A Rhetorical Analysis Of Mother Tongue By Amy Tan

Superior Essays
“Broken” English negatively impacts immigrants on a daily basis. A great example of this negative impact is shown through “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan. Tan’s parents fled from China in the 1940’s with many other people because of China’s Cultural Revolution and when they came to America, they had trouble assimilating with Americans. Tan, on the other hand, had a less difficult time adapting to the American Culture because she was born in America. In Mother Tongue, Tan begins the passage by explaining how powerful language is and then continues on to tell stories that help prove her point. Tan speaks about the different forms of english she uses through anecdotes of her experiences with her mother. According to essay, a survey showed that Asian students did much better on math achievement tests rather than english. Surveys such as these persuade people to believe that Asians, especially those who speak “limited” english are inferior to those who speak “normal” english. The audience intended for this excerpt is the general public because her purpose is to educate them on the unfair repercussions of not being able to speak “normal” english. In “Mother Tongue”, Amy Tan employs logic, credibility, and especially an emotional appeal to persuade the audience to alter their treatment toward those who speak “broken” english. Tan proves how illogical it is for people to think that immigrants, such as her mother, know nothing just because they speak “broken” English.” By giving different examples of real world experiences she has had with her mother, Tan describes some of her mother’s daily activities that prove her understanding of english is not as “fractured” as people think it is. Tan says, “She [her mother] reads the Forbes report, listens to Wall Street Week, converses daily with her stockbroker, reads all of Shirley MacLaine’s books with ease - all kinds of things I can’t begin to understand.” Although Tan’s mother struggles to communicate in “proper” english, Tan proves that her mother has absolutely no problem getting what she needs. Tan also argues that it is not fair for people to expect her and her mother to learn to speak english effortlessly. The language itself has advanced throughout the years, making it more difficult for her to grasp all of it. Tan reminisced on how she did decent in school on english tests, but she did a lot better on math. She reasons for this by saying, “Math is precise; there is only one correct answer, Whereas, for me at least, the answers English tests were always a judgement call, a matter of opinion and personal experience.” Even her teachers tried to get her to focus on math and science, rather than english. Despite the fact that people did not believe in her, Tan still chose to major in English. Tan uses logic to persuade people how unfair the expectations they have for immigrants truly are. Tan starts off and ends her excerpt discussing her career as a writer to convince her audience that she is a credible source, therefore assuring people that she knows what she is talking about. Although her teachers did not think she could …show more content…
Tan used anecdotes from her personal life to portray the harshness of reality. Her stories helped appeal to the audience’s emotions, helping them understand the struggle of living in society and not being able to communicate with everyone. Immigrants who speak “broken” english are not taken seriously, and it restricts them from doing everyday things. Tan’s intention for this excerpt was to show how poorly immigrants are treated, but at the same time she wanted to show that she never let other peoples opinions stand in her way of getting what she wanted. She stood up for herself and majored in English because that’s what she wanted to do. Despite the odds against her, Tan became a successful writer and proved everyone else wrong. Tan knew her mother was not as confident in herself as she was, and she knew that others faced the same obstacles her mother did, so she wrote this selection to help apprise the audience of the difficulties immigrants face everyday because they can not speak “normal”

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