ipl-logo

A Rhetorical Analysis Of Mother Tongue By Amy Tan

493 Words2 Pages

"Mother Tongue" was written by Amy Tan, who is famous for her writings of her experiences as a Chinese immigrant growing up in American culture. Her primary purpose is to inform the reader about the prejudices her mother faced because her mother could not speak perfect English. In her essay, Tan shares stories of her mother's broken English and how people took advantage of her mother. Tan's intended audience are those who are unaware of people like her mother whose limited English is taken advantage of in everyday life. The experiences Tan shares with the readers is an emotion inducing strategy which Tan uses throughout her writing and it is proved to be very effective. One of Tan's most effective methods of conveying her purpose is her strong diction. "And sure enough, the following week..... was shouting at his boss in her impeccable broken English." (398) She uses "impeccable" and "broken" in the same sentence which is an antithesis. By emphasizing two antonyms impeccable and broken, Tan makes the point her mother's English is broken but yet filled with underlying meanings. The word choices Tan uses was an effective method to emphasize the idea of contrast by doing so Tan was able to draw the reader's attention, but also at the same time to make her argument more credible. As a result, she was able to portray to …show more content…

By applying anecdotes she was able to allow the audience in her shoes. By doing so ,Tan was able to connect with the audience and explain her stories of her struggles due to her mother's English. "I think my mother's English almost had an effect on limiting my possibilities in life was well." (399) By engaging the reader in her personal experiences, she was able to allow the reader to experience how she felt and by doing so she was able to make people who spoke broken English more

Show More
Related

Rhetorical Devices In How To Tame A Wild Tongue

929 Words | 4 Pages

Rhetorical Analysis on Anzaldua’s How to Tame a Wild Tongue The passage How to Tame a Wild Tongue is a very defensive and straightforward argumentative essay which defends her language and the people who speak it against the discrimination that the author herself has experienced first hand (Ethos). From this text we can infer that the author is most likely from hispanic descent as she is speaking spanish a lot of the time throughout the text. This text mainly speaks about the discrimination many Mexican-Americans suffer because they are spanish speaking.

Read More

A Rhetorical Analysis Of Mother Tongue By Amy Tan

216 Words | 1 Pages

In the article “Mother Tongue,” Amy Tan cogitates about how her mother’s spoken English is compared to the Standard English language. Tan believes that language is not only a tool of communication, but also a sociological tool of measuring self worth. She’d always loved language, but never had she appeared expressive and rhetoric in front of her mother, due to the fact that her immigrant mother could not speak the Standard English language, but rather a “broken” English language. She discloses that between her mother, the outside world, and herself, only three languages exist: “broken” English (as her mother speaks to her), “simple” (as she speaks to her mother), and “watered down” (as she translates her mother’s tangled up broken English to

Read More

Rhetorical Analysis Of Mother Tongue By Amy Tan

546 Words | 3 Pages

Mother Tongue was written by Amy Tan who is famous for her writings of her experiences as a Chinese immigrant growing up and living in American culture. Her primary purpose is to explain to the reader her interpretation of standard English and broken. In her essay Tan shares stories of her mother's broken English and her it affected her life and how people took advantage of her mother's broken English. Tan's intended audience are people who are unaware of people like her mother's limited English who are taken advantage of in everyday life. The experiences Tan shares with reader is an emotion inducing strategy which Tan uses throughout her writing and it is proved to be very effective.

Read More

Similarities Between Mother Tongue And How To Tame A Wild Tongue

504 Words | 3 Pages

The 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.

Read More

Rhetorical Analysis Of Mother Tongue

458 Words | 2 Pages

Rhetorical 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.

Read More

Amy Tan Rhetorical Analysis

1244 Words | 5 Pages

In this essay, “Mother Tongue” is referring to how Tan’s mother’s unique way of speaking English has influenced Tan’s English. So much so, that Tan’s English is usually similar as her mother’s and has become a form of speaking she has become accustomed to. 5. For Tan, it is a terrible line because it is creating a facade of being literary superior by using extravagant words. In reality, however, her writing is easy for non fluent English speakers to understand.

Read More

A Rhetorical Analysis Of Mother Tongue By Amy Tan

658 Words | 3 Pages

Novelist , Amy Tan, the author of “mother Tongue”, illustrate the problems every immigration family faces in their life due to their ‘broken English’. As immigration herself, she gave us the real-life story about her mom and herself which make the readers to consider the culture racism. Amy Tan states different Englishes that she uses in her life to imply that there is no right type of enlist, therefore there should be no prejudice. Amy tan begins her essay by emphasize her identity as a writer.

Read More

Rhetorical Analysis Of Mothe Mother Tongue

315 Words | 2 Pages

Tan puts many her life experiences as evidence to persuasive readers that just because someone can’t speak perfect english doesn’t mean this person is unintelligent. In the ending, she impresses readers by pointing out her mother tongue teaches her the goal of writing which is to reach the depth of one’s heart. For readers, it is easy to feel Tan’s love and appreciation to her mom from her severe language and casual tone. As for Tan herself, a good book is the one that her mom regards as “So easy to read”(314 Tan’ mom), because she believes her mother tongue will lead her to know her mom’s world

Read More

Analysis Of Mother Tongue By Amy Tan

846 Words | 4 Pages

In this article, Tan 's argue that her mother 's "Broken English" has caused unfairness, disinterest, and limitations throughout their life. Tan 's mother was discriminated a lot throughout her life, all because of her "Broken English". Growing up speaking "Broken English" has caused Tan 's mother to be treated unfairly. For example, in one body paragraph, Tan talks about her mother having her to call people on the phone pretending to be her.

Read More

Commentary On The Essay 'Black English' By James Baldwin

649 Words | 3 Pages

Divided by Speech James Baldwin uses this essay to address a divide taking place in our country. Not by our appearance, nor by our beliefs. The divide that is taking place in our country is by our speech, our slang, and as well as our culture. A thin line exists between every language.

Read More

The Power Of Language In Amyy Tan's Mother Tongue By Amy Tan

943 Words | 4 Pages

In 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.

Read More

Analysis Of Mother Tongue By Amy Tan

711 Words | 3 Pages

Summary 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).

Read More

Amy Tan Mother Tongue Thesis

528 Words | 3 Pages

Writer 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.

Read More

Mother Tongue Analysis

1081 Words | 5 Pages

The 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.

Read More

Mother Tongue Summary

714 Words | 3 Pages

After 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.

Read More

More about A Rhetorical Analysis Of Mother Tongue By Amy Tan

Open Document