Mother Tongue by Amy Tan Essay

dealing with cultural assimilation. Though there is no standard expectation of proficiency, immigrants should at least reach a mutual level of understanding – this of course would not prove to be most effective for advancement, but as Amy Tan mentions in “Mother Tongue,” there are many…

How one speaks will measure one’s worth in society. Society views Tan’s mother negatively when she could not communicate clearly. Tan describes many events that show readers how her mother was not being respected for not speaking clear English. Most of the time Tan has to speak for her mother because she has trouble communicating with others in English. On the other hand, Tan speaks clear English. Through the article, Tan describes how the English language is important to speak in America, and…

Revision of mid-term essay How do Tan and Baldwin make the point for the acceptance of the multilingual society? What is multilingual? Well, multilingual is having more than one voice or languages. Multilingual was main acceptance in both Baldwin and Tan piece because the society we are residing in today, people are coming from many different culture and language throughout the world to live together. In order to take control over our circumstances through society today one must put aside their…

social and emotional issues. In the texts “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan and “Achievement of Desire” by Richard Rodriquez the readers are able to experience how bilingualism can affect the way individuals interact. Sometimes the language spoken at home is different from the language spoken in the outside world. Bilingualism is something that should not change the relationship with…

with their own problems. Some people deal with family problems or obstacles in their jobs, but either way, everyone has something in common with another person. Roger, in Langston Hughes’s story, Thank You Ma’am, and Waverly in Rules of the Game by Amy Tan, relate in this same way. Hughes’s story occurs in Harlem, New York, whereas, the excerpt, takes place in Chinatown, San Francisco. Thank You Ma’am is about a young boy, Roger, who attempts to steal a woman’s pocketbook due to his absence of…

diversity brings a collective strength that can benefit all of humanity.“ Authors Amy Tan and Sandra Cisneros have similar approaches to the idea of cultural differences. Both writers are the children of immigrant parents, and both allow their unique experience with culture to guide their writing . The works of Cisneros and Tan, particularly The House on Mango Street and “Woman Hollering Creek” as well as ”Mother Tongue” and “Rules of The Game”, discuss the division cultural differences create…

to America but then it sky rocketed. Tan learns from her mother's English that people pretend to not understand by not listening with her accent, it is her second internal language and passion. People pretend to not understand, what this basically means is that people who have a language barrier are sometimes belittled. They are made fun of and just used. People use other people at their own expense. "People in department stores, at banks, and at restaurants…

Education is meant to be an equalizer between all Americans. There are many inspirational stories of students who have completed their education and became successful member of society. Yet, we are swarmed with failure, mainly in our public education system. Social class, gender and ethnicity have a unfortunate impact in the inequality in educational access and success rate in basic and higher education in America. The social and economic status of a student is the biggest predicament of the…

complex ideas, and promotes the simple truth. Tan describes the “broken English” that she uses with her mother. An example of phrases she said are, "Du Yusong having business like fruit stand. Like off the street kind. He is Du like Du Zong -- but not Tsung-ming Island people. The local people call putong, the river east side, he belong to that side local people” (652) To most people it sounds garbled and unitelligent but in her mind, it makes perfect sense. Tan explains that this “broken…

during an event she was making a speech for. At this event her mother was present, and while giving her speak she felt something was wrong. What she had realized was that this was the first time her mother had heard her speak “proper” English. Once she had this realization she looked backed at where this started. Tan was explaining how language had influenced her. She looks back and remembers experiences where she had to help her mother speak to others due to miscommunication from her mother’s…