Mother Tongue Analysis

The story “Mother Tongue” was about a girl name Amy facing daily life issues due to her mother not knowing English. She goes on in the story saying that due to her mother not knowing English well she was forced to do tasks that involved her pretending to be her mom to ensure her mother was getting the help she deserved. Not only did Amy face a lot of issues with her mom she was also getting affected by her mother's English in school. Amy thought that her mom was the whole reason why she couldn’t do better in her exams. She was noticing that math was easier to do because there was only one right answer while English had multiple answers. She was also realizing that Asian students as a whole were better at math than English which made Amy believe that she wasn’t the only one that taught her English was broken or limited. Amy saw these obstacles and told herself that just because people see her that way it doesn’t mean she has to be like that.

In Mother Tongue, an essay written by Amy Tan, the fictional author explains how we all speak different languages and how we are all categorized and treated differently by the way we speak. She gives us examples and stories that have happened to her and how they made her become “fascinated by language in daily life.”

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

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

“Mother Tongue” was a speech Amy Tan made in front of many authoritative scholars who had investigated English literature for long time. Tan perhaps had great pressure for the experience she talked about is not familiar at all to those experts. They wouldn’t understand easily how someone from an immigrant family felt. Later the speech became a well-known essay of Tan and the audience changed. She was talking to everybody, especially the ones who speak perfect English. She wanted them to know that one with limited English could still be intelligent. Things behind language might be more valuable than language itself sometimes. That was something exceeded fluency, vocabularies and grammar. Amy Tan’s purpose of writing Mother Tongue is to remind the native English speakers to respect the “broken English” speakers and to find out the worthy thoughts concealed by the imperfect languages.

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.

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.

Amy Tan wrote a short story “Mother’s Tongue” who ruminated and judged “broken” English. In her life she realizes that everyone speaks English in different ways. For example, Tan’s mother speaks “broken” English, when she is with her she speaks simple English. When she is in the outside world she speaks proper English. Tan’s mother is the reason why Tan studies the various English’s that everyone speaks. While growing up, she noticed she spoke differently to her mother than to others. This

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 Mother Tongue, we learn about the Amy Tan's love for language; specifically, the English language. Tan then introduces her conflict with her "mother tongue" and proper English and how this relates to her mother. Tan shows and explains how she rejects the idea that her mother's English is "in need of fixing" while explaining how she viewed English tests as subjective. She explains how she believes achievement tests can't capture things like "intent" and "passion" which is what she strives to capture in her writing. Tan explains that she now uses all the "Englishes" she's learned and that she strives to "preserve the essence" of her "mother tongue." The last line confirms that she has reached her writing goals of including all of the different forms of English into her novel as her mother says that the book that Tan had written was, "So easy to read."

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.

A theme I found in Amy tan’s mother tongue is caring what other people think. In the essay she referred to her mother’s English as “broken”, “fractured” and “limited”, and that the

Language as a combination of single words and different ideas affects us everyday in life. 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.

In Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue” she reminds us that many Americans struggle with the everyday judgement of non-perfect English. Tan shares the story of growing up with her mother a Chinese-American who spoke English that was referred to as broken, damaged or limited. Tan admits to the time of weakness in her mother’s life as she asked her doctor speak on the phone, to business men and doctors so they could properly understand her. She believes that during her childhood going to an American school and still hearing her mother’s way of English has given her a large sense of many types of English which has overall helped with her career as a writer.