In addition to this, Tan exercised logos, as the
“Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan is primarily an autobiographical piece about her experiences growing up in a household that chiefly spoke “broken” English, and a reflection on how this gave her a unique perspective on the transformative properties of language. Yet, it is no way an academic analysis, a deliberate choice, Tan even includes a short disclaimer in the beginning concerning this, and the excerpts she includes come from her own background, her personal observations, something which I found quite refreshing. As someone who comes from a mixed family and identifies as Asian-American, I related a great deal to her upbringing, and in many instances down to the exact circumstance. For example, she details an incident in which she
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.
Amy Tan explains in “Mother Tongue” how she uses different varieties of English around groups of people and why she decided to become a writer. “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” (Tan 1). The author uses “I” and “Myself” very clearly to illustrate to the reader her point of view and shares with the audience her experience that might resonate similarly with someone reading. Amy effectively utilizes a first-person point of view to share the experiences her mother went through trying to speak another language. She uses first-person to show the hardships, both emotional and physical, to teach the importance of empathy and understanding.
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.
Mother Tongue Mother Tongue, by Amy Tan, focuses on how to not criticize her mother's English and the different English languages she uses with other people and her mother. It also shows the readers her passion, rhythm and stylistic devices to express herself throughout the essay. She starts the essay with "I am not a scholar of English" and then the next paragraph says "I am a writer. " She used a parallel between the two sentences with the words "I Am" which created a word pattern so we the readers could follow along easily. Knowing that you can emphasize the words "I am" into two different sentences makes the word pattern easier to break down with the paragraphs.
Two contrasting essays, “Mother Tongue” and “Only Daughter” were written by two talented writers, who also shared several similarities when growing up with their parents. Amy Tan, author of “Mother Tongue” gained inspiration for her writing from her mother; referring to the English she spoke as broken, or fractured. Furthermore, Tan goes on about the language barriers between her mom and society during her childhood and how she was never understood by most of the public. Henceforth, the author closes the essay explaining that the reader she would imagine reading her stories was none other than her mother. “And the reader I decided upon was my mother, because these were stories about mothers.
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.
This quote from the narrative showed the author 's realization of the difference in the way that she speaks in different environments. Later Amy grasped that she uses the same type of English with her husband, but she comprehended that it was the language of family talk or the language she grew up with. Tan starts to tell her mother 's story about the gangster that wanted her mother family to adopt him. She states, "You should know that my mother 's expressive command of English belies how much she actually understands" (Tan 1). This part of the narrative inserts that her mother knew what she was talking about even though she spoke improper English.
And when the doctor called her daughter, me, who spoke perfect English, low and behold we had assurances the CAT scan would be found”.(13). This shows that again Tan had to help her mother and that she had nothing to be ashamed of. Personally this affected her in the way that her mother could not speak English too well, but she could, so she was the talker in the family. This shows the readers that if someone is different, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t help them. The audience can take her memories, so that they can understand that some people are
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.
While at a public speaking, Tan realized that she was using all these large words that her audience understood but her mother did not. “I was saying things like, “The intersection of memory upon imagination” and “There is an aspect of my fiction that relates to thus–and-thus…the forms of English I did not use at home with my mother” (Tan 58). Tan’s mother was in the room while Tan was giving the speech and that was when she realized that language could be a powerful tool that can connect each other in different ways. The English language can also bring people together who speak English but not in such a common way. “We were talking about the price of new and used furniture and I heard myself saying this: “Not waste money that way” (Tan 58).
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.
Tan’s mother’s English symbolizes the discrimination and challenges of immigrants in America. Tan’s English symbolizes the challenges she had to face with speaking different forms of English.
In Amy Tan‘s essay “Mother Tongue” (1999), she describes her life with her mother in America and how the broken speech of her mother has had an influence on her life. Amy Tan talks about the different “Englishes" she speaks to communicate with different people. Also, she tells us about her love for English and how she becomes a famous writer in America. In her essay she tries to shows us that language, culture, and education shapes us into who we are and the more you study English the more you learn and English will change your life a lot.
