She says even her husband started speaking this kind of English together and that it has come to represent intimacy. Tan, author of "Mother Tongue," explains that her mother's language had the greatest influence on her understanding of English. She goes from being ashamed of her mothers speakingfeeling that other people will judge her familyto being proud of the rich culture behind her mothers English. Tan grew up speaking the formal acrolect of English she learned at school and the more vivid, less correct variety her mother used. Recently, I was made keenly aware of the different Englishes I do use. Describe what the fighting is like and what you feel are the strengths and weaknesses of your army. Then write an essay in which you explain the use of English in your life and communications. Even though the focus of the essay is the author's experiences with languages and her mother's influence on her writing, an underlying theme of the essay is the identity of a first-generation American. What does the title "Mother Tongue" suggest? On what were these descriptions and perceptions based according to paragraphs 15-16 of "Mother Tongue"? -she uses four types of English (the English she grew up with) d. infraction, Identify the following term or individuals and explain their significance. $4%&'()*56789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz ? endobj And I believe that it affected my results on achievement tests, I.Q. What argument is Tan making here about language and its connection to our identity in "Mother Tongue"? What is the difference? Amy Tan also believes her mothers English affected her daughters school results. She had cashed out her small portfolio and it just so happened we were going to go to New York the next week, our very first trip outside California. Explain the meaning of Tans title and how it relates to her own identity as both a Chinese American, a daughter, and a writer. I came up with the idea that the author's claim is that one's use of language does not indicate their amount of knowledge or worth, but I am not sure if I am thinking of the right answer. Review terms and definitions. Like off the street kind. This progression is typical of many stories, both long and short, but in this case you can apply it to tone as well. 6) rather than paraphrasing what she said? She began writing fiction in 1985, and after several false starts trying to find her own style and idiom, she began to write with her mother in mind as the ideal reader for her stories. What is the context of Mother Tongue? (Hint: Think about how she defies modern language standards and refuses to call her mothers language broken or limited without putting those terms in quotation marks.). And it was perhaps the first time she had heard me give a lengthy speech, using the kind of English I have never used with her. That man want to ask Du Zong father take him in like become own family. "Like others, I have described it to people as "broken" or "fractured" English. Those tests were constructed around items like fill-in-the-blank sentence completion, such as, "Even though Tom was, Mary thought he was --. from Oxford University Ph.D. from St. Andrews University, Amy Tan, like many children of immigrants, has more than one identity, and these identities are primarily defined by language. -mother's language; how author feels Tan uses points from her personal life and from her work to show that there is no need to separate one's language and identity. She then contrasts this with a moment when she was walking down the street with her mother and she used the more clipped, informal English she naturally uses with her mother, and her husband. stream Already a member? But to me, my mother's English is perfectly clear, perfectly natural. So mad he lie to me, losing me money. Because dogs are legally required to be on a leash, letting your dog run free in the park is a(n) _______. What organizational pattern does Tan use in "Mother Tongue," and how does she control her tone? -however, later she decided that she wanted to capture what language ability tests can never reveal "her intent, her passion, her imagery, the rhythms of her speech and the nature of her thoughts. Log in here. But I wince when I say that. Latest answer posted March 28, 2020 at 9:26:15 PM. /Type /ExtGState Edit. 3) Tan describes in this essay? Her mother attends a lecture that Tan is delivering, and Tan realizes that her mother is hearing Tan speak a kind of English that she does not use at home. The difference is in the application of the phrase, which is between general and specific. I had to get on the phone and say in an adolescent voice that was not very convincing, "This is Mrs. One time Amy did this with her mother's stockbroker. This shows how the way English is spoken affects how one is treated. << But they seem just as bad, as if everything is limited, including people's perceptions of the limited English speaker. Sociologists and linguists probably will tell you that a person's developing language skills are more influenced by peers. What is the author's purpose, style, and tone in the story? "Mother tongue," as it is used in the title of this piece, is a pun on the traditional idea. She used all of the "Englishes" she grew up with, giving her more connection to her work, and with the audience as well. /Width 625 Why does she divide the essay into three parts? Then evaluate her message. C q" And how they tend to excel in mathematics and science due to language barriers. Because of her broken English, Amy's mother was told by the doctors that they lost her scan and did not apologize nor care about it. Tan wrote 'Mother Tongue' in 1990, a year after her novel The Joy Luck Club was a runaway