Premium Essay

A Pair of Tickets

In:

Submitted By lushawna
Words 772
Pages 4
English 1102
18 February 2016
The struggle of accepting who you are
Amy Tans story “A Pair of Tickets”, the narrator shows they are in denial of her nationality; she doesn’t want to accept that she is of Chinese decent. It takes her going to China and living out her mother’s dreams that she realizes who she truly is. She has never seen this side of her family and resents her mother for never bringing them up and feeling how it is not to be Americanized.
She feels betrayed because she found out her mother who is now deceased had two other children from a previous marriage that she had to leave while searching for food and help in Shanghai. During her visit her family reminisces and speaks of the memories they have of her mother, making her feel like she didn’t know who her mother truly was.
The narrator speaks a lot on family and how she feels separated from hers because she doesn’t know them. Her being raised with American way and her family being of raised Chinese, they are two different cultures with what she felt not much in common.
Visiting makes her realize this is something that she has been missing and wants to know more of. Looking back, she remembered speaking to her mother about being Chinese and realized that "once you are born Chinese, you cannot help but feel and think Chinese” This is what she is missing family and knowledge of whom she is. She is now in China to fulfill her mother’s dreams by finding her sisters.
The narrator shows how much of a loving, caring person she is. She wants to make her mother happy, even though she is now deceased. She wonders if her mother felt terrible for having her after having to leave her other children. The love that the narrator has for her father is precious; she feels the pain her father is having speaking about her mother. He is speaking of life his wife had before him.
She would dream

Similar Documents

Free Essay

Symbolism in “a Pair of Tickets”

...Symbolism in “A Pair of Tickets” The same way scratches on paper create language and just one look from an admirer creates a feeling of love in ones heart; symbolism can evoke emotion and meaning that generates magic in a story. I believe symbolism is a prevalent and unwavering theme weaved throughout Amy Tan’s short story “A Pair of Tickets.” Many things, such as the names of the characters, and the photographs they take in the story embody symbolism and turn this story into a remarkable account of family and how it is one of life’s unbreakable bonds. The importance of symbolism in this short story makes it come alive to the reader. To summarize of Amy Tans “A Pair of Tickets” we look at the main character, Jing-mei. She is on a train, with her father, heading to China to visit her family. She speaks of not feeling like she is really Chinese. Although all of her family is Chinese, she grew up in America because that is where her parents moved during the Japanese invasion of China. They first visit the town of Guangzhou, where her father’s great aunt is waiting to see them. This is the first time the reader gets a glimpse of Jing-mei being interested in her Chinese heritage. “The minute our train leaves the Hong Kong border and enters Shenzhen, China, I feel different. I can feel the skin on my forehead tingling, my blood rushing through a new course, my bones aching with a familiar old pain. And I think, my mother was right. I am becoming Chinese.” (Norton, 189.) They...

Words: 1751 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

A Pair of Tickets Summary

...Summary and Analysis Jing-Mei Woo: A Pair of Tickets Jing-mei is on a train to China, traveling with her seventy-two-year-old father, Canning Woo. As the train enters Shenzhen, China, Jing-mei begins to "feel Chinese." Their first stop will be Guangzhou. Like her father, Jing-mei is weeping for joy. After her mother's death, a letter arrived from China from her mother's twin daughters from her first marriage. These were the two children whom she was forced to abandon on the side of the road in 1944. Jing-mei's father asked Auntie Lindo to write back to the girls and tell them that their mother was dead. Instead, Auntie Lindo took the letter to the Joy Luck Club. Together, the women answered the letter, signing Suyuan Woo's name to it. Jing-mei agrees that she should be the one to tell her half-sisters about their mother's death. But after dreaming about the scene many times, she begs Auntie Lindo to write a letter to the sisters explaining that their mother is dead. Auntie Lindo does so. The train pulls into the station, and the visitors are met by Canning's great-aunt. The reunion is emotional. Other relatives join them. Jing-mei wins her young cousin Lili over with instant photographs from her Polaroid camera. They soon arrive at a magnificent hotel, much grander than Jing-mei had expected. Jing-mei is anxious to have her first real Chinese feast; however, the native-born Chinese family decides that they want to eat American — hamburgers, French fries, and apple pie...

