Tan amy mother tongue. “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan: [Essay Example], 783 words GradesFixer 2022-12-10
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In "Mother Tongue," Amy Tan discusses the complexity of language and how it can both empower and marginalize individuals. As a Chinese-American writer, Tan reflects on the linguistic challenges she faced growing up with a mother who spoke broken English.
Tan's mother, who immigrated to the United States from China, struggled to communicate in English and was often misunderstood or belittled because of her accent and limited vocabulary. This led Tan to feel ashamed of her mother's language abilities and to strive for linguistic perfection in her own speech.
However, as she became more confident in her own language skills, Tan began to appreciate the uniqueness of her mother's English and the cultural and personal identity it represented. She also recognized the power of language to shape perception and encountered instances where her own mastery of standard English allowed her to be taken more seriously in professional and academic settings.
Through her personal narrative, Tan illustrates the complex ways in which language can both empower and disempower individuals. On the one hand, fluency in a dominant language can provide access to opportunities and better treatment. On the other hand, language barriers can lead to misunderstandings, discrimination, and social exclusion.
Tan's essay highlights the importance of language diversity and the need for understanding and respect for different linguistic backgrounds. It also reminds us that language is a multifaceted aspect of identity and that our relationship to language is complex and ever-evolving.
Mother Tongue Summary
In Mother Tongue, we get a glimpse of the experiences Amy Tan had growing up in a home where English was not the first language. She does not have a clear answer, but she believes that it could be because, like her, these young people may have had difficulty with English at school, and because of that, they may have performed better on the math and science portions of exams than on the English. The reaction from the crowd shows her use of humor, and how she is able to make light of a tough topic. This is because she grew up in a home with her Chinese mother who spoke English that was, at best, difficult for many people to understand. In both of the texts, the writer is able to use personal narrative to describe their experience. I wanted to capture what language ability tests can never reveal: her intent, her passion, her imagery, the rhythms of her speech and the nature of her thoughts. She has goodwill for her audience because she has felt the pain of being treated poorly due to language barriers.
So I never did well on tests like that The same was true with word analogies, pairs of words in which you were supposed to find some sort of logical, semantic relationship -- for example, "Sunset is to nightfall as is to. Why are there few Asian Americans enrolled in creative writing programs? The authors have different goals in relating their narratives and writing their essays, which comes through in the stylistic differences of the pieces. She could observe that traditional American society is reluctant to accept and tolerate non-standard ways of using their native language. King and Tan differ in their portrayal of passion for writing, but equally effective. Although the author of this essay came to a peaceful conclusion, many immigrants suffer from a negative attitude toward the native speakers because of generational memory of previous political conflicts Lim, 2019.
Tan's "Mother Tongue" and King's "Reading to Write" Works
Writing with a chip on her shoulder, Tan first wanted to focus on crafted, technically perfect sentences, as if to prove that she had finally mastered English. Some of her friends go so far as to say they understand none of what she says, and this is particularly interesting because Mrs. In this essay, she explores the role of English in her relationship with her mother. Finally, an important idea covered in the essay is connected with the use of different types of language in literary work. Her English prevents many people from understanding her or, in some cases, prioritizing her desires. As I got older I believe I got a little more wiser. King talks about how the stereotype that many people believe is very untrue for who she is.
When I was fifteen, she used to have me call people on the phone to pretend I was she. The Stockbroker Tan discusses an episode involving Mrs. Just last week, I was walking down the street with my mother, and I again found myself conscious of the English I was using, the English I do use with her. We all code switch in our language, and Tan shows us how her immigrant family experiences this phenomenon. Although Tan is now proud of her mother tongue, she reveals the reason behind her defensiveness about its supposed imperfection. As a reader you are made to feel the road block that is put in the way of her mother.
At the same time, it is still reasonable to adopt the language of narration to the common literary norms to make it as clear as possible. Tan is not alone in her struggle between two worlds; Rosie King also shows her struggles of not fitting in to one stereotype. And when the doctor finally called her daughter, me, who spoke in perfect English — lo and behold — we had assurances the CAT scan would be found, promises that a conference call on Monday would be held, and apologies for any suffering my mother had gone through for a most regrettable mistake. This article is a very powerful message that can inspire just about any audience to accept that casting judgement, prejudice or assumptions in the end can hinder us as a society and community. Because of this, Tan is convinced that her standardized test scores were affected. Similar to Tan, I speak differently at home and in public, with my parents and with friends.
Although there are many differences in the styles of the two writers, they are both effective in their use of rhetoric. Use the following activities to explore this concept in more depth. Mean gives lots of respect. I am fascinated by language in daily life. One time it was a call to her stockbroker in New York. Utilizing external feedback helps to preview how my writing would be understood by the general readership. The episode illustrates the linguistic barriers Mrs.
Amy described so many types of Englishes that came not only from her mother but her as well. Three aspects that she uses as evidence for the argument are considerable and typical, and the right succession of them makes the paper truly persuasive. He is Du like Du Zong -- but not Tsung-ming Island people. Tan has focuses on the realization of all existence concentrate on broken grammar as it relates to her family. It has always bothered me that I can think of no way to describe it other than "broken," as if it were damaged and needed to be fixed, as if it lacked a certain wholeness and soundness.
However, to make her stories more accessible and clear for her readers, she started to use different varieties of English. And this makes me think that there are other Asian-American students whose English spoken in the home might also be described as "broken" or "limited. My revision strategy will be based on carefully rereading my writing and focusing on feedback from other readers. It appears that language differences, in addition to the political issues, created alienation between immigrants and the native population. When the stockbroker finally meets both Tan and her mother, he is astonished that Tan sits in silent embarrassment while her mother excoriates him for his tardiness. Some say they understand none of it, as if she were speaking pure Chinese. Growing up speaking both Spanish and English makes me feel very lucky but, it also came with some cons.
