One of the hallmarks of American culture is its potential for greatness. Such as in Langston Hughes’ poem Let America Be America Again [let it live up to the ideas of the f.f. and become the ideal country it was pictured to be] and Amy Tan’s Two Kinds [even if the greatness isn’t reach it was still there, there was still the potential]. Both the poem and the short story feature a sense of glory that is believed to be attainable. However, in neither narrative is this goal reached. Jing-mei fails the life her mother sets out for her, and in Hughes’ poem, America is still not what it should be. But, the hope in both of these pieces comes from the sense of continuity and longevity of the American culture. The personal, down to earth story told
