Amy Tan Mother Tongue Essay

"Identity is the essential core of who we are as individuals, the conscious experience of the self inside" - Kaufman (Anzuldύa 62). Coming to America and speaking more than one language, I often face similar situations as Gloria Anzaldύa and Amy Tan. Going to high school where personal image is a big part of a student 's life is very nerve racking. American Values are often forced upon students and a certain way of life is expected of them. Many times, in America, people look down on people who do not accept the American Way of Life. The struggle of "fitting in" and accepting the cultural background is a major point in both essays, _Mother Tongue_ by Amy Tan and _How to Tame a Wild Tongue_ by

Have you ever assimilated poor use of language to someone having little intelligence? Well, in the essay “Mother Tongue,” a well-known author by the name of Amy Tan, portrays the hardships and preconceived notions others had of her mother’s broken English and the assumptions they held of her intelligence based upon her fluency. And so, Amy Tan uses ethos, logos and pathos to convey the language barriers held in her mother’s personal experiences as a non-English speaking citizen, to her audience of readers.

The teenage years and transition to adulthood is in itself a very difficult period. Blending or fitting in are omnipresent issues that must be dealt with. For children of immigrants, this difficulty is only intensified through language. Both Amy Tan and Khang Nguyen strategically use narrative anecdotes and employ several rhetorical devices to illustrate this struggle in their works, “Mother Tongue” and “The Happy Days,” respectfully. Amy Tan chooses her childhood home as the primary setting of her work. This allows her to focus primarily on her conversations and interactions with her mother. However, she also gives several anecdotes in which her mother’s background and improper English negatively affected her, outside the home. Through

United by the obligations of the law, yet entirely divided by society, welcome to America. Patriots chant “equality” one moment, and “deport them” the next. Cruel, unaccepting, and uncompassionate, American society of the majority often appears to view itself as sovereign, turning a blind eye to, and often contributing to, the struggles of minorities. In “Mother Tongue”, Amy Tan (1990) does an excellent job of sharing her experience with similar issues as she tells her readers about the struggles her mother encountered due to being an immigrant who only spoke “broken” English. Society often put no weight into what Tan’s mother had to say, believing her ability to express her thoughts reflected the quality of said thoughts, which are of absolutely no correlation (Tan, 1990). This often led to Tan having to intervene for her mother, especially during serious situations that required resolution (Tan, 1990). Immigrants, no matter how intelligent or talented, may be plagued by continuous struggles because of a lack of understanding of English or American culture, stereotypes encouraged by the media, and discrimination, especially in the workplace.

In “Mother Tongue,” Amy Tan recalls “all the English that she grew up with,” all of

“We are a country where people of all backgrounds, all nations of origin, all languages, all religions, all races, can make a home. America was built by immigrants” Hillary Clinton stated. What she means in this quote is immigrants had a huge influence on America. America would be extremely different without them, without the diverse population here we would not know or be exposed to the different cultures, languages, and religions that we know today.

In Mother Tongue, Amy Tan talks about how language influenced her life while growing up. Through pathos she explains to her audience how her experiences with her mother and the Chinese language she came to realize who she wanted to be and how she wanted to write.

Language is a way of communication and it is constantly changing. For those whose first language isn’t English, there will definitely be challenges in learning it; yet there is still criticism in how non-native speakers use the language. In Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue” she writes about how language can influence life experiences and describes the true purpose of language as more than correct grammar and complex terms. Within my own experiences, I can relate to the message in Tan’s writing in the ways of regret, lack of respect, and often being the one who explained/translated for my family.

I had to always disprove that Asian-Americans are not just good at only math and science. My capabilities of acquiring a stellar English skill are not much different from the average American kid next door. Luckily for me as the years went by the doubts began to diminish, especially in the minds of my classmates. I have accomplished what I set out to do and that was to rid the qualm from skeptics’ minds. Slowly I have become more comfortable incorporating two opposing forces in my life, just as Tan did with her writing styles.

In Mother Tongue by Amy Tan, she begins her writing by doubting herself as a writer. My initial thought about this opening statement was confusion; why would she start a paper doubting her ability and possibly turning readers away? However, I read the opening sentences again and found myself wanting to read through her paper. I found her first sentences provided a unique and interesting way to describe herself and I wanted to know why she would describe herself in such a way in the very beginning of her piece. I think she chose to say this because she feels that no one can be an expert in the language of English. There are just too many versions of the English language itself and then add on all the variations that American people have added

Not all people whose English as a second language speak it in the same way. This argument made by Amy Tan in her story, “Mother Tongue”. In this essay, she successfully uses all three of Aristotle’s rhetorical styles such as ethos, logos, and pathos. Tan also notably balances each part of the rhetorical triangle and ultimately led to creating a very effective and thought provoking essay.

Mother Tongue is about Amy Tan's point of view of her mother’s way of speaking english. Amy and her Mother go through problems in her life, how Amy must talk to people on her mother's behalf on the phone or in public places to translate what her mother has to say to a person who doesn’t really understand Amy’s mother ‘broken’ english. Amy realizes when she’s older and looks back on her past and appreciates her mother’s ability to speak english. What Amy’s purpose to the whole story is her way of interpreting her mother's english, her attitude towards people who don’t understand ‘broken’ english, and how she proves that people like her can succeed even though she might be limited in that subject.

Amy Tan’s essay “Mother Tongue” connects to many of us whose English is their second language specially if one’s coming from a different country than the USA. Amy Tan connects to us in such a personal level in which one starts to relate to her. Coming from a background in where language plays an important role in my life, I indeed started to relate to her in every way. Like Amy Tan, language defines the type of person we are and how it affects our lifestyle on our everyday lives. Although we come to this country and learn an English that is not perfect or “Imperfect English”, doesn’t make one less intelligent nor different from others.

Amy Tan’s ,“Mother Tongue” and Maxine Kingston’s essay, “No Name Woman” represent a balance in cultures when obtaining an identity in American culture.  As first generation Chinese-Americans both Tan and Kingston faced many obstacles. Obstacles in language and appearance while balancing two cultures. Overcoming these obstacles that were faced and preserving heritage both women gained an identity as a successful American.

What does it feel like to be raised in an immigrant family? In the essay “Mother tongue” by Amy Tan, the author describes how her mother’s English influences her in her career and life that the “mother tongue” does not limit her as a writer, but shaped her and her perception on life instead. And her attitude to her mother’s English changes from the initial embarrassment to the final appreciation.