Words: 1362 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Quotes From 'A Pair Of Tickets'

...“Someday you will see,” said my mother. “It is in your blood, waiting to be let go.” (A Pair Of Tickets Ch 16 pg 306) In this story this is the part where Jing-Mei goes on the train with her dad. She goes to meet her other sisters and decides to tell them about Suyuan. They all look alike just like their Suyuan. It is in our blood. The meaning of this quote is to show the readers how family is important. And how everyone looks the same and have the same thing personality like their mom. This quote is interesting because it shows how one day you are going to look back and realize what you missed. The confusing part is knowing you can’t let go of the past and move on. The characters in this chapter shows some emotions like finally getting...

Words: 301 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Literary Technique of “a Pair of Tickets” by Amy Tan

...The short story "A Pair of Tickets," authored by Amy Tan is a detailed analysis of issues that concern many people that are of a different descent but that have been residents or migrated to another country for a long time. The story was written in such a way that if one does not take cognizance of interpretation of stories; one may not really gesticulate what the author is trying to portray. The story was about a young American student on a journey for the first time to China with a plan of reuniting with her half-sisters for the first time after the demise of her mother. The writer made use of stereotypes and prevalence of internal conflicts in presenting the theme of the story to the readers for easy understanding. The Protagonist or narrator in the story namely “June May” and her father were travelling by train; “Amy Tan” the author shows both symbolic and physical setting used in the story. “June May” reeling the feeling of being a Chinese was quoted in the story as being transformed into a werewolf, being color blind and behaving as a typical Chinese will behave. It is worthy of note that June may is very ignorant of her culture such that she assumes that her behave stereotypically in an ignorant way because she was trying to portray to her that the Chinese culture is the best, hence when she was always trying to avoid being drawn into the drama of imagining herself as a Chinese girl, this was evident when she alighted from the train and said “I am in China, I remind myself”...

Words: 717 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

A Pair Of Tickets By Amy Tan Quotes And Analysis Essay

...Draft 2: Joy Luck Club Close Reading In this section of the chapter “A Pair of Tickets,” is about Jing Mei, a grown woman who has just flown to China to fulfill her mother’s greatest wish, to see her first born daughters who live in China. Unexpectedly, Jing Mei’s mom had been struck by a cerebral aneurysm and had died from it. Jing Mei is seeing her sisters for the first time ever, and she is nervous. Who wouldn’t be nervous seeing to daughters that you’ve never seen before in your life, and telling them that their mother is dead? Even though the plot seems really dark and it builds a lot of negative suspense, because of Jing Mei’s nervousness, this scene in the story is rather happy and forgiving in many ways. It offers many kinds of bright words and lines like “as my sisters look at me proudly,” “the three of us embracing,” and “bright colors of the three images.” At first I thought the sisters would have been crestfallen to hear of their mother’s fate, and ultimately blame the bad news on Jing Mei. Instead, they treat Jing Mei as if they’ve known her their entire life. The tone in this passage is extremely happy and reading it itself can easily bring tears to one’s face. Amy Tan structures this passage brilliantly, with the carefully chosen words and just how she makes everything bright...

Words: 788 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Fiddle

...Scene 1 – end of the song… DJ1: Biz.fm bringing you the latest hitz song of today, im Hafiz… and im Azim on the evening tea time show. Waddup waddup waddup yo that was the song by Carly Rae Jepson, Call me maybe. One of my girlfriend favourite song. Ok hafiz lets get back to our topic for today, the case of fiddle or not to fiddle. DJ2: Yes Azim, but before that we have a very special gift for you to grab, we have 4 pair of tickets to One Republic concert happening on this 23 October, 2 more days to go people, so hurry up and call now at 03-623 3322. DJ2: Lets have our first caller for today, hello whose on the line? C1: Hello its Ali! DJ1: Yea Ali may I know where are you from? C1: Im from Rembau. DJ2: Okay… Ali!! are you ready to win the ticket!? C1: Yeah! DJ1: Alright first I want to ask you what do you understand about corporate governance C1: Well I don’t expect this kind of questions being asked on a radio station, but I think I do know a little bit about corporate governance. It is a system by which a company are directed and controlled. The governance specifies the responsibilities among different participants in the corporation such as BOD, managers, shareholders and other stakeholders. It also specifies the rules and procedure for making decisions in corporate affairs. DJ2: Alright, I see you know your facts very well Ali. So let’s not waste time, here’s the question, in the fiddle or not to fiddle case, the foreign investor contribute capital and operational...

Words: 1275 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Au Pair Research Paper

...Summer is one of the most popular times of the year for family vacations, and host families are no exception. When planning a vacation for the family, the au pair's needs and hourly restrictions still need to be considered. Here are 3 ways to enjoy a host family vacation with an au pair while ensuring her needs and work hours are met properly. #1: Your Au Pair Comes Along to Help With Child Care If you are planning on having your au pair come along on the family vacation to continue to provide child care, her schedule and other requirements must still be met as if it were any other time. This includes ensuring she has her own room, does not work beyond the 10 hours a day or 45 hours a week, and still receives her agreed upon stipend. It's...