success. Tan identify the different categories she discusses in "Mother Tongue" almost in the last paragraph, where she named all the kind of English she uses. eNotes.com will help you with any book or any question. /SA true My mother had gone to the hospital for an appointment, to find out about a benign brain tumor a CAT scan had revealed a month ago. b. Tan, her husband, and her mother go out together. Our summaries and analyses are written by experts, and your questions are answered by real teachers. Tan does a great job incorporating several different tones into such a short piece. [/Pattern /DeviceRGB] d. Her mother is the audience (reader) for The Joy Luck Club, a book about mother-and-daughter relationships. Students may conclude that Tan and her mother did not have a close relationship if they support this opinion with valid examples. Her mother gave her praise that meant a great deal to Tan: I knew I had succeeded where it counted when my mother finished reading my book and gave me her verdict: 'So easy to read.'. When they called her daughter, who had perfect English, they suddenly found her scan. Cite the text as needed to clarify and support your response. Students are most likely to conclude that Tan and her mother do have a close relationship and should support their opinion with at least three of the following examples: a. Remember this quote as you read through and relate the rest of the content to this idea. Amy Tan's essay "Mother Tongue" is a wonderful tale that addresses the substance of languages and how language is not only a tool of communication, but a sociological tool of measuring individual worth. She makes this argument in various ways. JFIF K K C The difference between them not only lies in how they sound when spoken, but which one you speak can impact how others treat and perceive you. I knew what the tests were asking, but I could not block out of my mind the images already created by the first pair, "sunset is to nightfall"--and I would see a burst of colors against a darkening sky, the moon rising, the lowering of a curtain of stars.And all the other pairs of words --red, bus, stoplight, boring--just threw up a mass of confusing images, making it impossible for me to sort out something as logical as saying: "A sunset precedes nightfall" is the same as "a chill precedes a fever." With the stockbroker, Tan was the one who would step in for her mother over the phone in order to express her mother's thoughts for her. A Summary and Analysis of Amy Tan's 'Mother Tongue' By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) 'Mother Tongue' is an essay by Amy Tan, an American author who was born to Chinese immigrants in 1952. c. The story helps readers understand one of Tan's points: her mother's English does have intent, passion, imagery, and rhythm, and it shows the complexity of her thoughts. literature. Where "mother tongue" usually refers euphemistically to someone's first language, here it refers to Amy's mother's second language: the English that Amy is familiar with her using, literally her mother's tongue. This is not to say that people of other countries do not learn English as well, but generally there is a language specific to the place where they were born: this is their mother tongue. As her mother wasn't able to speak English fluently, she wasn't taken seriously by the staff. And when the doctor finally called her daughter, me, who spoke in perfect English -- lo and behold -- we had assurances the CAT scan would be found, promises that a conference call on Monday would be held, and apologies for any suffering my mother had gone through for a most regrettable mistake. Flashcards. While my English skills were never judged as poor, compared to math, English could not be considered my strong suit. Some visitors on a search for new healing substances (looks, look) at medicinal plants. endobj The phrase "mother tongue" refers to the language people learn to speak first. Unlike most of the other literature youve read for class, Mother Tongue by Amy Tan is short and pretty easy to breeze through. Still, she said, the hospital did not apologize when they said they had lost the CAT scan and she had come for nothing. Symbolism is when an author uses an object, person, or place to represent a deeper concept. By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University). Her language, as I hear it, is vivid, direct, full of observation and imagery. department stores, at banks, and at restaurants did not take her seriously, did not give her good service, pretended not to understand her, or even acted as if they did not hear her. Hopefully this list leaves you feeling like youre no longer short on ideas for your analysis of this short story. } !1AQa"q2#BR$3br What is Tan's strategy behind including a lengthy, direct quotation from her mother (para. 2023 eNotes.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This question is about the essay "Mother Tongue" by Amy Tan. Indeed, Tan conjectures that many Asian American children are probably encouraged to pursue careers in jobs requiring maths and science rather than English for this reason. Every piece of literature, whether its an epic novel or a haiku, has some sort of structurewhich is simply the organization of the material. 1. The different forms of English that mother and daughter speak are also a product of their backgrounds: whilst Tans mother is a Chinese immigrant to America, Tan was born in the United States and has grown up, and been educated, in an English-speaking culture. In this respect, if the parable Feathers from a Thousand Li Away acts as preface to the novel, Mother Tongue, in effect, acts as a kind of postscript. Where "mother tongue" usually refers euphemistically to someone's first language, here it refers. Find examples of peopleincluding Tan herselftreating her mother. 