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“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.
She yanked me by the arm, pulled me off the floor, snapped off the
TV. She was frighteningly strong, half pulling, half carrying me
toward the piano as I kicked the throw rugs under my feet. She lifted
me up and onto the hard bench. I was sobbing by now, looking at her
bitterly. Her chest was heaving even more and her mouth was open,
smiling crazily as if she were pleased I was crying.
“You want me to be someone that I’m not!” I sobbed. “I’ll never
be the kind of daughter you want me to be!”
“Only two kinds of daughters,” she shouted in Chinese. “Those
who are obedient and those who follow their own mind! Only one
kind of daughter can live in this house. Obedient daughter!”
“Then I wish I wasn’t your daughter. I wish you weren’t my
mother,” I shouted. As I said these things I got scared. I felt like
worms and toads and slimy things were crawling out of my chest, but
it also felt good, as if this awful side of me had surfaced, at last.
“Too late change this,” said my mother shrilly.
And I could sense her anger rising to its breaking point. I wanted to
see it spill over. And that’s when I remembered the babies she had lost
in China, the ones we never talked about. “Then I wish I’d never been
born!” I shouted, “I wish I were dead! Like them.”
It was as if I had said the magic words. Alakazam! —and her face
went blank, her mouth closed, her arms went slack, and she backed
out or the room, stunned, as it she were blowing away like a small
brown leaf, thin, brittle, lifeless.
***
It was not the only disappointment my mother felt in me. In the
years that followed, I failed her so many times, each time asserting my
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own will, my right to fall short of expectations. I didn’t get straight
As. I didn’t become come class president. I didn’t get into Stanford. I
dropped out of college.
For unlike my mother, I did not believe I could be anything I
wanted to be. I could only be me.
And for all those years, we never talked about the disaster at the
recital or my terrible accusations afterward at the piano bench. All that
remained unchecked, like a betrayal that was now unspeakable. Sol
never found a way to ask her why she had hoped for something so
large that failure was inevitable.
And even worse, I never asked her what frightened me the most:
Why had she given up hope?
For after our struggle at the piano, she never mentioned my playing
again. The lessons stopped. The lid to the piano was closed, shutting
out the dust, my misery, and her dreams.
So she surprised me. A few years ago, she offered to give me the
piano, for my thirtieth birthday, I had not played in all those years. I
saw the offer as a sign of forgiveness, a tremendous burden removed.
“Are you sure?” I asked shyly. “I mean, won’t you and Dad miss it?”
“No, this your piano,” she said firmly. “Always your piano. You
only one can play.”
“Well, I probably can’t play anymore,” I said. “It’s been years.”
“You pick up fast,” said my mother, as if she knew this was certain.
“You have natural talent. You could been genius if you want to.”
“No I couldn’t.”
“You just not trying,” said my mother. And she was neither angry
nor sad. She said it as if to announce a fact that could never be
disproved. “Take it,” she said.
But I didn’t at first. It was enough that she had offered it to me.
And after that, every time I saw it in my parents’ living room,
standing in front of the bay windows, it made me feel proud, as if it
were a shiny trophy I had won back.
Last week I sent a tuner over to my parents’ apartment and had the
piano reconditioned, for purely sentimental reasons. My mother had
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died a few months before and I had been getting things in order for my
father, a little bit at a time.
After I had the piano tuned, I opened the lid and touched the keys.
It sounded even richer than I remembered. Really, it was a very good
piano. Inside the bench were the same exercise notes with handwritten
scales, the same second-hand music books with their covers held
together with yellow tape.
I opened up the Schumann book to the dark little piece I had
played at the recital. It was on the left-hand side of the page,
“Pleading Child.” It looked more difficult than I remembered. I played
a few bars, surprised at how easily the notes came back to me.
And for the first time, or so it seemed, I noticed the piece on the
right-hand side. It was called “Perfectly Contented.” I tried to play this
one as well. It had a lighter melody but the same flowing rhythm and
turned out to be quite easy. “Pleading Child” was shorter but slower;
“Perfectly Contented” was longer but faster. And after I played them
both a few times, I realized they were two halves of the same song.
