Question

Read the passage from "Two Kinds.”

Last week I sent a tuner over to my parents’ apartment and had the piano reconditioned, for purely sentimental reasons. My mother had died a few months before and I had been getting things in order for my father, a little bit at a time. I put the jewelry in special silk pouches. The sweaters she had knitted in yellow, pink, bright orange—all the colors I hated—I put those in moth-proof boxes. I found some old Chinese silk dresses, the kind with little slits up the sides. I rubbed the old silk against my skin, then wrapped them in tissue and decided to take them home with me.

What evidence supports the idea that the narrator’s motivation is intrinsic?

“Last week I sent a tuner over to my parents’ apartment and had the piano reconditioned, for purely sentimental reasons.”
“My mother had died a few months before and I had been getting things in order for my father, a little bit at a time.”
“I put the jewelry in special silk pouches. The sweaters she had knitted in yellow, pink, bright orange—all the colors I hated—I put those in moth-proof boxes.”
“I found some old Chinese silk dresses, the kind with little slits up the sides.”

Answer 1

The first, third, and fourth sentences support that her motivation is intrinsic.

- “for purely sentimental reasons.” — explicit statement that the action was motivated by personal feelings.
- “I put the jewelry in special silk pouches. The sweaters… I put those in moth-proof boxes.” — careful, affectionate treatment of belongings shows emotional attachment rather than duty or reward.
- “I found some old Chinese silk dresses… I rubbed the old silk against my skin, then wrapped them in tissue and decided to take them home with me.” — the sensory pleasure and personal decision (rubbing the silk, deciding to keep them) show internal, emotional motivation.

The second sentence (“My mother had died… getting things in order for my father”) suggests a practical obligation and so is less clearly intrinsic.