Along with her BS in marketing from Florida State University and MA in museum studies from Johns Hopkins University, she has spent the past 7 years learning how best to reach and teach people using the power of words. 11th Review / Critical Thinking Questions. "But I have noticed in surveys in fact, just last week that Asian students, as a whole, always do significantly better on math achievement tests than in English. Why does she divide the essay into three parts? Each story holds a key to understanding her main argument points. How do each of these shifts in tone help move the reader along in the story? I selected the article Mother Tongue by Amy Tan. ~"iW]JL^kP(K/N\' |! In Amy Tan's "Mother Tongue," this term is a play on words. It is evident that Tan wants to avoid stereotyping in her essay. This shows how the way English is spoken affects how one is treated. When describing the wording for people who cannot speak English fluently, she makes sure the audience knows of her feelings toward the most common terms. stream He come to my wedding. Tan doesn't concern herself with the fundamentals of language, she explains that her job isn't to learn and explore language, but to apply it. It was most gratifying to Amy Tan when her mother read The Joy Luck Club, Amy's first book. This progression is typical of many stories, both long and short, but in this case you can apply it to tone as well. Chinese social life that way. Tan says that her identity as a writer was originally separate from her identity as her mother's daughter. I believe that there is a play on words with the title, "Mother Tongue." Tan speculates that because Asian Americans score so much higher on math achievement tests than on English tests, they are encouraged to pursue math and science in college. On what were these descriptions and perceptions based according to paragraphs 15-16 of "Mother Tongue"? She is motivated to make this argument to explain her method as a writer and her intellectual, literary, linguistic, and personal progress in uniting her two identities and to show that these identities need not be separated. What argument is Tan making here about language and its connection to our identity in "Mother Tongue"? Tan says she uses "simple English" around her mother, and while this isn't the same form that her mother speaks, it symbolizes the bond between her and her family. Consider the story "Mother Tongue." In "Mother Tongue," Amy Tan uses people's inclination to assume as a way of exploring the subject of identity. Tan explains, "This was understandable. Chinese way, came only to show respect, don't stay for dinner. And all of the ethnic and regional accents in between. spirituals. 3. 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. Yet some of my friends tell me they understand 50 percent of what my mother says. 1. And here you would be presented with a list of four possible pairs, one of which showed the same kind of relationship: red is to stoplight, bus is to arrival, chills is to fever, yawn is to boring: Well, I could never think that way. To what extent do you think that speaking a non- standardized English (through grammatical differences or an accent) "limits . All together, we expect forty or fifty volunteers to work on the project. ", how did amy describe her mother's english, math and science (precise and exact answers). ". Be sure to consider the anecdotes regarding Tan giving a speech, the stockbroker, the CAT scan, and Tan's experience with the SATs. 5) When they called her daughter, who had perfect English, they suddenly found her scan. But now you have to do a literary analysis on itand suddenly its short length seems like more of a burden than a blessing. $4%&'()*56789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz ? 7. Symbolism is when an author uses an object, person, or place to represent a deeper concept. 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. endobj Tan, author of "Mother Tongue," explains that her mother's language had the greatest influence on her understanding of English. In "Mother Tongue," do you think that Tan and her mother have a close relationship? indiiigo. -mother's language; how author feels -better explain her mother's tongue and how others were effected (including herself) /Height 155 First, she points out that she uses the same language with her mother and her husband. 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. How does each have its own type of power? The phrase "mother tongue" refers to the language people learn to speak first. 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? Mother Tongue. The McGraw Hill Reader: Issues Across the Disciplines. Some visitors on a search for new healing substances (looks, look) at medicinal plants. Why or why not? 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. 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.". 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. Then evaluate her message. 17) that Tan claims accounts for her high performance on math tests but not on English tests specifically, analogies? 2023 eNotes.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Find examples of peopleincluding Tan herselftreating her mother disrespectfully. What argument is Tan making here about language and its connection to our identity in "Mother Tongue"? Now all you have to do is analyze them. And then I said in perfect English, "Yes, I'm getting rather concerned. In Amy Tan's short story "Mother Tongue," explain the essence of what "mother tongue" signifies in the story. Mean gives lots of respect. Underline the verb in parentheses that correctly completes the sentence by agreeing with the subject. 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. Explain why Tan calls herself a rebel in "Mother Tongue" and how this identity led to her becoming a writer. 6) rather than paraphrasing what she said? 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. Math is precise; there is only one correct answer. Fill in the blank spot in the following sentence. Chapter 8 and Symbolism in The Great Gatsby, The Language of Composition: Reading, Writing, Rhetoric, Lawrence Scanlon, Renee H. Shea, Robin Dissin Aufses, Edge Reading, Writing and Language: Level C, David W. Moore, Deborah Short, Michael W. Smith. 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. 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. b. Tan, her husband, and her mother go out together. What Tan is classifying in this essay is the different kinds of English she uses. Here is the text: http://www.umsl.edu/~alexanderjm/Mother%20Tongue%20by%20. Like others, I have described it to people as 'broken" or "fractured" English. What organizational pattern does Tan use in "Mother Tongue," and how does she control her tone? /CreationDate (D:20210407080443+03'00') 5. She is the second of three children born to Chinese immigrants, Daisy and John Tan. What organizational pattern does Tan use in "Mother Tongue," and how does she control her tone? You should know that my mother's expressive command of English belies how much she actually understands. Her language, as I hear it, is vivid, direct, full of observation and imagery. In both cases, the perception based on her mother's "limited" English gave people the idea that Amy's mother wasn't very bright, or worse, was not worth their time. Tan. Life Span 4 . In Amy Tan's essay "Mother Tongue", Tan reveals how she was sculpted into the successful writer she is from the struggles of language speaking her mother had to face. 