Amy Tan Mother Tongue Sparknotes
Literary Analysis on “Mother Tongue” “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan is a unique story about Tan and her mother and the challenges they both face with English. In the story when Tan was younger, she was embarrassed by her mother’s limited English. She believed that her mother “English reflected the quality of what she had to say That is, because she expressed them imperfectly her thoughts were imperfect.” On the other hand, Tan dealt with speaking “proper” English to be accepted into American society and “simple” English to bond with her mother. Tan’s mother’s English symbolizes the discrimination and challenges of immigrants in America. Tan’s English symbolizes the challenges she had to face with speaking different forms of English. As a child …show more content…
They deal with challenges of trying not to feel ashamed of the lack of English that they know how to speak in the beginning. Tan recall giving answers for an English test and how complicated the answer choices were, she said, “English tests were always a judgment call, a matter of opinion and personal experience.” Tan did not have a great personal experience with English either, because her mother spoke broken English. So that “almost had an effect on limiting her possibilities in life as well.” Many immigrants whether they are young or old can relate to Tan’s when she had a difficult time with English and trying to fit into American society. With the challenges of learning English, it can be intimidating. The writer of “Mother Tongue by Amy Tan Thoughts” said, “I remember sitting in my fourth-grade class and being behind all my other classmates because I read so much slower than many of them did.” The writer of “Mother Tongue by Amy Tan Thoughts,” is an immigrant from Mexico who moved to America with her family. She shows how English symbolizes her challenges in school as a young immigrant girl. By her reading slow it “demean” her to the point that she was afraid of pronouncing a word
A Rhetorical Analysis Of Mother Tongue By Amy Tan
614 Words | 3 PagesMother Tongue was originally part of a speech that Amy Tan had given while she participated in a panel entitled,”Englishes: Whose English is it anyway?” in 1989. The author describes in detail how she finds herself using various forms of English, depending on who she is around. She also makes the point on how hard life can be for someone who doesn’t speak good English.
Rhetorical Analysis On Mother Tongue
877 Words | 4 PagesThe Joy of Language In the passage “Mother Tongue”, the author Amy Tan writes about the relationship between her, her mother and the English language. Tan uses various rhetorical strategies to convey the experiences and thoughts she has when it comes to the influence of language on her life and those around her. Through the use of these persuasive language devices, Tan shares what she has learned growing up with different Englishes in her personal and social life. This, in turn, ultimately enables her to convey her love for the English language and the power that it holds.
My English By Julia Alvarez Summary
160 Words | 1 PagesClass ESL 5 In the article, ”My English” by Julia Alvarez, the author wrote about her experience as she learn to speak English. Spanish was her mother tongue and struggled to speak English in the early phases. She thought that English was a form of Spanish, as there are different dialects in Spanish. Her parents spoke English when they didn’t want her and her siblings to know what was going on.
The Power Of Language In Amyy Tan's Mother Tongue By Amy Tan
943 Words | 4 PagesIn her writing, Tan often describes her experiences as the child of Chinese immigrants, growing up in northern California and living in American culture. Tan explains how she has learned to embrace the many Englishes her mother speaks and how her background has also caused her to have different Englishes. While others classify her mother's English as "broken" she finds no fault in it. In Tan's view, just because something is broken does not necessarily mean that it is in need of fixing. In her essay, author Amy Tan addresses the connections between languages and cultures in describing the different Englishes her mother uses.
Comparing Aira By Richard Rodriguez And Mother Tongue By Amy Tan
1513 Words | 7 PagesRichard Rodriguez’s “ Aira: A Memoir of Bilingual Childhood” and Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue” both exercise the three common rhetoric devices – pathos, ethos, and logos – to appeal to the audience and to make their arguments within the text more valid and comprehensive. Both authors write about their experiences and struggles with immigration and the assimilation into the public identity and society, but their reactions to these situations are similar and different in several forms and aspects, including how they were presented to the public identity, how they reacted to the public identity and assimilation into the society by facing their challenges, what their family connection was, and what credibility they have. While both authors did resist
Similarities Between Mother Tongue And How To Tame A Wild Tongue
504 Words | 3 PagesThe power of language We all have some form of language limitations, no matter where we come from and what our background is. “Mother tongue” by Amy Tan and “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” by Gloria Anzaldua both share similar themes in their stories that demonstrate how they both deal with how different forms of the same language are portrayed in society. In both stories they speak about what society declares the right way of speech and having to face prejudgment, the two authors share their personal experiences of how they’ve dealt with it.
