Mother Tongue By Amy Tan - 1553 Words

Adelina Belecciu (Professor’s Name) ENG101 (Date) â€Å"Mother Tongue† Response Essay In the essay â€Å"Mother Tongue,† Amy Tan emphasizes the idea that the language we are taught in childhood plays an important role in our lives. She writes about the profound effect language has on her life and how she is inspired by her mother’s â€Å"impeccable broken English† to become a writer (317). Tan describes her mother as an educated person who can read sophisticated and technical literature written in English with ease. However, Tan’s mother is often left feeling frustrated and alienated when communicating with others because of her speaking style, which belies her comprehension of the English language (317). Throughout her formative years, Tan discovers a disheartening pattern in regard to her mother’s dialogue with speakers of conventional American English; legitimate problems and requests that her mother is expressing are often not taken seriously or even worse, they are unapologetically ignored. In particular, Tan recalls a situation where her mother’s request is treated sympathetically and acted upon only after Tan ­Ã‚ ­who sounds more American than her mother ­Ã‚ ­ speaks on her behalf; â€Å"...we had assurances the CAT scan would be found...and apologies for any suffering my mother had gone through for a most regrettable mistake† (317). Tan reveals feeling â€Å"ashamed† of her mother’s English and she is troubled by the prevailing perception that the language spoken at home mustShow MoreRelatedMother Tongue, by Amy Tan819 Words   |  4 Pages Despite growing up amidst a language deemed as â€Å"broken† and â€Å"fractured†, Amy Tan’s love for language allowed her to embrace the variations of English that surrounded her. In her short essay â€Å"Mother Tongue†, Tan discusses the internal conflict she had with the English learned from her mother to that of the English in her education. Sharing her experiences as an adolescent posing to be her mother for respect, Tan develops a frustration at the difficulty of not being taken seriously due to one’s inabilityRead MoreMother Tongue By Amy Tan1306 Words   |  6 Pages Mother Tongue is a story that describes how Amy Tan’s mother was treated unfairly because of her â€Å"broken English†. As the second generation of Chinese immigrants, Tan faces more problems than her peers do. Her mom, who speaks â€Å"limited† English, needs T an to be her â€Å"translator† in order to communicate with the native English speakers. Tan has felt ashamed of her mother â€Å"broken† language at first. She then contemplates her background affected her life and her study. However, she changes her thoughtRead MoreMother Tongue By Amy Tan883 Words   |  4 PagesIn Amy Tan’s essay â€Å"Mother Tongue,† it is obvious that language plays an enormous role in our life. Language can influence and give us an insight into another culture different from our own. Amy Tan discusses the many ways in which the language she was taught and native to was important and powerful throughout her life. Language can be defined in various forms, but I hold and acknowledge Amy Tan’s explanation: â€Å"Language can evoke an emotion, a visual image, a complex idea, or a simple truth.† I canRead MoreMother Tongue By Amy Tan1375 Words   |  6 Pagestrade. And I use them all-all the Englishes I grew up with.† -Amy Tan, Mother Tongue Language is what allows humans to be creative. Creative in the way we express ourselves, creative in the way we put our ideas forward, creative in the way we correspond with each other and in the way we can touch each other’s lives. It is truly a gift that the other species of our world do not possess, at least not to the extent that humans do! Amy Tan is an American writer and her works probe the Chinese-AmericanRead MoreMother Tongue By Amy Tan1290 Words   |  6 Pageslanguage is a difficult and demanding task. In â€Å"Mother Tongue†, Amy Tan expresses the limitations caused by the use of imperfect English in society and her struggles to revitalize it into her life and her writing. Through the use of several rhetorical strategies such as expanding on her own credibility with the use of ethos, appealing to the audience’s emotions using pathos, stating statistics using logos and providing an example of repetition, Tan successfully manages to prove her point on the struggleRead MoreMother Tongue By Amy Tan967 Words   |  4 PagesIn â€Å"Mother Tongue†, Amy Tan describes the several different kinds of English her that she speaks. It is an interesting concept to think about the fact that more than one variation of a single language exist. After reading â€Å"Mother Tongue† I began l ooking at my own life and seeing if I could recognize the different variation of English that I have come in contact with. After some serious thought, I realized that I have not only come into contact with many different kinds of English, but I speak manyRead MoreAnalysis Of Mother Tongue By Amy Tan913 Words   |  4 Pages Analysis of Mother Tongue by Amy Tan In the narrative essay, â€Å"Mother Tongue† by Amy Tan, the author sets out the story between her mother, whose English is her second language, and Tan herself can speak native English very well. The essay covers the tonal shift of Amy Tan s psychological change, from grudge to understanding. Although she begins the essay saying, I am not a scholar of English or literature. I cannot give you much more than personal opinions on theRead MoreAmy Tan s Mother Tongue1060 Words   |  5 Pagesupon me for my inability to speak English properly. However, in the essay â€Å"Mother Tongue†, the author Amy Tan gives a different, a more optimistic outlook on the various forms of English that immigrants speak as they adapt to the American culture. Using simple language to develop her argument, she casually communicates to the audience rather than informing, which helps the audience understand what is being presented. Tan’s mother plays an important role in her outlook of l anguage because she helps herRead MoreAnalysis Of Mother Tongue By Amy Tan1048 Words   |  5 PagesTwo Worlds - One Story In â€Å"Mother Tongue,† Amy Tan reflects on her childhood to describe how her mother contributed to her understanding of language. Tan encounters numerous situations when she feels like she is judged based on how her mother spoke â€Å"broken† English. Nevertheless, she overcame her teachers’ opinion that she should focus on math and sciences and became a writer. I have a similar experience because I have lived in a different country for a long time, and I speak a different languageRead MoreAmy Tan s Mother Tongue992 Words   |  4 PagesIn the essay â€Å"Mother Tongue† Amy Tan, the author, gives a different, a more upbeat outlook on the various forms of English that immigrants speak as they adapt to the American culture. Using simple language to develop her argument, she casually communicates to the audience rather than informing which helps the audience understand what is being presented at ease. Her mother plays an important role in her outlook of la nguage, because she helps her realize that language not only allows one to be a part