In “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan, and “Dreaming Of Heroes” by H.G. Bissinger there is a focus on expectations. In both stories expectations were based on what the parents wanted from their children. Family expectations can be challenging at times, but they can also have both positive and negative effects on young children
In “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan family expectations cause a great deal of stress between
JingMei and her mother. JingMei’s mother believes that in America anything is possible.
This idea leads JingMei’s mother to say “Of course you can be prodigy too, you can be best anything”. JIngMei’s mother has high expectations on her daughter was big because she wants her to be prodigy .In the text it says “My mother would poke my arm and say, “Ni
Kan”you watch. And I would see Shirley tapping her feet, or singing a sailor song”. By this the author means that Jingmei’s mother is telling her daughter that she could be the best at anything such as singing or dancing. Later on, it says “ we didn’t immediately pick the right kind of prodigy”. This shows that Jingmei’s mother had tried hard to make her daughter a prodigy but expectations can be difficult to meet. Later on in the text it says “ But sometimes the prodigy in me became impatient”. This connects to my theme because it shows that
JingMei mother wants her to be a prodigy and she is becoming impatient so she is ruining her life. It also connects to my theme because Jingmei felt the need to become good at something that her mother approved so her mom could stop putting pressure on her so
JingMei’s life is ruining. The expectations that JingMei’s mother had for her proved to have negative effect on JingMei. However, family expectations don’t always have negative results, they can have the very opposite. Some family expectations have a positive effect on children. In “Dreaming of Heroes” by H.G Bissinger we see how Billy’s expectations of his son
Mike create a positive relationship between father and son. It says “Under the demanding tutelage of his his father, Mike could do no wrong in little league”. Billy had a strong pride in what he taught his son. Mike had a strong respect for his father, “There was MIke at the flea markets they went to together on saturday every sundays over on University, helping his father lift the boxes