Amy Tan Essay

Amy Tan analyzes her families’ “Broken” English and compares it to Standard English. She recounts specific experiences involving both forms of English. She focuses on her husband’s understanding of the family language and all the times that she had to act as a translator for her mother. Tan thinks that her mother’s English is perfect and natural but everyone else can’t understand her clearly. She also thinks that her mother’s limited English limited her opportunities in life. Tan begins to talk about

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

she wasn’t perfect and so she was changing her. At the end of this story, Jing-mei finally learned that if she were to have tried at something she could have been amazing at it, but she wasted her time rebelling against her mother. “Two Kinds” shows Amy Tan’s use of conflict shows readers with the different types of conflict that can affect a story and gives a lesson. in a story. The main literary element of “Two Kinds” is conflict. Conflict means the opposing forces and events that target the

In Amy Tan’s essay, “Mother Tongue,” she addresses the point about racism without showing any signs of anger or specifically pointing out racism; Amy makes me realize how really not being a fluent English speaker can affect how well you could handle everyday situations. It is interesting that Tan writes of the variations of English she speaks with her mother and her husband. For example, the “broken” English she speaks with her mother in spite of speaking the language fluently. I find a resemblance

Dreams Crushed with Overwhelming Potential Have you ever wondered why parents often force constant pressure on their children? One narrator feels the same way when she complains to her mother, “You want me to be someone that I’m not!” (Tan 231). In “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan, Jing-mei, the protagonist of the story struggles to discover her true calling in life, despite her mother’s best efforts to turn her into a prodigy. Throughout the story, Jing-mei embarks on a lifelong journey of self satisfaction made

In contrast, Amy Tan and Firoozeh Dumas struggled with accepting their culture. Tan’s parents emigrated from China and settled in Oakland, California. She grew up in a Chinese culture and has struggled to accept it. Her family customs and physical appearances have made Amy feel different from Americans. On Christmas Eve Tan’s mother invited Robert, Amy’s crush, and his family for dinner. Amy was horrified when she found out that her mother invited Robert and his American family. She thought they

Amy Tan is a Chinese-American author of stories like The Joy Luck Club. In a short piece called Mother Tongue, Tan explains the struggles of her and her mother living in America. Her mother was a Chinese immigrant and did not speak English at a high level. This made things difficult for her as some people did not really respect her and doubted her intelligence. Tan’s purpose for writing this was to explain how deteremental it can be to judge others based on the quality of their speech. Tan uses

Amy Tan, the author of “Mother Tongue,” claims that language is a powerful tool that impacts one’s language ability. She states the fact that her English language was affected from the different influences in her life, referring mostly to her mother. The English Tan communicated with at home was different than the English she was taught at school. This demonstrates how her mother’s tongue highly affected her English language. Her mother is an Asian American immigrant from China, which explains her

are increasingly susceptible to embarrassment. In “Fish Cheeks”, a short story by Amy Tan, the author talks about her own experience when she has the unfortunate experience of having Christmas dinner with her crush and his family. Tan describes her teenage struggle to reconcile her conflicting feelings toward mainstream and Chinese cultures, revealing her difficulty in establishing her identity as an American. Tan reveals her belief that mainstream traditions are more preferable than her “embarrassing”

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