Essay on Amy Tan’s A Mother’s Tongue - 973 Words

Amy Tan’s A Mother’s Tongue The purpose of Amy Tan’s essay, â€Å"Mother Tongue,† is to show how challenging it can be if an individual is raised by a parent who speaks â€Å"limited English† (36) as Tan’s mother does, partially because it can result in people being judged poorly by others. As Tan’s primary care giver, her mother was a significant part of her childhood, and she has a strong influence over Tan’s writing style. Being raised by her mother taught her that one’s perception of the world is heavily based upon the language spoken at home. Alternately, people’s perceptions of one another are based largely on the language used. Tan was born to a pair of Chinese immigrants. Her mother understood English extremely well, but†¦show more content†¦This was because her mother’s version of English and its modified rules caused Tan to be confused on some of the questions. Tan employs cause and effect when she is talking about her experiences with IQ tests and the SATs. The fact that her mother spoke English the way she did made it very difficult for Tan to envision what the test was asking, as with the questions where she could not identify one singular correct answer. In her experience with language, maybe she had heard her mother would say something a certain way, even though, technically, it was not grammatically correct. Her perceptions of things, specifically the rules of language, were different because of the language used at her home. She also incorporates problem and solution when she is describing how she had to talk for her mother. Her belief is that people will not take you seriously if you do not speak proper English, and to prove this, she shows how her mother encountered that kind of attitude often. Tan describes how she had to call the stockbroker because her mother was concerned about not getting a check, and how the hospital would not look for a lost CAT scan until Tan was called to mediate. Even though the mother speaks English, Tan still needs to act as a translator. Compare and contrast comes in to play at the very beginning of the essay when Tan is describing her mother listening to her giving a lecture.Show MoreRelatedMother Tongue1199 Words   |  5 PagesRhetorical Analysis of â€Å"Mother Tongue† written by Amy Tan â€Å"So easy to read†(p.4). Amy Tan ends her essay, â€Å"Mother Tongue† with this short and even grammatically wrong sentence. She tells us this mother’s brief review is a proof of success of her writing. Why does she think that easiness is an essence of her writing? She suggests answers to this question by her essay. In her essay, Amy Tan effectively convinces her readers that â€Å"broken English† is not an inferior language, but justRead MoreMother Tongue By Amy Tan1553 Words   |  7 Pages(Date) â€Å"Mother Tongue† Response Essay In the essay â€Å"Mother Tongue,† Amy Tan emphasizes the idea that the language we are taught in childhood plays an important role in our lives. She writes about the profound effect language has on her life and how she is inspired by her mother’s â€Å"impeccable broken English† to become a writer (317). Tan describes her mother as an educated person who can read sophisticated and technical literature written in English with ease. However, Tan’s mother is oftenRead MoreThe Sandwich Generation Essay897 Words   |  4 Pagesï » ¿Amy Tan begins by announcing, â€Å"I am not a scholar of English†¦I cannot give you much more than personal opinions on the English language and its variations in this country and others.† How does this opening set up your expectations for the rest of the essay? Why do you think she chose to begin by denying her own authority? The introduction Tan decided to use presents the reader with a strong sense of the kind of individual she is. By saying â€Å"I am not a scholar of English†, Tan is revealing howRead MoreMother Tongue By Amy Tan1290 Words   |  6 Pagesand what is not. Was it the accent? Or maybe it was inability to complete a sentence or two? Assimilation into a high standard culture, such as America’s, and learning to speak their native language is a difficult and demanding task. In â€Å"Mother Tongue†, Amy Tan expresses the limitations caused by the use of imperfect English in society and her struggles to revitalize it into her life and her writing. Through the use of several rhetorical strategies such as expanding on her own credibility with theRead More The Bonds of a Language Essay1070 Words   |  5 Pages Amy Tan is the author of several novels including The Joy Luck Club and The Kitchen God’s Wife. She was born in the United States to parents who immigrat ed to California from China (Gruber 35). In her article entitled â€Å"Mother Tongue†, Tan focuses on the English shared between her mother and herself versus the English that she speaks with everyone else, and how it has affected her outlook on language. Through her examples, she presents to the audience the obstacles faced by her mother’s â€Å"limited†Read MoreChinese Women And The Construction Of Sentences1378 Words   |  6 PagesWhen speaking with someone, the proper way to construct a sentence would be to use a subject and a verb that agree. In terms of Amy Tan s mother, Daisy, in Mother Tongue the construction of sentences is a major effector when it comes to their relationship. While Tan was born in Oakland, California, her mother Daisy and father John were both Chinese immigrants. Before meeting John and immigrating to America in 1949, Daisy was married to an abusive man in Shanghai, China. During this time periodRead MoreContrasting Cultures in Tans Mother Tongue and Nguyens The Happy Days Syndrome1163 Words   |  5 Pagesonly intensified through language. Both Amy Tan and Khang Nguyen strategically use narrative anecdotes and employ several rhetorical devices to illustrate this struggle in their works, â€Å"Mother Tongue† and â€Å"The Happy Days,† respectfully. Amy Tan chooses her childhood home as the primary setting of her work. This allows her to focus primarily on her conversations and interactions with her mother. However, she also gives several anecdotes in which her mother’s background and improper English negativelyRead MoreA Bilingual Journey From Two Different Cultures988 Words   |  4 Pages A bilingual journey from two different cultures, Amy Tan and Richard Rodriguez recounts their joys and pains of growing up in an english speaking country. An American born Chinese, Tan was born to immigrant parents from China, while Rodriguez hails from a spanish American-Mexican background, and just like Tan, was also born and raised in the United States. Although both writers grew up in native speaking homes, each varied in terms of parental influence on their second language. On similaritiesRead MoreAnalysis Of Mother Tongue By Amy Tan913 Words   |  4 Pages Analysis of Mother Tongue by Amy Tan In the narrative essay, â€Å"Mother Tongue† by Amy Tan, the author sets out the story between her mother, whose English is her second language, and Tan herself can speak native English very well. The essay covers the tonal shift of Amy Tan s psychological change, from grudge to understanding. Although she begins the essay saying, I am not a scholar of English or literature. I cannot give you much more than personal opinions on theRead MoreImmigrants in the American Society835 Words   |  3 Pagesbi-lingual programs in school so that their children can smoothly adjust in the American society, however, learning another language does not mean eliminating the native tongue that was inherited from the ancestors. To be able to speak two languages is something to be proud of. In both of the short stories entitled, â€Å"Mother Tongue†, written by Amy Tan, and â€Å"Why and When to Speak Spanish in Public†, by Myriam Marquez, both authors emphasize the importance of learning English language, yet also demonstrate the