Essay on Mother Tongue by Amy Tan

Submitted By talvarez123456

Words: 302

Pages: 2

Open Document

Tino Alvarez Diverse Identities Professor Chuck Hill 3/9/15 Mother Tongue The reading
Mother Tongue was a very interesting story of a writer Amy Tan and her experiences as a young professional getting in the field of short story writing. She begins by giving a little personal story on how she became to love the English language and why she wanted to pursue what she might believe be her weakest subject. Amy loves the power language and how it can evoke emotion, visual image, a complex idea or a simple truth. She believes that when she speaks to her mother that it can be seen as different sort of english that relates to family talk. Many of her experiences came with her mother who spoke broken English, or a direct translation of “Chinese to English”. Some of those experiences involved Amy’s mom not being taken seriously or Amy having to be the one to speak on her behalf. Amy believed that her mother’s English had an effect on limited possibilities of life, but she did not let that stop her.
She became rebellious and enjoyed a challenge of disproving any assumptions of her. People stereotype the Chinese as only being good at math and usually become engineers or accountants, but rarely do you see any Asian American going into creative writing. Since Amy’s mom had limited English, she was treated as not being competent or other negative perceptions of her and her culture. I would relate Amy’s life as if she were living a double life
because

Amy Tan Mother Tongue

Summarizing and Responding: Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue” Amy Tan, a writer, explains the power of the language and the kinds of English she uses in her essay “Mother Tongue”. Tan is a writer fluent in English who grew up in a family of immigrants; her mother is Chinese. In one of her speeches, using the formal English. When she sees that his mother was sitting among people whose she has never used the professional English Tan realized that she uses two kinds in her life: the professional, for work;…

Words 501 - Pages 3

Amy Tan Mother Tongue

In the essay “Mother Tongue” written by Amy Tan, her essay illustrates the language that her mother used to speak with her. At the begging, she noticed the different Englishes that she speaks after many different events. Furthermore, she described her mother language as a broken English, because many people could not understand her mother. In addition, in one of the speeches that she used to do in order to describe her books, she had a moment to think about the English that she is using and felt…

Words 364 - Pages 2

Amy Tan Mother Tongue Thesis

In Amy Tan's article "Mother Tongue," some of the main points were how people are treated who have broken English, the language barriers, and limited resources and how to overcome such obstacles. It also deals with the emotions associated with Amy Tan, as a young child having to pretend to be her mother, just because her mother was not being taken seriously. Tan's article reminds me of how it feels to learn another language, such as Russian for myself. While I began learning Russian, I have dealt…

Words 702 - Pages 3

Amy Tan Mother Tongue Thesis

Mother Tongue Amy Tan is an American writer and author of many writings focusing on mother-daughter relationships and Chinese American experiences. She is best known for her novel “The Joy Luck Club,” which describes the painful relationship between four Chinese American daughters and their mothers. Mostly all of her writings include some of her personal stories between her and her mother on day to day experiences. In the novel “Mother Tongue” Amy decides to share her personal background and the…

Words 1086 - Pages 5

Amy Tan Mother Tongue Summary

Mother Tongue by Amy Tan Amy Tan's Mother Tongue is highlighting the difference in the many forms of a language used, not just by different individuals, but also by the same person when speaking to a different audience. I believe she is validating the individual usage of a language on the basis of it's expression and intent, not merely on grammatical correctness or grasp of vocabulary. If language is expressing properly to the intended audience, it is not to be considered lesser even if it is what…

Words 326 - Pages 2

Summary Of Mother Tongue By Amy Tan

The essay “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan. The author tells us how the power of language has played a major role in her life. Tan describes her observation and thoughts about the use of the English language and the perceptions of others regarding to non-English speakers. She describes the pain and shame she felt while observing the negative reactions her mother would receive from others because her “broken” English was different from everyone else. Therefore, she would get ridiculed, people did not take…

Words 191 - Pages 1

A Rhetorical Analysis Of Mother Tongue By Amy Tan

believe the author of “Mother Tongue” makes a clear and concise argument about how some Asian-Americans English can disrupt the flow of expressing themselves when conducting casual conversations and normal everyday business transactions with the limited English they possess. This admission is made by the author when talking about her own mother's “broken” English. The author also pointed out that creative writing programs are much needed in the Asian-American communities (Tan 21-23). With my distinctive…

Words 1076 - Pages 5

alanna paper

28, 2013 The purpose and power of Language Amy Tan was born of February 19 1952 in Oakland, California. To two parents that are Chinese immigrants. She went San Jose State University and University of California at Berkeley. She finished her schooling and became a very successful American writer of many pieces of literature including Mother Tongue and The Joy Luck Club, which was written in the year 1989. Based on Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue” it is evident that language has an effect on our lives…

Words 704 - Pages 3

Essay On Mother Tongue

blending of identities in America. Moreover, in “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan, Tan discusses how English is not a single language but rather a language that is built off of many languages. Such as Amy’s mother when she speaks English, Amy Tan illustrates her language as “broken” English. Amy Tan explains how she has used multiple Englishes with different type of people. In “Mother Tongue” and “Blaxicans and other reinvented Americans”, both authors Amy Tan and Richard Rodriguez…

Words 657 - Pages 3

Essay on reader response 5

Thuy Tran Ms. Frey – Writing 115 Reader Response 5 October 27, 2009 Mother Tongue As a writer, the language is the creative tool, the way they are using the language is very necessary for their job. In the essay “Mother Tongue,” Amy Tan tells about how language influenced her life while growing up. As she was wondering in her essay, “Why are there few Asian Americans enrolled in creative writing programs? Why do so many Chinese students go into engineering?” (165). I try to figure out the answer…

Words 530 - Pages 3