Amy Tan Mother Tongue Summary

“Mother Tongue” is an essay by Amy Tan that examines the ways in which people treat those who do not speak or act like them. Simply, how people perceive those that are different . The main purpose of “Mother Tongue” is to inform the readers of the ways they might intentionally or unintentionally be treating people who speak broken english as Tan’s mother does. This essay highlights the extreme importance of language and how it connects with everyone’s day to day lives.

Plautus’ play Casina shows another example of “double duty” typically seen in Greek tragedies, wherein the female characters are used to explore issues that are not commonly approached by men. Throughout Casina, we could see “double duty” through the actions and behaviors of its female characters, most especially in Cleostrata. Problematic issues throughout the women include the topic of infidelity in Cleostrata’s and Lysidamus’ marriage and property. Furthermore, the ending of Casina endorses the Greek status quo by allowing Cleostrata to stay and forgive her husband.

A typical childhood consists of a child having two parents; a mother and a father, or two fathers, or two mothers, whatever the situations maybe. My childhood wasn’t typical, my childhood consist of one single parent, my mother, with the occasional glimpse of my father, but that was rare. My mother played a significant role in my education and how I communicate with others. You see my mother immigrant from Cuba to America and was unable to speak a word of english but she came anyway with her Heart open and her mind ready to learn. Thanks to reruns of ‘ I Love Lucy’ and Oprah; my mother was able to learn english but it was “broken” as Amy Tan would put it. Amy Tan’s essay “ Mother Tongue” discusses the many difficulties that she and her mother have face with her mother's “broken” english; which seem all to similar to my mother and me. It was like we were one in the same. Tan points out the prejudices and culture racism that immigrants are forced to endure without showing aggression or even acknowledging the reader of it. Tan is able to criticize our culture standards and expresses how we have double standards for English speakers.

Amy Tan, a Chinese American novelist with a degree in linguistics , in her essay “Mother Tongue” (1990), argues that one’s command over a language is not representative of the quality of their ideas or their intelligence. She supports the claims by first emphasizing her understanding of the issue as a woman educated in America whose mother is Chinese, then implying that she has been concerned with this issue for most of her life through descriptions of how her perspective of her mother’s language style has changed from adolescence to adulthood, and finally providing multiple personal accounts of experiencing language barriers with her mother. Tan’s purpose is to prove how the way a person speaks creates bias that individual regardless of what

In the essay “Mother Tongue” Amy Tan, the author, gives a different, a more upbeat outlook on the various forms of English that immigrants speak as they adapt to the American culture. Using simple language to develop her argument, she casually communicates to the audience rather than informing which helps the audience understand what is being presented at ease. Her mother plays an important role in her outlook of language, because she helps her realize that language not only allows one to be a part of a culture but create one’s identity in society. Amy Tan shares her real life stories about cultural racism and the struggle to survive in America as an immigrant without showing any emotions, which is a wonderful epiphany for the audience in realizing how a non-native English speaker handles everyday situations.

English is an invisible gate. Immigrants are the outsiders. And native speakers are the gatekeepers. Whether the gate is wide open to welcome the broken English speakers depends on their perceptions. Sadly, most of the times, the gate is shut tight, like the case of Tan’s mother as she discusses in her essay, "the mother tongue." People treat her mother with attitudes because of her improper English before they get to know her. Tan sympathizes for her mother as well as other immigrants. Tan, once embarrassed by her mother, now begins her writing journal through a brand-new kaleidoscope. She sees the beauty behind the "broken" English, even though it is different. Tan combines repetition, cause and effect, and exemplification to emphasize

In Amy Tan’s essay, “Mother Tongue” (1990), she asserts to her audience that people shouldn’t be judged for how they speak, that all english is correct, and that there is no “wrong way” to speak english. Tan supports her belief using her experience with her mother’s English and the English she grew up with to tell how growing up she would be embarrassed whenever her mother talked and how people wouldn’t take her seriously or people wouldn’t be able to understand her. By using a personal example, she makes her audience feel sympathy in order to make them think and maybe change the way they look at people with a disability or people who just can’t speak right. Tan is trying to get her audience to listen to her and hope that they’ll do something

I really enjoyed reading both essays, because they had a story to it I was able to paint a picture of what both authors wrote and I was also able to relate because English is not my or my families first language and I understand Amy Tan situation in mothers tongue because I have been in the same situation when I had to pretend to be one of my parents because I some people would take them seriously because of the way they spoke English. And for superman and me again I was able to relate because I was able to understand certain things in school when I first came to Haiti so I would answer a few question but the students that were from America didn’t like that I was answering the question, I feel like they expected to dumb, lost and keep quiet

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.

The purpose of Amy Tan’s essay, “Mother Tongue,” is to show how challenging it can be if an individual is raised by a parent who speaks “limited English” (36) as Tan’s mother does, partially because it can result in people being judged poorly by others. As Tan’s primary care giver, her mother was a significant part of her childhood, and she has a strong influence over Tan’s writing style. Being raised by her mother taught her that one’s perception of the world is heavily based upon the language spoken at home. Alternately, people’s perceptions of one another are based largely on the language used.

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.

In Amy Tan’s narrative, “Mothers Tongue”, Tan speaks about the unique dialect that she and her mother share. Only she could understand and conversations with her mother and understand every word she is saying. Tan writes about how she grew up with the variations of English; the perfect English that she spoke to the public, and the broken English she used with her mother. Tan writes that from a young age she was very embarrassed by the limited knowledge of English and how that “… reflected the quality of what she had to say.” (Tan, pg. 635) Tan reflects that with her mother’s limitations, she had to talk on her mother’s behalf just to have others hear what her mother had to say, Amy recalls a time where she was called to basically interpret

Nurses have many roles that have allowed them to provide safe healthcare for patients every day. The nurse is responsible for treating patients with all types of problems, including abuse. In addition to treating victims and their families who experience violent situations, nurses have also become victims themselves in the workplace. “Workplace violence is any act or threat of physical violence, harassment, intimidation, or other threatening disruptive behavior that occurs at the work site” (United States Department of Labor). Workplace violence against nurses has become an epidemic in today's society because nurses are failing to report violent attacks due to reprimandation from superiors, there is a false idea that violence is “just part

After having to pay compensation for World War I due to the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was in shambles; people were unemployed, humiliated, and divided almost to the point of a civil war. They were in need of a strong leader to bring them together, and Adolf Hitler, with his powerful speaking skills and manipulative speeches, seemed to be the desirable candidate. His speeches and charisma, timing and strategy, and the fact that Germany was in disarray, allowed him to quickly rise through the ranks of the German Worker’s Party and seize the hearts and minds of his fellow Germans.