This text is a great starting point for discussions on culture, language and more. Cite the text as needed to clarify and support your response. check out these example essays on Mother Tongue.. 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. The mother tongue shapes. In Tan's experience with the SATs, it was suggested that Tan's strengths lie within mathematics and science because of her higher scores on those exams; it didn't account for her struggle with understanding the format of the test questions. 1. How do they further her argument? And Tan drew on all the Englishes, plural, that she knew: the broken English her mother used, the simple English Tan used when talking to her mother, the watered-down Chinese her mother used, and her mothers internal language which conveyed her passion, intent, imagery, and the nature of her thoughts. First, she points out that she uses the same language with her mother and her husband. 20 terms. Writer discussed: Amy Tan's "Mother Tongue" (Link to story) Amy Tan is speaking of writing her book "Joy Luck Club" (there's a scene below), so in that sense it works as a good example of a literacy narrative in that Tan writes about writing something. Chinese age I was nineteen. Find examples of peopleincluding Tan herselftreating her mother disrespectfully. In fact, Tan uses the same tone in the beginning and end of her storythe reader starts at a homebase, sees the journey Tan is leading them on, and returns right back to where they started but with more insight than before. 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 indiiigo. In paragraph 6, Tan quotes part of one of her mother's conversations. 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. Who is the intended audience for "Mother Tongue"? The class tests at school which reduced English proficiency to an ability to recognise a correct answer are thus contrasted with Tans resounding final words of Mother Tongue, which see her seeking to capture the passion of her mother, the nature of her thoughts, and the imagery she uses: all things which her daughter has clearly inherited a respect for, and which school tests fail to capture or observe. Her language, as I hear it, is vivid, direct, full of observation and imagery. eNotes Editorial, 10 Nov. 2019, https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/in-amy-tan-s-short-story-mother-tongue-explain-258339. So mad he lie to me, losing me money. 8 . Language is a powerful tool, and our ability to use and understand it as humans is one of the main aspects that separate us from other species on Earth. She recalls a recent talk she gave, when, upon realising her mother was in the audience, she was confronted with the fact that the formal standard English she was using in the public talk was at odds with the way she spoke at home with her mother. What are the "different Englishes" (para. 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. three subjects >> In "Mother Tongue," do you think that Tan and her mother have a close relationship? /AIS false a) her mother was speaking that way on purpose just to embarrass Tan b) Her mother had an undiagnosed mental illness c) her mother's spoken language was imperfect, so her ideas must be imperfect d) her mother wasn't intelligent Answers will vary widely, depending on students' personal experiences, situations, and viewpoints. But now you have to do a literary analysis on itand suddenly its short length seems like more of a burden than a blessing. Find and create gamified quizzes, lessons, presentations, and flashcards for students, employees, and everyone else. As a writer, she used the rigid, grammatical acrolect she had learned at school; as a daughter, she used the more forceful, vivid English spoken by her mother, for which she cannot even find a name, since she dislikes calling it "broken.". d. infraction, Identify the following term or individuals and explain their significance. Like off the street kind. Be sure to focus on specific language, punctuation, and imagery used to create the overall tone. /SMask /None>> 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.'. 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. By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University). Tan acknowledges that, whilst she did well in maths and science, subjects with a single correct answer, she was less adept at English. 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. "Mother tongue," as it is used in the title of this piece, is a pun on the traditional idea. Tan notes the difficulty of finding a term to describe the style of English her mother, as a Chinese immigrant to the United States, speaks. It has always bothered me that I can think of no way to describe it other than "broken," as if it were damaged and needed to be fixed, as if it lacked a certain wholeness and soundness. Educators go through a rigorous application process, and every answer they submit is reviewed by our in-house editorial team. 