Literary Analysis Of Amy Tan's 'Mother Tongue'

Amy Tan, a Chinese-American immigrant, classifies and divides in order to bring awareness to the linguistic struggles immigrants face. She does so through a personal and didactic tone to convey a theme of cultural rejection and prejudice against immigrants. Tan utilizes the rhetorical appeals through her strong emotion, enlightening diction, and personal and didactic tone, parallelism (repetition), and antithesis to emanate the mode of classification and division. To begin with, Tan's usage of rhetorical appeals is conveyed through her strong emotion, enlightening diction, and personal and didactic tone. "... the fact that people in department stores, at banks, and at restaurants did not take her seriously, did not give her good service, pretended

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.

In the short story ‘Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan, the author uses the emotional side of her story to attract her readers, did it work? Well yes! It did work because she connected to her readers mostly those who have or are learning a new language. When we start doing or learning something new we tend to want to know that we are not alone as for because it helps us build up our self-esteem because when we see that a person was able to accomplish it then we start to work harder, but this isn't easy for those who are already in of age of where learning things may take longer and well if it's a language it may be even harder. By reading Tan's story many people get to relate and not just those who can't speak correctly, but also those who feel the need to help

“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.

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

“One kind word can warm three winter months; an acute word can cut deeper than a sharp weapon.” This motto does not seem to follow the normal structure of English; that is because the motto is translated from the Chinese. However, it does not matter as long as people understand the meaning, right? Amy Tan in “Mother Tongue” narrates how her mother’s “broken” or “fractured” English affects her life. At first, Tan thinks that her language abilities and possibilities are limited because her mother, who is an American immigrant from China, does not speak English “properly” in the family. However, the experiences that her mother faced because of her mother’s “broken” English cause Tan to recognize that English structure is not the most important factor in English language. By using a variety of rhetorical devices through "Mother Tongue", for instance, double entendre, ethos, pathos, and tone, Tan effectively justifies that the underlying meaning should be more considered than the way people say their words or messages.

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.

There are numerous bilingual and multicultural individuals on the planet today. For some, decisions of which language they utilize, and how they utilize it, relate to what social or social group they have a place with. Amy Tan, a Chinese American writer, depicts this well in her short exposition “Mother Tongue”. Tan experienced childhood in two unfathomably unique universes utilizing diverse English’s. The primary world, which comprises of her nearby family, she talks what we may call “broken” or “constrained” English. The second world, which is her business and expert world, tan talks and composes culminate standard and scholastic English.

“ When I was growing up my mother limited english limited my perception of her, I was ashamed of her english I believed that her english reflected the quality of what she had to say” ( Tan 8 ). In the article “ Mother Tongue” Amy Tan convey’s her central message by using pathos, Logos, And ethos to show how her mother was treated, and how it affected her growing up

The essays, "Mother Tongue" by Amy Tan and "Public and Private Language" by Richard Rodriguez are recollections of both of the author’s personal encounters and difficulties with the gap that was created between their families by differences in languages. These two writers grew up with bilingual families, in which English was not the primary language. Consequently, they had a hard time accepting and understanding the issues surrounding the different languages they spoke with their families at home, and within society. Because of this, the gap between their public and private languages that had been created through the introduction of a second language slowly grew larger, and eventually impacted their relationships with their family and caused them to view them in a different light. In their writing, Both Tan and Rodriguez reflect on their personal experiences and memories and illuminate the effects that a private language can have on various aspects of life.

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.

Amy Tan’s uses of rhetorical devices in “Mother Tongue ” In “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan, she uses rhetorical devices to convey her attitude towards her mother’s language and identity. In Tan’s personal essay, she explains her life as a writer and how she notices how she communicates differently with her mother who isn’t as fluent in English, as opposed to her audience. Tan uses anecdotes, an interesting story to express her attitude and tells her readers how she is embarrassed about her mother's language.

In the essay, “Mother Tongue”, Amy Tan lays out examples of noticing the different Englishes in her life and how she incorporates them into her writing. She also breaks down the different versions of English that have taken root in her life. Tan notes that she includes all the Englishes of her life in her book, The Joy Luck Club. Tan, the daughter of immigrants, learned to navigate between the “perfect” English of her professional life and the “broken” English of her youth. The author’s main claim of there being no perfect way of speaking English is one that can be easily recognized because Tan gives clear examples of the diverse versions of English in her life, she pinpoints moments in which she sees the differences and discovers how to accept and acclimate these differences to her life and career.

“My mother’s English is perfectly clear, perfectly natural. It’s my mother’s tongue,” stated Amy Tan, while expressing her thoughts on how other people view her mother’s speaking habits (Tan 53). The author emphasizes that she was oblivious towards the unusual manner in which her mother spoke English. However, once she recognized the “watered down” edition of English her mother spoke, Tan sought out to write pieces based on what her mother could understand (Tan 56). Her thesis states, “I later decided I should envision a reader for the stories I would write.

Amy Tan had an intimate relationship with her home language. It was a language that was close to her family. In the article, Mother Tongue, she states, “It has become our language of intimacy, a different sort of English that relates to family talk, the language I grew up with.” Her relationship with the home language is emblematic with a family oriented recipe that is best made by someone’s mother. For instance, in my family, my mother makes a type of Bengali sweet that is unsurpassed by anyone or any restaurants. My mother’s recipe, which no one can ever replicate, has a different taste. Similarly, Amy found the love and closeness of her family through the usage of her home language.