Reading Check and Short Answer questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Reading Check

1. What does Suyuan believe about America?

2. Why does Suyuan value America?

3. What expectation does Suyuan have for June?

4. Why is June able to get away with poor piano playing?

5. How does June insult her mother?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does June’s response to her mother’s expectations change throughout the story?

2. What is the conflict between June and Waverly?

3. What is the conflict between Suyuan and Lindo?

4. Why is June touched by her mother’s offer of the piano?

5. What does June discover about her recital music years later?

Paired Resource

“Shirley Temple”

• This article presents the biography of child star Shirley Temple.
• Consider how Shirley Temple symbolizes the American Dream. Think also about Shirley Temple as a symbol of assimilation. How can we connect Shirley Temple as a symbol of the American Dream to June’s experience with Generational Disparity in the American Dream?

Recommended Next Reads 

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

• “Two Kinds” is part of this novel, which features four pairs of Chinese American mothers and their daughters.