Character and Culture in Literature

Read the passage from "Two Kinds." I had assumed that my talent-show fiasco meant I never had to play the piano again. But two days later, after school, my mother came out of the kitchen and saw me watching TV. "Four clock," she reminded me as if it were any other day. I was stunned, as though she were asking me to go through the talent-show torture again. I wedged myself more tightly in front of the TV. "Turn off TV," she called from the kitchen five minutes later. I didn't budge. And then I decided. I didn't have to do what mother said anymore. 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 came out from the kitchen and stood in the arched entryway of the living room. "Four clock," she said once again, louder. "I'm not going to play anymore," I said nonchalantly. "Why should I? I'm not a genius." She walked over and stood in front of the TV. I saw her chest was heaving up and down in an angry way. "No!" I said, and I now felt stronger, as if my true self had finally emerged. So this was what had been inside me all along. "No! I won't!" I screamed. What type of conflict occurs in the passage?

character vs. character

The term extrinsic motivation refers to reasons to act that

originate in the character's outside environment.

What is the best definition of intrinsic motivation?

reasons to act that come from within a character

Read the passage from "Two Kinds." I could see why my mother was fascinated by the music. It was being pounded out by a little Chinese girl, about nine years old, with a Peter Pan haircut. The girl had the sauciness of a Shirley Temple. She was proudly modest like a proper Chinese Child. And she also did this fancy sweep of a curtsy, so that the fluffy skirt of her white dress cascaded slowly to the floor like the petals of a large carnation. Which Chinese cultural values are revealed by the passage?

self-control and conformity

Read the passage from "Two Kinds." And then I saw what seemed to be the prodigy side of me—because I had never seen that face before. I looked at my reflection, blinking so I could see more clearly. The girl staring back at me was angry, powerful. This girl and I were the same. 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. What kind of motivation do the narrator's thoughts show?

Intrinsic motivation: The narrator refuses to change her true nature to please someone else.

Read the passage from "Two Kinds." And I started to play. It was so beautiful. I was so caught up in how lovely I looked that at first I didn't worry how I would sound. So it was a surprise to me when I hit the first wrong note and I realized something didn't sound quite right. And then I hit another and another followed that. A chill started at the top of my head and began to trickle down. Yet I couldn't stop playing, as though my hands were bewitched. I kept thinking my fingers would adjust themselves back, like a train switching to the right track. I played this strange jumble through two repeats, the sour notes staying with me all the way to the end. How is this passage an example of an internal conflict?

It describes the narrator's thoughts and feelings as she struggles through a poor performance.

Which statement best explains the cultural conflict that occurs between the mother and the daughter in "Two Kinds"?

The mother has moved to the United States from China and wants to preserve the Chinese family structure, but the daughter wants independence like an American teenager.

Which statements are true of external conflicts? Select three options.

They propel the plot of a story. They take place between two characters in a story. They happen when a character is at odds with society.

Which scenario is an example of intrinsic motivation?

Yannick always studies until midnight because he wants to get a good grade.

The term internal conflict refers to a struggle between a character and

him- or herself.