5. Life Span 4 . Why does Tan open her essay by stating, "I am not a scholar of English or literature" but then state, in the next paragraph, "I am a writer"? This text is a great starting point for discussions on culture, language and more. Symbolism, structure, and tone are only a few literary devices you can use for your analysis, but they are the ones thatll help you get the most out of your analysis. It is their "language of intimacy," even though he is a native English speaker. Latest answer posted March 29, 2020 at 1:00:09 PM. In one or two paragraphs, describe the personal experience that the writer had in "Mother Tongue", and the understanding she gained through her reflection about the experience. What is so terrible about that line, -she wrote sentences that she thought to be wittily crafted sentences, sentences that would finally prove that she had mastery over the English language When her mother told her that what she had written was easy to read, Tan knew that she had succeeded in her aims as a writer. When Amy gave this talk to an audience that included her mother, it caused her to reflect on the distance between the language that she uses in the world of her career and the language that she grew up with at home and still uses with her husband in the present day. An overarching theme of Tans novel is mothers emigrating to America in the hope that their daughters will have better lives than they did. Chinese way, came only to show respect, don't stay for dinner. In "Mother Tongue," Amy Tan uses people's inclination to assume as a way of exploring the subject of identity. Spend some time evaluating the essays structure, and analyze whether it is right for Mother Tongue. Would it have been better as a novel or a poem, or is a short narrative the way to go? a. fragment Amy Tan says that she has come to realize that something unusual goes on with languageat least her own, based upon the Chinese her mother grew up speaking, the English her mother uses as her "second language," Amy's use of this special version of her mother's English, and her own perception that her mother's English was somehow "broken"at least this is how Ms. Tan used to feel. Tan believed that her mother's English reflected the quality of what she had to say-that the imperfections in her speech meant that her ideas were just as imperfect. In grade school I did moderately well, getting perhaps B's, sometimes B-pluses, in English and scoring perhaps in the sixtieth or seventieth percentile onachievement tests. A person's "mother tongue" is usually considered to be their first language, but in this story, it refers to her "mother's tongue," or the version of English that her mother speaks. tests, and the SAT. It is evident that Tan wants to avoid stereotyping in her essay. She acknowledges that when she was growing up, she was ashamed of the way her mother spoke. Latest answer posted October 28, 2019 at 10:43:03 PM, Latest answer posted November 08, 2020 at 3:49:32 AM. . What assumptions are people making about Tan's mother in these situations and why? Enter your email address to subscribe to this site and receive notifications of new posts by email. In a country where English is the dominant language, all of the school lessons are taught in it. We used a similar routine just five days ago, for a situation that was far less humorous. 3. 2. What would be the impact of omitting one of them? 3. Tan explains, "This was understandable. Answer: to inform readers based on Tan's childhood experience Explanation: Amy tan is a Chinese-American writer, she is the daughter of Chinese immigrants and her books reflect a lot on what she has experienced witnessing the culture clash between Chinese and North American cultures. Amy's mother refused to leave the office until someone called her daughter. Students' writing should address the specific experiences and messages of the essays that they choose. -talking to her mom "My mother was in the room", Tan quotes a "terrible line" she once wrote "That was my mental quandary in its nascent state." She says it provides imagery and emotions that standard, grammatically-correct English cannot. What motivates her to make such an argument?" What is the author's purpose, style, and tone in the story? Later, the gangster became more powerful, far richer than my mother's family, and one day showed up at my mother's wedding to pay his respects. 5) How does she use language in the rest of her story to portray this rebelliousness? Her first novel, The Joy Luck Club, is a collection of related stories told by four mothers and four daughters and was later turned into a film. c. rout While it may be difficult for some people to understand it, it is part of who she is, and it does not reflect negatively on her mother because it is "different." The main idea of Amy Tan's "Mother Tongue" is the limitations that imperfect English can impose in society and the richness that such English can bring to writing. When Amy first decided she wanted to be a writer, she was not encouraged to do so: English was her second language, and the peculiarities of the language (which confuse native English speakers, such as analogies) often confused her. vN'p3:OKjd;C~_O>V0 9G^_`*:?*zr Start your 48-hour free trial to get access to more than 30,000 additional guides and more than 350,000 Homework Help questions answered by our experts. How do these resemble chapters? -better explain her mother's tongue and how others were effected (including herself) In "Mother Tongue" why does Tan include her mother's story about the political gangster in Shanghai?