look at Amy Tan's, "Two Kinds," and at how this well-received short story is a thoughtful look at how living one's own life (not the life others wish for you) is the secret to happiness - and also an act of considerable personal courage. With that in mind, the next few pages will explore the constraints placed upon the story's protagonist (ostensibly a youthful Amy Tan) by her mother; time will also be devoted to looking at the notion of courage and how a lack of courage actually brought Amy Tan much pain and suffering in her formative years as she grappled with being something she was not. Lastly, the paper will conclude..."

Tags:amy, tan, kinds

Abstract
This paper uses Amy Tan's story "Two Kinds" to explore parenting styles. The paper first explains that, in the story 'Two Kinds', included in Amy Tan's book "The Joy Luck Club", the character of Jing-mei defies her mother's domineering desire to force her to become a musical prodigy in order to compete with one of her friend's daughter Waverly. The paper then takes a look at literature about raising gifted children and about child rearing in the Asian culture. The paper concludes that, as with Amy Tan's characters, Waverly and her mother, parents should praise and encourage goal setting. In addition, parents must not push too hard but rather listen to the desires of their children so that they can become independent and socially happy.

From the Paper
"Even though twenty years have passed since this childhood struggle, Jing-mei, the narrator of the story, still grapples with her mother's overbearing domination. The two mothers in the story are determined to make the girls excel out of their own prideful motivations. But the two mothers represent two styles of parenting. Whereas Waverly basks in her mother's praise and succeeds at the piano recital, Jing-mei performs poorly and combats her mother's brow-beating through rebellion."

Tags:individuality domineering, prideful motivations, overachievement balance

Abstract
This paper examines how Amy Bloom's "The Story" is a prime example of the numerous ways one can play with metafiction to enhance a reading or writing experience. The paper explains that Bloom uses two separate narrators to achieve this: One is self-conscious and the other one is not, but both are unreliable. The paper looks at how one narrator peels away the mystery of storytelling by discussing the elements of fiction, and even inviting the reader or audience to help in making creative decisions. The paper points out that combined, the narrators increase the self-reflexivity of the piece, calling the reader to reflect on fiction and how it is created and presented. In essence, this paper shows that Amy Bloom reflects on the art of storytelling by creating a self-conscious first person narrator.

From the Paper
"Amy, the narrator from page 58 and onward, is aware of the fact that she's telling a story to an audience or reader, and constantly reminds the reader of that by asking the audience about creative decisions. "Can I say that the husband was not any kind of importer? Can I say that he was what he really was, a modestly well-known cartoonist?" she asks on page 58. She does it again in the following paragraph when she asks: "Should I describe him as tall and blond when in fact he was dark and muscular, like the husband?" This not only has the effect of temporarily taking the audience out of the story, but it also causes us to reflect on the elements of fiction, in this case, characterization. Amy also discusses her creative decisions by acknowledging (although falsely, perhaps) what effect they may have on the story as a whole."

Tags:self-conscious, narrator, style, storytelling, fiction

Abstract
This paper explains that two important contemporary playwrights, Sam Shepard and Amy Freed, investigate liminal and traumatic psychological experiences in their analysis of dysfunctional relationships between fathers and sons. The author points out that Shepard's play "Buried Child" incorporates important allusions to the Oedipus myth; whereas, Amy Freed's "Freedomland" hints at the Biblical myth of the flood.

From the Paper
"The play hints at the need for spiritual regeneration in many ways. Thus, food appears frequently in the text in various forms, as a hint for the need of spiritual nurture. In the present state of things, the corrupted relationship between father and son point to degeneration and corruption. The corpse of the buried child which later is unearthed by Tilden is symbolic for corruption and degeneration. Significantly, Tilden seems to be drawn to the place where the child was buried and keeps digging for something. He first comes back to the house with an armful of corn."

Tags:archetypal, myths, regeneration, incest, abandonment

Abstract
This paper takes a look at how Amy Tan's stories and novels have shaped the American view of the experience of Asian-American immigrants. The paper looks at the contrasts that Amy Tan had to face, especially in terms of the clash with her mother's culture, and the confrontation of the experiences of Asian immigrants in American history.

From the Paper
"A look at how Tan's stories and novels have shaped the American view of the experience of Asian-American immigrants. Looks at the contrasts the Amy Tan had to face, especially in terms of culture clash with her mother's culture, and Tan's confrontation of the experiences of Asian immigrants in American history."

Tags:immigration, china, culture, clash, asians

Abstract
This paper explores the dominant theme of mother-daughter conflict and fragmented cultural identity in Amy Tan's "The Joy Luck Club," "Two Kinds," and "The Kitchen God's Wife".

