1. INTRO 1 Who am I? This is a common question asked throughout one’s life. People always want to know who they are, where they come from, and who they are meant to be. In the story “A Pair of Tickets” by Amy Tan, the main character, June Mai, is struggling with this question. She isn’t accepting of her Chinese heritage and doesn’t really know where she belongs. She is going on a trip with her father to China to gather with family and to meet long-lost half- sisters whom she has never met. Her mother has just died and she is wondering whether or not she underappreciated her and her heritage while she was alive. June Mai is a dynamic character because she goes through a change, starting out afraid of not understanding her mother or her heritage, and ending realizing that her heritage had been with her all along, that she just had to find it.

2. INTRO 2 Have you ever looked in the mirror before and disliked the way you looked? Or the fact that your heritage shows through these features so well? Many people are proud of where their heritage has come from, but for some there is doubt. This situation is similar to the story “A Pair of Tickets”, by Amy Tan, where the main character, June May, has a difficult time believing she is Chinese. She believes that she could never be looked at as someone with the heritage of a Chinese person. June May has a hard time accepting her heritage as a child, but as she grows into a woman, she realizes how important her heritage truly is.

3. INTRO 3 Are you Irish and wish you were French? Is Irish what you truly want to be? Well in the story “A Pair of Tickets” by Amy Tan the main character, June Mai, does not want to believe she is Chinese. She has many flashbacks about her trying not to be Chinese and her trying to figure out what she thinks she is. June Mai has two sisters that she has never met, but she has always wanted too. When she goes to visit them they help her realize that her true heritage is Chinese, and that is what she is. June Mai is a dynamic character because in the beginning of the story she doesn’t believe that she is truly Chinese, but in the end, through her family she discovers that she is Chinese.

4. CONCLUSION 1 By the end of the story, June May can look in the mirror with confidence, now that she has accepted her heritage. June Mays trip to China and meeting her sisters has helped her accept herself as a new person, and feel better about herself. Everyone’s heritage may not be easy to accept, or easy to find within yourself. You may have to dig deeper than others, but everyone’s shines through in some way.

5. CONCLUSION 2 Although June Mai starts out ignoring her heritage and not knowing who she is, she comes into her heritage and recognizes it as a part of her. Because of this acceptance she can also become at ease with the feeling that she didn’t appreciate her mother. She knows that she has fulfilled her mother’s “long-cherished wish” of finding her daughters. June Mai has now tackled this question of who she is and where she comes from. She knows now that the Chinese is with her in her blood, in her family, and in herself. Many people wish that they could find themselves just as June Mai did, but the problem is there is no organized way to answer it. The only thing people can do is take life as it comes and just try to be happy as they do it.

6. CONCLUSION 3 June Mai changes throughout the story from not believing she is Chinese to believing she is Chinese. When she finally meets her sisters she sees her mother in them and through her mother she sees her true heritage; Chinese. If June Mai would have never met her sister I don’t think she would have realized that she is Chinese until later on in her life when she was more grown up and maybe had children to help her realize. Even though people in this world don’t want to accept the fact that they are what they are sooner or later they will realize.