Words: 395 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Promotional Mix

... the Seattle Supersonics were sold to Clay Bennett and then moved to Oklahoma City with a new name: Thunder. Since the move, the Thunder has become one of the more popular teams around the NBA and their fans fill the stadium almost every home game. Selling tickets to a Thunder home game is not a hard task but the promotion staff still comes up with ways to entice the public. An ongoing promotion the Thunder does before every home game is the Kia Thunder Rewards Zone. Kia is sponsoring the Kia Thunder Rewards Zone which allows 200 seats to be given away and sold to 100 lucky customers before every home game. This is a great promotion because every home game, even against the Lakers, Heat, Celtics, etc. will have the giveaway. Regardless if the game is sold out or not, fans can come to the arena up to 3 hours before the game and register for a pair of tickets. The promotion works by allowing fans to register at the arena 3 hours before tipoff. There is no penalty for first or last in line and the registration will go until 1 hour before tipoff. At that point, 50 lucky winners will win a pair of tickets to the game while another 50 people will have the opportunity to buy 2 tickets at face value ($10 per ticket). Although not free, being given the...

Words: 889 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Microeconomics

...the game shown in Scenario 1, below: Payoffs are in millions of dollars. Lawrence LLP’ss payoff is listed before the comma Lawrence LLP Buy Turbo Tech Buy Zamboni Tech ERS Corporation Put Poison Pill Dump In Turbo Tech Cash Assets of Zambo ni Tech -$100, -$1 $50, $0.5 $1, -$1 -$0.5, $0.5 2. In the game in Scenario 1, a. b. c. d. "Poison Pill" is a dominant strategy for ERS Corporation. "Dump" is a dominant strategy for ERS Corporation. "TurboTech" is a dominant strategy for Lawrence LLP. "ZamboniTech" is a dominant strategy for Lawrence LLP. 3. In the game in Scenario 1, what is the Nash equilibrium? a. b. c. d. The strategy pair associated with -$100, -$1. The strategy pair associated with $50, -$.5. The strategy pair associated with $1, -$1. The strategy pair associated with -$.5, -$.5. 4. Refer to the game in Scenario 1. What will occur if Lawrence LLP plays a maximin strategy? a. b. c. d. -$100, -$1 $50, -$.5 $1, -$1 -$.5, -$.5 Page 2 of 10 Consider the game shown in Scenario 2, below IVY Corp Business Plan A Business Plan B SAC Group Business Plan Business Plan Y Z $1, $10 $1, -$5,000 $4, $0 5. In the Scenario 2 game, a. b. c. d. Y is a dominant strategy for SAC Group. Z is a dominant strategy for SAC Group. A is a dominant strategy for IVY Corp. B...

Words: 2159 - Pages: 9

Premium Essay

Microeconomics Assignement 1

....Microeconomics Assignement 1 1. a. Define opportunity cost, and explain its importance in economics. (3 marks) Opportunity cost refers to what you must give up (trade off) to obtain some item. It represents the forgone opportunities. It is very important to all of us; it helps and guides our decisions in life. For every decision made, no matter the circumstances; work, school, business, life in general, we incurred a cost, the opportunity cost, what we must give up to obtain the chosen good. The opportunity cost of an item is the weight of another item from those that society have to trade off or give up in order to obtain it, that is the way that society allocates its scarce resources. ALSO, OPPORTUNITY COST IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR THE THEORY OF COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE AND TRADE. -1 MARK. b. The province of British Columbia hosted the 2010 Olympic Games and invested millions of dollars in improvements to facilities for these events. How would one determine the opportunity cost of the 2010 Olympic Games? (4 marks) The opportunity cost for BC to host the games could be determine by evaluating and comparing what the province could do with the funds (tax payers money) and time that it will invest in the games against, the benefits that could bring to the to the province if BC against the benefits that that money and time will create if invested differently. In one hand the province could add all the benefits that the games will bring to the province; benefits such as increase...

