Analysis Of Search For My Tongue By Sujata Bhatt

The poem, “Search for My Tongue”, by Sujata Bhatt and Amy Tan’s essay, Mother Tongue, explore the broad theme of language and identity. Specifically, both authors probe deeper into the relation between language and identity to explain their importance despite the social factors that impact their value. As a result, I was able to analyze how and why they employ a language in different contexts leading to the formation of my personal interpretations and connections crafted upon the experiences of my life.
Indeed, Bhatt’s poem correlates with the observations and experiences I’ve made within my life. Primarily, the part of my life that is subject to an American influence derived from my experience at Casablanca American School, my social surroundings,

For example, with her mom she would adopt a “broken” English although it is not the right term to describe it. In fact, a better way to describe it is an English that deviates from that of the standard agreed structure. On the other hand, during her presentation in a more professional atmosphere, Tan uses sophisticated vocabulary and standard structured with an articulate American accent. For instance, she says the following during her speech, “The intersection of memory upon imagination…”. This reminded me of my younger brother. As the elder brother, I am able to see his evolution and study his behavior at home and outside of the house. Surprisingly, my younger brother tends to speak English everywhere. This is a result of a habit he has developed in response to the environments he is exposed to. For instance, in school he speaks English with his classmates and teachers, at home I tend to have an unconscious reaction of speaking English with him if he says something in English, and finally all the cartoons and videos he watches on Youtube are in English. I feel embarrassed when he speaks in English in public because it creates an image of the privileged. In Moroccan culture, there is a significant amount of gossip hence influencing reputation. People will treat us differently based on the language we use. For instance, in the same

In fact, the idea of adapting has always been of human nature. For example, in this specific case, using standard articulate English opens doors internationally meaning that we, as high school students, who will graduate in a year and a half, have the ability to study abroad. To add, this also means that to the English’s globalization and the fact that it’s the new lingua franca, facilitates communication among the world. However, this puts into risk other languages that we have in our arsenal or even goes to the extent of limiting our scope of thought by focusing on being monolingual with just English. Although English offers numerous advantages, languages will be lost as well as cultures which in response will initiate a large loss of what identifies a person in correlation with their environment. Furthermore, the Sapir Whorf hypothesis suggests that the structure of a language alter a speaker’s thoughts and response towards experiences. This means that we will be losing different ways of thinking to us, as a society, and to science. Therefore, it becomes clear to me that maintaining a strong identity is essential to the diversity within our global community that truly represents who a person