Two Kinds Analysis

Read this passage from “Two Kinds.” Here, Auntie Lindo, Waverly’s mother, is speaking to the narrator’s mother about Waverly: “She bring home too many trophy,” lamented Auntie Lindo that Sunday. “All day she play chess. All day I have no time do nothing but dust off her winnings.”

Which statement best describes what this passage reveals about the characters and their situation?

• Auntie Lindo is concerned that Waverly has too few hobbies.

• Auntie Lindo likes to show off Waverly's accomplishments, using her trophies to compete with the narrator's mother, even while pretending to complain.

• Auntie Lindo is jealous that the narrator also has trophies.

• Auntie Lindo is tired of dusting all of Waverly's chess trophies.

In “Two Kinds,” the mother arranges for the daughter to have piano lessons. The daughter gives the following response. “Why don’t you like me the way I am? I’m not a genius!”

Based on this quotation, choose what the daughter most likely believes.

• If her mother wants her to develop a talent, then her mother must not value her as she is.

• If her mother wants her to develop a talent, then her mother must realize that she is not a genius.

• Because she is not a genius, she does not deserve her mother's efforts to improve her.

• Because she is not a genius, she must work harder than other people do to succeed.

"For unlike my mother, I did not believe I could be anything I wanted to be." I could only be me.

Which statement best sums up the theme, or message, of “Two Kinds”?

• Determination is more important than genius.

• A happy family requires obedient children.

• Accepting oneself can be more important than success.

• A parent's expectations inspire a child's achievements.

From which point of view is 'Two Kinds' written?

• first person, from the daughter's point of view

• first person, from the mother's point of view

• third person, from the daughter's point of view

• third person, from the mother's point of view

In 'Two Kinds,' which character trait do the daughter and mother share?

• sensitivity

• stubbornness

• cheerfulness

• peacefulness

Read this passage from “Two Kinds.” Here, the narrator explains how she began reacting to her mother’s quizzes.

I had new thoughts, willful thoughts, or rather thoughts filled with lots of won’ts. I won’t let her change me, I promised myself. I won’t be what I’m not. So now on nights when my mother presented her tests, I performed listlessly, my head propped on one arm. I pretended to be bored. And I was.

Which sentence best explains what drives, or motivates, the narrator to act bored?

• She feels like a failure when she doesn't know the answers to the tests.

• She realizes that learning piano is more interesting than taking tests.

• She decides that she will not be pushed into becoming a prodigy.

• She believes that the tests represent her mother's anger at her.

Read this sentence from “Two Kinds.” Here, the narrator explains that she has continued to disappoint her mother.

In the years that followed, I failed her so many times, each time asserting my own will, my right to fall short of expectations.

What perspective does this comment reveal about the narrator?

• She desperately wanted to overcome failure.

• Failure became a way for her to express her independence.

• Disappointing her mother was unavoidable but devastating.

• Her mother's expectations served as a warning to her.