Tan, Amy. The Joy Luck Club, Annotated Bibliography Example

The short story provides an historical perspective on the lives of immigrants that had high anticipations in America as the moved from China during war time. The main character in the short story is Jing-Mei Woo is affected by the high expectations that the mother was harboring. The story depicts a conflict between the daughter and the mother because of the unfulfilled dreams. The author’s major theme in the short story is that of unfulfilled dreams.  The short opens remarkably because it starts with a short synopsis of Jing-Mei’s mother’s past, which sets the tone of the short story (Tan 9). The entire short story is based on historical perspective, which brings out different themes. The mother lost everything that she had in China and her hopes is that moving to America would offer fortune, fame and opportunity to his daughter, Jing Mei. However, it is clear from the story that the daughter had different ambitions as she was not wiling to follow the path the mother had decided, but she wanted her path (Tan 12).

The short story is effective in bringing out the theme of unfulfilled dream that lead to a conflict between the daughter and the mother through the historical perspective of immigrants. Through the use of historical perspective, it becomes easy to understand the short story, which is commendable to the author of the short story. The author wants us to learn a lesson through the use of the two characters-mother and daughter-that parents should not force their children to do what they do not want to in life, but instead nurture their talents so that they pursue what they want in life. The author presented a compelling story that has a great lesson that is worth reading for both parents and children.

Works Cited

Brent, Liz. Overview of ‘Two Kinds’. Short Stories for Students. Ed. Ira Mark Milne. Vol. 9. Detroit: Gale Group, 2000. Literature Resource Center.

Duke, Lynne. The Secrets Silence Holds. The Washington Post, March 15, 2001, p. C1.

Gray, Paul. The Joys and Sorrows of Amy Tan. Time 157, no. 7 .February 19, 2001: 72-75.

Tan, Amy. The Joy Luck Club. New York: Penguin, 2006. Print.