Analysis Of Mother Tongue By Amy Tan
846 Words | 4 PagesFor numerous amounts of people, with English being their second language, they have been described as having "Broken English". " Broken English" refers to a poorly spoken or ill-written version of the English language. One article called "Mother Tongue" by Amy Tan discusses the effects of growing up with a Chinese mother who has "Broken English". In fact, Tan deliberates about the limitations and criticism of growing up with her mother. Although Tan speaks articulate English, she still can comprehend with her mother 's "Broken English".
Rhetorical Analysis Of Mother Tongue
458 Words | 2 PagesRhetorical Precis #4: “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan Amy Tan’s purpose in her article “Mother Tongue” is to show the influence of her mother’s style of english. She also relates this to a more broad topic of the idea that there are many different types of english that people speak that are tailored to whoever they are speaking to. She begins this piece by stating plainly that she is not an english scholar. Instead of decreasing her credibility it actually increases it and paints this piece as a more personal set of observations rather than a bland overview of the entire language.
Amy Tan Mother Tongue Thesis
528 Words | 3 PagesWriter and novelist Amy Tan in her essay “Mother Tongue”, narrates that speaking “broken” or “fractured” English is not a bad thing. Tan’s purpose is to show the readers her interpretation of different Englishes and what affect her mother had on her. Amy Tan builds a case in “Mother Tongue” that just because some people don’t speak English perfectly, doesn’t mean that they are stupid or ignorant. Tan uses metaphors such as “broken” (8) and “fractured” (8), these words are strong metaphors due to the fact that they give the reader an easy understanding of what Tan is trying to say. Tan uses these metaphors as a way of describing how her mother spoke, while trying not to offend her.
Summary Of Mother Tongue By Amy Tan
419 Words | 2 Pages“Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan is the short story about the importance of language and how it is a key for communication. Tan emigrated from China to Oakland, California and she was a first generation of Asian-American. The author is very fascinated by the language and she believes that the language has the power of emotions, a visual image, a complex idea, and a simple truth. She also believes that there are many different types of “Englishes”.
What Is The Main Idea Of Mother Tongue By Amy Tan
143 Words | 1 PagesIn Amy Tan‘s essay “Mother Tongue” (1999), she describes her life with her mother in America and how the broken speech of her mother has had an influence on her life. Amy Tan talks about the different “Englishes" she speaks to communicate with different people. Also, she tells us about her love for English and how she becomes a famous writer in America. In her essay she tries to shows us that language, culture, and education shapes us into who we are and the more you study English the more you learn and English will change your life a lot.
Mother Tongue Summary
714 Words | 3 PagesAfter reading Mother Tongue by Amy Tan, my perspective changed about the struggles for people who are not as good at English. All throughout this article Tan uses personal experience from her mom to show the readers the struggle while also using primary sources to back up her claim. All the evidence backs up her initial claim and as the reader your perspective changes after reading about how she personally was effected. The author 's main claim of Mother Tongue is to persuade people so respect people who struggle with English because she has serval personal connections, she has fact based proof, and she is an experienced writer on this topic and in general. All throughout the reading she uses many personal stories and personal experiences on how difficult it was for her mother to go through her everyday life.
Mother Tongue Analysis
1081 Words | 5 PagesThe article 'Mother Tongue ' by author Amy Tan is about the variations in the English language the author uses in her life. She describes her English when giving a speech to a other people, English she uses when speaking to her mother, and English she uses in her writing. She tells of difficulties faced by both her mother and herself from these many differences. Amy 's goal in this article is to show that a person does not have to speak proper English to be seen as smart or intelligent.
Amy Tan Research Paper
737 Words | 3 PagesTan talks about the different types of English she used and learned while she was growing up. Tan’s English wasn’t all so great when she was in grade school but in college she switched to an English major from pre-med. English was Tan’s second language so she wasn’t so encouraged to become a writer. Others could not understand her mother’s “broken English”, but Tan could because she grew up listening to it, which is why she named this story “Mother tongue”.
Analysis Of Mother Tongue By Amy Tan
711 Words | 3 PagesSummary of "Mother Tongue" by Amy Tan In "Mother Tongue, Amy Tan writes about how her mother 's broken English affects her life. She begins this narrative essay by talking about the day she became aware of the different forms of English that she was using at home and during formal events. Amy says, "The talk was going along well enough, until I remembered one major difference that made the whole talk sound wrong. My mother was in the room. And it was perhaps the first time she had heard me give a lengthy speech, using the kind of English I have never used with her" (Tan 1).
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