Words: 3577 - Pages: 15

Premium Essay

Business

...Chapter 7 7. Quantity of customers per hour | Marginal Cost of customer | Marginal Benefit of customer (a) | Marginal Benefit of customer (b) | 0 | 14 | | | 1 | | 15.25 | 16.25 | 2 | 14.5 15 | 15.25 | 16.25 | 3 | | 15.25 | 16.25 | 4 | 15.516 | 15.25 | 16.25 | 5 | | 15.25 | 16.25 | 6 | 16.517 | 15.25 | 16.25 | 7 | | 15.25 | 16.25 | a) The marginal benefit of each customer is $15.25: each additional customer you admit increases the total benefit to the gym by $15.25. So you should admit three customers per hour. Suppose you currently admit no customers. Admitting the first customer gives the gym a marginal benefit of $15.25 and a marginal cost of $14.00. Since the marginal benefit of that first customer exceeds the marginal cost, you want to admit the first customer. For the second customer, the marginal benefit ($15.25) also exceeds the marginal cost ($14.50), so you want to admit the second customer, too. The same is true for the third customer: the marginal benefit ($15.25) exceeds the marginal cost ($15.00), so you also want to admit the third customer. For the fourth customer, however, the marginal cost ($15.50) exceeds the marginal benefit ($15.25), so you do not want to admit a fourth customer. b) By reasoning similar to that...

Words: 1035 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Jordan Shoes Research Paper

...In fact, not everyone has a paying job to buy their kids some new Jordan’s every week. Which is being shown in today’s society. The cost of shoes today such as Jordan’s are very high which causes conflict among people fighting over the last pair. The smaller your shoe size...

Words: 510 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Starting Dance Research Paper

...dancer a month. When you start of dance, the average person will need a pair of tights and a backup pair just in case, a leotard, a pair of tap shoes, and a pair of ballet shoes. As you grow more into dance, you will need a lot more. Tights are around $30 each pair, and don’t last very long if you wear them as practice tights. You should have a separate pair of tights for practicing and performances. Shoes can range anywhere from $40-$100 depending on what type, brand, and style you choose. Costumes can cost anywhere from $65-$100 depending on the brand. It will be more expensive if it is handmade. The average of a recreational dancer’s costume will be around $65, and they will have around 2 costumes, depending on how many dances, and what dances they’re in. If you’re in competition, your costumes will most likely be more expensive, and more likely to be handmade. The average competitive dancer’s costume costs around $85-$100 depending on the brand and if there it is handmade. The average competitive dancer can have around 4-6 costumes, depending on how many dances they are in. Recital tickets are very important. They can cost around $10-$15. The average family purchases around 4 tickets. The dancer also needs clothes such as leotards, shorts, tops, and skirts. Leotards can cost anywhere from $30-$50. Leotards will last the dancer for a long time. Shorts can cost around $10-$20. The average dancer needs 2-3 pairs of shorts. Tops are around $15-$30. The dancer needs around 2-3 tops...

Words: 960 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Marketing Research Professional Challenge- Vancouver Symphony

...Challenge Executive Summary Research Objectives The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra conducted a survey to understand what musical selections would increase ticket sales. VSO management conducted the survey at a free concert. 656 out of 2,400 people responded. Goals Determine the musical preferences of non-subscribers and subscribers. Findings Musical Preferences of Subscribers & Non-subscribers (see Appendix A): Classical, twentieth century, pops or Canadian. The ratings for “choice of music appealed to me” increased by 17% from the first survey to the second. The survey did not ask what music the VSO doesn’t offer but attendees want to hear. Being able to hear classical music performed live and international performers was rated as most important by both groups. The purpose of the study is to determine what musical selections subscribers and non-subscribers want to hear in order to increase ticket sales. Survey results yielded no information as to what music preferences would increase ticket sales. But, findings initially indicated that the VSO should focus on ticket prices to increase ticket sales. For example, a cross tabulation of eight pairs of events (characterized by reputation of performer, seating arrangements, and single tickets prices) and subscriber information showed a preference for ticket prices between the range of $8 and $14 for both subscribers and non-subscribers. The original survey indicated consumers are price sensitive and the second...

Words: 1562 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Online Ticketing Systems

...explaining the mechanism and presenting a sample application. The thesis describes the evolution and working of airline reservation system. Various aspects related to online flight booking are explained in the thesis. The main focus of the thesis was developing a working application. A basic application similar to the models used by airlines companies today was developed with the use of various software and programs. Research in sources such as e-books, web articles, documentations and tutorial was completed for the development. The thesis describes how the online ticket booking works with the help of different diagrams and illustrations. The thesis concluded that with the progress of ever-changing technology, the trend of booking online is likely to develop with more features. While there are a few limitations, the convenience of booking tickets online and the possible enhancements will lead to an even advanced form of booking tickets online. Keywords: OnlineTicketing Systems, Airline Operators,...

Words: 2047 - Pages: 9