From the Paper
"Waverly's mother, misunderstanding her daughter's angry outburst, thinks Waverly is saying she is ashamed of her Chinese mother, especially to be seen with her in public. But Waverly means simply that she would like her mother to stop bragging about her because she herself feels embarrassed by it. The misunderstanding brought about by this heated exchange, however, clouds the mother-daughter relationship for years afterward. Neither one can or will forget about it, even long after Waverly grows up and leaves home. To Waverly's Chinese mother, family solidarity and pride is her most important value. But to her American-born and thoroughly Americanized daughter, individuality and independence are far more important, and she resents what she sees as her mother's smothering attitude. In this early scene in the novel, Waverly is not in fact rejecting her mother, but instead simply asserting her own separateness from her, a distinction Waverly's mother finds impossible to understand."

Tags:conflict-ridden, relationships, uneasily, assimilated, immigrant, hopes, wishes, ambitions

Abstract
This paper provides a biography of the author, along with come critical reactions to some of her best-known works and a short analysis of "The Joy Luck Club," her first book. It explains how Amy Tan has become one of the most beloved Asian-American authors in America today. It shows how her moving novels open up Asian-American culture to many new readers and allow them to experience the joys and frustrations of Asian-Americans creating new lives for themselves in the United States.

From the Paper
"Amy began her dreams of writing at a young age. She won an essay contest when she was only eight-years old, and she began to dream of a writing career after this, while her parents encouraged her to become a doctor or scientist and to play concert piano for a relaxing hobby. Tan lost both her brother and father to brain tumors when she was only fifteen, and after this, her mother simply returned completely to her Chinese customs, turning her back on American ways. Eventually, Tan's mother even left America, and took the children to Europe, where they eventually settled in Montreux, Switzerland."

Tags:chinese, joy, luck, club, asian, american

Abstract
This paper examines the life, career and literature of best-selling Chinese-American author Amy Tan. The author focuses specifically on her novel "The Hundred Secret Senses", and examines the history of Chinese-American immigrants, the discrimination they were subjected to, and the pressures of assimilation into American culture. The paper also looks at the pull between Chinese tradition and American way of life, and how Tan struggles with this issue in her writing.

From the Paper
"In only a handful of novels, Amy Tan has brought us the legends and stories of her background. She has introduced the American public to a new world of fiction, based on her own experiences mingled with the experiences of her ancestors in their beloved homeland of China . In these stories, she has shown herself to be a writer of uncommon technical skills, powers of observation, and richness of humanity, a combination of gifts that inspires her many readers to eager anticipation of her future works."

Tags:american, asia, author, china, chinese, club, culture, immigrants, joy, luck, sisters, kitchen, god

Abstract
This paper takes a look at the works of Amy Tan, "Two Kinds," from the perspective of new historical criticism, which looks at the authors life and environment along with the work itself.

From the Paper
"Amy Tan writes about autobiographical events and circumstances in her life in her works The Joy Luck Club and "Two Kinds." "Two Kinds" is a slice of events from her childhood that shows the conflict between Tan and her mother, the collision of old and new cultures, the past and the present, parents' expectations vs. reality, and obedience vs. defiance. Pairs of opposing elements comprise the whole of the story; the title itself, "Two Kinds," shows the tension that Tan creates. The argument that presents itself is that Amy Tan is the only person who could have written this story because only she experienced those opposing elements. An examination of "Two Kinds" defends this theory. "

Tags:immigrants, culture, clash, Asian, china

Abstract
This paper provides a biography of the novelist Amy Tan born on February 19, 1952, in Oakland, California, to Chinese parents. It examines how her novel, "The Joy Luck Club", is, in many ways, a biography of Tan's life. It discusses how like the main character, Tan did not learn that she had half-sisters from her mother's previous marriage until she was older. It evaluates many other parallels between her life and the book such as how she describes her pain from her father and brother's deaths, through Suyuan Woo's loss of her twin daughters and her death. It also shows how like the main character of "The Joy Luck Club", Tan resented her mother when she was younger for being so controlling.

Outline
Introduction
A Biography
The Joy Luck Club
Generation Gaps in the Joy Luck Club
Cultural Differences
Chinese American Life
Conclusion

From the Paper
"One of the major themes in Tan's " The Joy Luck Club" is a constant quest for identity. Tan's eight main characters all face the challenge of defining themselves while they are undergoing some sort of personal conflict. Lindo Jong's early marriage into an unreceptive family caused her to become a stronger woman and made her vow to never forget her roots. Ying-ying St. Clair became a sort of "ghost" as the result of betrayal and loss in her life. Rose Hsu Jordan repeatedly tried to get her self-confidence back to standup to husband. June Woo narrates much of the story, telling of her quest to China, which was orchestrated by her Joy Luck Club aunties. June tries to understand her mother's tragic past, while realizing her own personal and ethnic identity. "

Tags:china, culture, identity, suyuan, woo