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. She alludes to several instances where people, even a doctor, would not take her mother seriously because of the way she spoke. Math is precise; there is only one correct answer. -Informal - conversational; "So you'll have some idea.." Students in disagreement might point to Dove's consuming interest in reading, which seems largely uninfluenced by her family, and Cisneros's belief that her desire to write came from a "hunger" she felt, even with her family. Interesting Literature is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon.co.uk. I cannot give you much more than personal opinions on the English language and its variations in this country or others. Explain the meaning of Tans title and how it relates to her own identity as both a Chinese American, a daughter, and a writer. WhowasJohnWilkesBooth? While my English skills were never judged as poor, compared to math, English could not be considered my strong suit. To see how other students have handled their analyses, check out these example essays on Mother Tongue.. How is Amy Tan's use of the phrase "mother tongue" ambiguous? Every piece of literature, whether its an epic novel or a haiku, has some sort of structurewhich is simply the organization of the material. -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." But because she is rebellious and likes to challenge peoples assumptions about her, Tan bucked this trend. %&'()*456789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz Tan was born on February 19, 1952, in Oakland, California. Each story holds a key to understanding her main argument points. But Tans interest in language, both as a cultural marker and as a way of expressing thought and personality, is also a prevailing theme of the novel. Students in agreement might cite Tan's interpretation of analogy questions and Cisneros's poor school performance but obvious intellect that was nurtured by her family. Fill in the blank spot in the following sentence. He come to my wedding. 8, Tan)". -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." I've been giving more thought to the kind of English my mother speaks. Unlike most of the other literature youve read for class, Mother Tongue by Amy Tan is short and pretty easy to breeze through. /Height 155 Tan is making the argument in "Mother Tongue" that she became a better writer when she began to use both the types of English she spoke to write books her mother could understand. She mentions the figure that most Asian students in schools are not enrolled in artistic courses, such as creative writing. And all of the ethnic and regional accents in between. Illustrate your observations with examples from Tan's essay, your own experience, or others you know. Tan mentions several different emotions when talking about her mothers English. What is the context of Mother Tongue? 2023 eNotes.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved. One time Amy did this with her mother's stockbroker. The Qin bureaucracy had civil and military divisions and a justekst\underline{\phantom{\text{justekst}}}justekst. Accessed 2 May 2023. Who are the experts?Our certified Educators are real professors, teachers, and scholars who use their academic expertise to tackle your toughest questions. "How Poetry Comes to Me" TPCASTT // Gary Snyd, "Common Ground" TPCASTT // Judith Ortiz Cofer, SpringBoard English Language Arts: Grade 10, myPerspectives: English Language Arts, California (Grade 9, Volume 1), Glencoe Literature Course 4: The Readers Choice. Though Mother Tongue is a very short narrative, its rich in content. This question is about the essay "Mother Tongue" by Amy Tan. 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. That man want to ask Du Zong father take him in like become own family. Finally, Tan highlights the absurdity of writing a book about the relationships between mothers and daughters which her own mother could not understand. b. Tan, her husband, and her mother go out together. I didn't see, I heard it. Tan. She wouldn't budge. Cite the text as needed to clarify and support your response. Include details from the text. Mother tongue is usually referred to the first language a person is taught, however I think Tans use of the word mother tongue is much more intimate in a sense that she feels that ere English or her mother tongue is unique to her, and that the variation of English she speaks to her mother is her mother tongue. In referring back to her experiences through the anecdotes, Tan realizes that she uses a different type of English when with her mother. Who is the intended audience for "Mother Tongue"? Now important person, very hard to inviting him. But where Tan really gets to something deep, is this idea how we acquire language. 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. 6) rather than paraphrasing what she said? 17) that Tan claims accounts for her high performance on math tests but not on English tests specifically, analogies? 3. "The S, The Language of Composition: Reading, Writing, Rhetoric, Lawrence Scanlon, Renee H. Shea, Robin Dissin Aufses. In dividing the essay into sections, she is able to flow through to her points clearly and subtly. Explain the meaning of Tans title and how it relates to her own identity as both a Chinese American, a daughter, and a writer. >> Multiple-choice 30 seconds 1 pt Where was the author born? Tan uses an example of her mother going to New York to yell at her stockbroker, after not receiving her check from cashing out her portfolio, to show us that even though her language skills were sub par, she could still very effectively communicate her feelings and ideas. Tan talks about a few different types of English and in what situations she uses them, but each English form symbolizes something different to her. Print. Consider the story "Mother Tongue." She observes that her mother is treated differently because of the way she speaks. /BitsPerComponent 8 Amy Tan begins her essay by offering her personal opinions on the English language.
Brebeuf Volleyball Coach, Classic Car Show Syon Park, Articles M