CULTURAL ASSOCIATIONS
Look up the following entries in the Dictionary of U. S. Life and
Culture («Жизнь и культура США: Лингвострановедческий
словарь») or other dictionaries and encyclopedias:
Chinatown
Ed Sullivan Show
Good Housekeeping
Hula Hoops
Los Angeles
Peter Pan
Reader's Digest
Sacramento
Shirley Temple
Stanford
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ACTIVE VOCABULARY
prodigy (n) — a person, esp. a young one, with unusual or remarkable
qualities or abilities: a child / an infant prodigy
manger (n) — a long open container that horses, cattle etc eat from
above/beyond reproach (n) — impossible to criticize; perfect: His
behavior throughout this affair has been beyond reproach.
to drag (v) — to pull something with effort and difficulty: drag
behind; drag children away from the party
to sulk (v) for — (derog) to be silent or bad-tempered because one is
upset or annoyed
assortment (n) — a mixture of different things or of various kinds of
the same thing: a wide assortment of friends; an odd assortment of
knives and forks
queen of hearts (n) — 1. a character in the book Alice’s Adventures
in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, who orders people’s heads to be
cut off, by saying “Off with his head!” 2. a character from a nursery
rhyme. The rhyme goes: The Queen of Hearts, she baked some
tarts, /All on a summer’s day; / The Knave of Hearts, he stole the
tarts, /And took them clean away
to entrance (v, usu. passive) — to fill somebody with wonder or delight
to trade (v) — esp. Am. Eng. to exchange something you have for
something someone else has: We traded necklaces. cf. Br. swap:
trade something with somebody: I wouldn’t mind trading jobs with her.
to trade somebody/something for something: I’ll trade you my
camera for your drill.
to mesmerize (v, usu passive) — to hold somebody’s attention
completely
to brag (v) about/of something — to talk with too much pride about
something; to boast: Stop bragging! He’s been bragging about his
new car. She bragged t
hat she should run faster than me.
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to squabble (v) with somebody over/about something — to quarrel
noisily, esp. about unimportant matters
temper (n) — 1. a tendency to become angry suddenly or easily: That
temper of hers will get her into trouble one of these days.
quick/bad/fiery, etc. temper: Be careful, he’s got a pretty violent
temper.
to lose one’s temper — to suddenly become very angry so that
one cannot control oneself: I’ve never seen Vic lose his temper.
2. the way one is feeling at a particular time, esp. feeling angry for
a short time: It’s no use talking to him when he’s in a temper.
to be in a bad/foul temper (= to be angry): Watch out — she’s
been in a foul temper all day.
to fly into a temper: Her boss would fly into a temper if a project
wasn’t done on time.
3. to keep one’s temper — to stay calm when it would be easy to
get angry: I was finding it increasingly difficult to keep my temper.
4. good-tempered/foul-tempered/quick-tempered, etc. — having
a good, bad temper, etc: Minnie was always good-tempered and
agreeable.
snotty (adj, derog) — showing a superior attitude towards other, esp.
those of a lower social position
to lament (v, fml) — to feel or express great sorrow or regret for
somebody/something
honorable mention
mention (n) — a reference to somebody/something in speech or
writing
to budge (v, usu. in negative sentences) — 1. to move or make
something move slowly 2. to change or make somebody change
attitude/opinion
to devastate (v) — 1. to make someone feel extremely shocked and
sad: Rob was devastated by the news of her death. 2. to damage
something very badly or completely: The city centre was
devastated by the bomb.
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nonchalant (adj) — appearing or feeling calm and relaxed, not
showing anxiety, interest or enthusiasm
nonchalantly (adv) — behaving calmly and not seeming interested
in anything or worried about anything
to fall short of expectations
to fall short of something — to fail to reach a desired target or
standard
EXERCISES
I. Find the words and phrases from the vocabulary in the text
and translate them into Russian.
II. Translate into Russian paying attention to the active
vocabulary:
1. Mozart was a musical prodigy.
2. Arthur was a baby, asleep in the manger straw.
3. Noah himself is beyond reproach, it is true.
4. As the months drag by, you find out who your real friends are.
5. As time dragged on, I gradually got worse.
6. Mumphrey dragged her up a flight of stairs.
7. One of the firemen went back in and dragged my husband out
through the flames.
8. Cindy always sulks when I won’t buy her any candy.
9. What are you sulking about now?
10. On the floor there was an assortment of boxes and packages.
11. I was entranced by her sheer beauty.
12. Audiences will be mesmerized by the film’s dazzling
photography.
