In the beginning of the essay Tan describes when she was giving a talk about
In the beginning of the essay Tan describes when she was giving a talk about
She spoke excellent English, but her mother did not. When her mother would speak in the English language, Tan would be ashamed of her mother’s strong accent. She was ashamed of her mother’s tongue because her English language was broken as Tan described it, bringing attention to herself. She did not like speaking to customer service to interpret for her mother all the time. Tan wanted her own independence from her family, and having to speak for her mother made her feel like her mother was weighing her down.…
In the article, Mother Tongue, the author Amy Tan explicitly demonstrates how she has developed her perspectives about language and the way of thinking under the influence of her mother’s limited English skill. The strategies Tan used to support her argument include vivid anecdote, striking contrast, and emotionally appealing parallelism. This journal is going to analyse how those rhetorical devices were being used during the delivery of Tan’s stories, and present my connections with her. At the beginning, Tan employed several sharp contrasts and vivid anecdotes to help her audience interpret her feeling of her mother tongue.…
The relationship between a parent and their child can be the utmost complicated, yet valuable relationship one can have. The relationship you have with your parents plays an important role in shaping who you are and who you’ll be; it determines your true identity. Authors Amy Tan, Putsata Reang, and Sherman Alexie all implemented clear descriptions of their personal relationships with their parents. Despite how complex their relationships might have been, these authors tell us how their relationships with their parents did indeed shape them into becoming the individuals they are in present day. Amy Tan would not be the individual she is today if she did not face the obstacles that came her way.…
In her article, “Mother’s tongue”, Amy Tan narrates the changes of cognition of her mother’s tongue based on her own experiences. She begins her essay by introducing herself as a writer instead of a scholar of English, which ingeniously makes a closer connection with readers. She describes three personal anecdotes from different time periods of her lifetime to create a comprehensive view for the definition of “Mother’s tongue”. The first one happened recently at her speech, which is the immediate cause for her to think more about different Englishes she uses in fornt of public and family. She made a comparison of the way she talks to her husband and to the audience.…
The existing conflict with language is to not only about English itself, but also about the relationship between Tan and her mother. It is crucial to understand that Tan’s original mentality was that her mother’s “English reflected the quality of what she had to say (...) and because she expressed them imperfectly her thoughts were imperfect.” More importantly, the voice used in the essay reflects Tan’s own opinions on English, so shifts to a softer tone and enhanced…
In my words, linguistic terrorism is a discrimination that opposes the other languages. People based on the language what you speak to decide your identify. Based on Tan’s refection in her essay, Tan has been a victim of linguistic terrorism since she has influenced by her mother. In “Mother Tongue”, she wrote, “I know this for a fact, because when I was growing up, my mother’s ‘limited’ English limited my perception of her”. Amy Tan pointed out that her mother has played such important role in her childhood and affected to who she is.…
Especially with this type of writing, it is easy to find. “Mother Tongue” evokes many emotions. Readers in a way can empathize with Tan, when she shares the fact that she believes her mother’s broken English has limited her possibilities in life. It is appealing to all those who have experienced difficulty with…
In this text, tan demonstrates that her mother suffered unequal treatment because her mother didn’t have the ability to speak with the…
The definition of language is a body of words and the systems for their use common to a people who are of the same community or nation, the same geographical area, or the same cultural tradition but for me language has another meaning. For me language is the key to obtain my success. I have taken me four years to learn English and it has been worth it. Being capable to read and write in English has opened many doors into professional and personal opportunities.…
Everyone speaks a language, but some people speak more than one language. To learn and understand a new language can be troublesome when first starting to learn said language. Both Amy Tan and Barbara Mellix experience these struggles. Tan’s multicultural Chinese- American life explains why Tan worries about the misunderstanding and stereotypes about the Chinese language.…
The writers’ method of writing is clear and well thought out, but there is also the matter of what is actually being communicated, as appose to how she gets her thoughts across. While Tan explains the difficulties that her mother has with communicating clearly, she makes it clear that she has an unwavering respect for her mother, regardless of her misgivings and barriers. Although there aren’t many references to this fact directly in the text, it’s a kind of undertone that sets in with the reader, possibly without even being noticed. The writer does an exceptional job conveying this idea subtly, and without depositing it into the text. This is an example of how Tan has honed into her writing skills, while also using her natural abilities and personal identity to communicate…
The United States has rapidly conformed into a multiracial society. Bilingual individuals come to America in hopes to find equal rights and freedom and face discrimination by Americans. American values are forced upon these people and according to Tan and Anzaldua, a certain way of life is expected of them. The struggle of “fitting in” and accepting the cultural background is a major point in both essays, Mother Tongue by Amy Tan and How to Tame a Wild Tongue by Gloria Anzaldua. Their experiences with the discrimination in the United States have given them they reason to stand against social inequality.…
Both stories, The Struggle to be an All-American Girl by Elizabeth Wong and My Father Writes to my Mother by Assia Djebar, explore the ramifications of foreign languages. Elizabeth Wong’s essay The Struggle to be an All-American Girl details her experiences learning Chinese at an alternate school to where she receives her general education. Wong talks about her brother’s habit to be “especially hard on [her] mother, criticizing her, often cruelly, for her pidgin speech-smatterings” (Wong 1) because English is not her natural language. The brother’s degradation of the mother allows him a certain power over her. She is forced to feel inadequate because of her poor English communication skills.…
When I came to the United States, I was educated and spoke English. It was British English; the pronunciation, spellings of some words and some of the grammar were completely different. When I enrolled in middle school, everybody made fun of me; all the students thought I was not smart because I could not communicate with them in American English. However, it was not just hard to communicate with other men, but it was also hard to communicate with women because I am a man. I believe that there is a difference in how individuals communicate; it all depends on a person’s gender and the language he or she grew up speaking.…
In the article "Mother Tongue" by Amy Tan, the author is talking about how growing up she had two different sets of English to use. A broken English with her mother and a more structured English with everyone else. She also sometimes had to speak on the phone for her mother because it was hard to understand her. I can understand how hard it is to understand someone who doesn't speak English very well. When she claimed, she was angry with her mother and even at the people treating her mother poorly due to her strong accent which made it hard for them to understand her.…