When speaking with someone, the proper way to construct a sentence would be to use a subject and a verb that agree. In terms of Amy Tan 's mother, Daisy, in "Mother Tongue" the construction of sentences is a major effector when it comes to their relationship. While Tan was born in Oakland, California, her mother Daisy and father John were both Chinese immigrants. Before meeting John and immigrating to America in 1949, Daisy was married to an abusive man in Shanghai, China. During this time period women in China were insignificant unless it came to domestic housework. Women had little to no voice and lacked a proper education. Unlike Daisy, Tan was able to attend school and even go on to college and study English and linguistics. By analyzing Daisy and interpreting her actions in relation to Chinese women and their significance in China and America, it is clear that Tan was significantly affected by her mother’s broken language.
From China to America, Tan’s mother Daisy was always being put last when it came to education or even on the phone. Since the early 1920s, Chinese women were not educated like men because they were needed for domestic housework (Amy). Women were taken out of school to attend to the home while the men worked. Because of this, "far fewer women were educated than men" (China). With this knowledge from history, readers can understand that Daisy cannot form correct English due to her lack of education in China. Daisy was most likely excluded from
The movies/stories of High Noon and The Most Dangerous Game are very similar but different in a way. Kane and Rainsford are the main characters of the stories. The two are being hunted down by their arch enemy. Frank Miller is Kane's enemy, and Zaroff is Rainsford's enemy. Kane's best friend, Harvey, wants to be in charge—the Marshall—after Kane leaves town with his new wife Amy. Rainsford defeats Zaroff, and he might take charge at Ship Trap Island if he decides he wants to. Frank Miller's crew hasn't done anything wrong yet to get arrested; however Zaroff did.
In both the book, Night by Elie Wiesel, and the movie “Life is beautiful” the plot follows a father, and son going through the holocaust together and share similar aspects throughout. In the movie, an Italian man of Jewish descent named Guido had married the woman of his dreams, his princess, but was taken by his son by his side into a concentration camp. In order to keep his son happy he convinced his son that the holocaust was a big game and that they had to win first place to get a tank. In Night, a memoir of Elie Wiesel's life, Elie is brought to a concentration camp with his father and endure many hardships, but give each other motivation to survive. These two works are more similar in the conflict and plot, but differ mostly in the character's
During the 18th Century women in China continued to be subordinated and subjected to men. Their status was maintained by laws, official policies, cultural traditions, as well as philosophical concepts. The Confucian ideology of 'Thrice Following'; identified to whom a women must show allegiance and loyalty as she progressed throughout her life-cycle: as a daughter she was to follow her father, as a wife she was to follow her husband, and as a widow she was to follow her sons. Moreover, in the Confucian perception of the distinction between inner and outer, women were consigned to the inner domestic realm and excluded from the outer realm of examinations, politics and public life. For
“Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan and the text by Diana Eades focus specifically on the form of language used and the discrimination it entails. Amy Tan describes the language used by Daisy Li as “broken or fractured English” (Tan, A, 1990). This is an example of language discrimination as it criticises and condemns the variation or form of English spoken by Li, which is Chinese-English. This language discrimination is also prominent in the experience of Daisy Li conversing with the stockbroker in New York, as she forces her daughter to speak for her. This is due to the certain limitations accompanied with her particular form of English.
In their articles, Chang Rae-Lee and Amy Tan establish a profound ethos by utilizing examples of the effects their mother-daughter/mother-son relationships have had on their language and writing. Lee’s "Mute in an English-Only World" illustrates his maturity as a writer due to his mother’s influence on growth in respect. Tan, in "Mother Tongue," explains how her mother changed her writing by first changing her conception of language. In any situation, the ethos a writer brings to an argument is crucial to the success in connecting with the audience; naturally a writer wants to present himself/herself as reliable and credible (Lunsford 308). Lee and Tan, both of stereotypical immigrant background, use their
Mother Tongue is a story that describes how Amy Tan’s mother was treated unfairly because of her “broken English”. As the second generation of Chinese immigrants, Tan faces more problems than her peers do. Her mom, who speaks “limited” English, needs Tan to be her “translator” in order to communicate with the native English speakers. Tan has felt ashamed of her mother “broken” language at first. She then contemplates her background affected her life and her study. However, she changes her thought at the end since she realizes things behind language might be more valuable than language itself sometimes. Through the various different literary devices and rhetorical strategies such as the ethos, pathos, and logos appeals, as well as a
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.
Furthermore, Tan's mother teaches her to think in a different manner than the other children in her school. Tan states that her developing language skills were influenced by her family and in this case her mother, hence it affected her
Tan was born to a pair of Chinese immigrants. Her mother understood English extremely well, but
Tan’s attitude towards her mother’s English begins with embarrassment and humiliation. Growing up in an immigrant family which speaks imperfect English, Tan witnesses many discriminations that her mother has encountered in department stores or at banks, those experiences help to shape Tan’s opinion to her mother’s English. For example, Tan states that “[she] was ashamed of [her mother’s] English. [She] believed that [her mother’s] English reflected the quality of what [her] mother had to say” (508). In young Amy’s opinion, her mother’s expressions and thoughts are broken and imperfect like the way she speaks, and she believes that linguistic expression is linked to a person’s intelligence. As a result, she was ashamed of her mother in public because of her fractured English.
Tan goes on to explain what sociological impacts she experienced based on her upbringing. She concludes that her mother should not be judged based on her “watered down” English, and that people should be more accepting to those who cannot express their feelings in English.
On one side, Amy Tan “Mother Tongue” shows how Amy Opens doors for her mother. One example of this is when Amy says “Just last week, 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. We were talking about the price of new and used furniture and I heard myself saying this: "Not waste money that way." My husband was with us as well, and he didn't notice any switch in my English. And then I realized why. It's because over the twenty years we've been together, I've often used that same kind of English with him, and sometimes he even uses it with me. It has become our language of intimacy, a different sort of English that relates to family talk, the language I grew up with ” (Tan 363). This opens a door for her mother by being in and understand a conversation that she is not normally involved in. This is as simple as Amy talking to her mom in her mother’s language. This is similar to an adult explaining something to a child in the in
In “Mother Tongue,” Amy Tan an American writer, shares her experience growing up with the family where no one speaks perfect English, and how it affected her education and her life. As the second generation of Chinese immigrants, Tan faces more problems than her peers do. Her mother, who speaks limited English needs Tan to be her “Translator” to communicate with the native English speakers. Tan states, “I was ashamed of her English” (2). Her mother is like a burden to her, at least in Tan’s early years. But the cultural conflict she becomes the theme of her writing and it is under this situation she wrote many novels and essays including “Mother Tongue.”
Amy Tan’s literacy narrative “Mother Tongue” is about the different dialects of English, she is familiar with. She explains that her intelligence is judged by the way she speaks. Amy Tan, explains memories from her life where she encounters many forms of English. Her mother, a Chinese immigrant spoke “broken English.” She describes her mother as someone who was able to understand English, well the mother claims that she understands everything, but when it came to speaking, she spoke without the correct grammar. Due to her mothers broken English, Amy Tan has adapted to the type of English her mother speaks, their own type of English language. Tan feels as if the English she is speaking with it outside world is more complex than the English she
In the work of Amy Tan’s “Mother’s Tongue” she provides a look into how she adapted her language to assimilate into American culture. She made changes to her language because her mother heavily relied on her for translation. She was the voice of her mother, relaying information in standard English to