13. I wish she’d stop bragging about how rich her parents are.
14. Kevin used to brag that he’d had dozens of girlfriends.
15. The kids always squabble about who should do the dishes.
16. His wife left him because of his violent temper.
17. Jill needs to learn to control her temper.
18. There’s one thing about Don that you should know — he’s
got a really bad temper.
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19. He’s not a bad man, but he has a violent temper.
20. I’d rather run the mile than face Elizabeth in one of her
tempers.
21. I had warned my wife of my terrible temper.
22. Kelly ruled by his bad temper.
23. The hotel receptionist was a bit snotty to me this morning.
24. He lamented that people had expected too much of him too soon.
25. She lamented the fact that manufacturers did not produce
small packs for single-person households.
26. The car was stuck in the snow and we couldn’t budge it.
27. A huge explosion devastated the downtown area last night.
28. Bombing raids devastated the city of Dresden.
29. Her mother’s early death from cancer devastated Lianne.
30. The country has been devastated by floods.
31. Years of war have devastated this island nation.
32. The small, thriving community has been devastated.
33. “I’m sorry I’m so late. Have you been waiting long?” he
asked. She gave a nonchalant shrug.
34. The number of people who attended fell short of expectations.
III. Make up your own sentences or situations to show how the
vocabulary can be used in a context.
IV. Grammar: find different types of conditional sentences in
the text. Comment on their meaning and justify their usage.
V. Stylistic Devices: find unusual comparisons, similes and
metaphors in the text. Comment on the effect produced.
DISCUSIION QUESTIONS
1. What kind of girl did Jing Mei Too’s mother want her daughter
to be?
2. What were the first goals that Jing Mei Too’s mother had for her?
3. Why did she give up on those goals?
4. How did Jing Mei Too feel about herself?
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5. Did her attitude change as she grew from a child to an adult?
6. How did Jing Mei Too try to fit into her mother’s standards?
7. Was she trying hard or did she find different ways to cheat?
Give examples from the text.
8. How does the piano symbolize the conflict between Jing Mei
Too and her mother?
9. How does the piano symbolize the conflict within the mother
herself?
10. How does the piano symbolize the resolution of these conflicts?
11. How does Jing Mei Too relate to the other people around her?
12. How does the conflict show two different attitudes – people
from different generations and different degrees of acculturation.
13. What did the girl lose and what did she gain in the course of
the conflict?
14. How does the story relate to the American Dream?
KEY QUOTATIONS
Comment on the following quotations. Explain how they relate
to the main ideas of the text.
1. “I won’t be what I’m not.”
2. “Those who are obedient and those who follow their own mind!
Only one kind of daughter can live in this house. Obedient daughter!”
3. “I could only be me.”
4. “…she had hoped for something so large that failure was
inevitable.”
5. “The lid to the piano was closed, shutting out the dust, my
misery, and her dreams.”
WRITING
In your own words, explain the meaning of the last two paragraphs
of the story.
MOVIES
Ellis Island
In America
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Unit 4
RACE AND ETHNICITY
PREREADING
1. What are the common terms other than the melting pot
indicating that the U.S.A. is a multiethnic, multicultural nation?
2. Historically, what ethnic groups were the first to settle in the
U.S.A.?
3. Speak of the ethnic and religious background of the first
immigrants.
4. How did African Americans come to live in the U.S.A.?
5. What is the ethnic composition of the U.S. population today?
6. Which ethnic groups are the most influential?
TEXT 1
I HAVE A DREAM
by M. L. King, Jr.
I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and
frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply
rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the
true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident:
that all men are created equal.”
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of
former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit
down together at a table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert
state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be
transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation
where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the
content of their character.
I have a dream today.
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I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose
governor’s lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition
and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black
boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys
and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill
and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain,
and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord
shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.
This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South.
With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a
stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling
discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With
this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle
together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together,
knowing that we will be free one day.
This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing
with a new meaning, “My country, ‘tis of thee, sweet land of liberty,
of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim’s pride,
from every mountainside, let freedom ring.”
And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let
freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let
freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom
ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!
Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California!
But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!
Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi.
From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village
and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to
speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white
men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join
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