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. 2023 eNotes.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Explain the meaning of Tans title and how it relates to her own identity as both a Chinese American, a daughter, and a writer. An overarching theme of Tans novel is mothers emigrating to America in the hope that their daughters will have better lives than they did. What is the author's purpose, style, and tone in the story? Who is the intended audience for "Mother Tongue"? And how they tend to excel in mathematics and science due to language barriers. Our summaries and analyses are written by experts, and your questions are answered by real teachers. 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. This was understandable. think my mother's English almost had an effect on limiting my possibilities in life as well. At one point, Tan writes about being embarrassed about her mother. 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. So she said she would not leave until the doctor called her daughter. Amy Tan born in 1952 in California to Chinese immigrants. What is the author's purpose, style, and tone in the story? When Tan was growing up, how did her mother's use of English affect Tan's perception of her? She majored in English at college and began writing as a freelancer. It is not simply, as she first thought, that one type of English is correct and the other incorrect. Fortunately, there are several different literary devices you can concentrate on for your literary analysis. I am doing an assignment about the essay "Mother Tongue," but I am having a hard time understanding the claim of the author and the target audience. Mother Tongue questions & answers for quizzes and worksheets - Quizizz English Mother Tongue Deleted User 87 plays 15 questions Copy & Edit Live Session Show Answers See Preview 1. tests, and the SAT. (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.). Its not about how long a story is, but rather about its content. This establishes ethos as she admits that her specialty is in being a writer. 6. Language is thus more than just a cultural marker: Tan reveals, in Mother Tongue, the extent to which it is a tool of power (or, depending on the use, powerlessness), particularly for those from migrant backgrounds. There can be one tone throughout the entire piece or many different tones. 8. How is Amy Tan's use of the phrase "mother tongue" ambiguous? I didn't see, I heard it. It is their "language of intimacy," even though he is a native English speaker. Tan calls this a language of intimacy. However, in Amy Tan's story, I believe she is making a statement about her mother's form of English: her mother's tongue. But I do think that the language spoken in the family, especially in immigrant families which are more insular, plays a large role in shaping the language of the child. The local people call putong, the river east side, he belong to that side local people. She points out that her mother is intelligent and reads things which Tan herself cannot begin to understand. 1. In directly quoting her mother, Tan is able to demonstrate her mother's speech patterns in text form. She said she had spoken very good English, her best English, no mistakes. I spend a great deal of my time thinking about the power of languagethe way it can evoke an emotion, a visual image, a complex idea, or a simple truth.. eNotes Editorial, 28 June 2020, https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-argument-is-tan-making-here-about-language-2353688. Focus your studying with a path. Chinese custom. Do you feel that people's abilities can be judged fairly by these kinds of tests? 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. But Tans language, or tongue, has been shaped by her actual mother, whose first language (or mother tongue) was not English, but Chinese. How do they further her argument? literature. Our summaries and analyses are written by experts, and your questions are answered by real teachers. Amy Tan's essay "Mother Tongue" discusses the way that language changes, and the ways it stays the same, inside contexts of immigration and generational time. WhowasJohnWilkesBooth? Some say they understand 80 to 90 percent. Amy's mother refused to leave the office until someone called her daughter. b. eruption 18, Tan)". Tan says she uses simple English around her mother, and while this isnt the same form that her mother speaks, it symbolizes the bond between her and her family. 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. She says even her husband started speaking this kind of English together and that it has come to represent intimacy. Already a member? All of these questions will help you pinpoint the essays effectiveness. So mad he lie to me, losing me money. -breaking the paragraphs (spaces) Whereas, for me at least, the answers on English tests were always a judgment call, a matter of opinion and personal experience. I've heard other terms used, "limited English," for example. \text { Who was John Wilkes Booth? } Tan does illustrate each category she identifies 4. 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. w !1AQaq"2B #3Rbr In a short essay "Mother Tongue," Amy Tan reveals her background and describes different kinds of English that she had to speak in her childhood and adolescence. How does Tan feel about her mother's tongue, -her mother's "limited English" limited her perception of her mother. As the second generation of Chinese immigrants, Tan faces more problems than her peers do. << Describe how others (those who do not know her intimately) see Tan's mother versus how Tan describes her in "Mother Tongue." Discuss how this is present in her writing of "Mother Tongue. 3. Her mother, too, was clearly aware of how her use of the language affected how seriously people took her, for she used to get her daughter to phone people and pretend to be Mrs Tan. Answers will vary widely, depending on students' personal experiences, situations, and viewpoints. Latest answer posted October 28, 2019 at 10:43:03 PM, Latest answer posted November 08, 2020 at 3:49:32 AM. Cell Bio Exam 1. They resemble chapters in a book as they each have a different focus, while still relating all to each other and being interconnected. In the following sentence, underline each misspelled or misused word and write the correct spelling or word above the incorrect word. And my mother was standing in the back whispering loudly, "Why he don't send me check, already two weeks late. 2. -she explains that the stories she writes are about mothers 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. The author notes that the language her mother speaks is very different than "American English," but that it is deceiving in that her mother understands more than one might think when listening to her speak. Like off the street kind. mother tongue amy tan chinese american writer amy tan, whose mom moved from her homeland china to america to make better life for her daughter, struggles with 3-2 Writing Plan 5-3 Feedback and 4 0 obj Tan was born in Oakland, California, two and a half years after her parents fled China's Communist revolution and settled in the United States. She makes this argument in various ways. In referring back to her experiences through the anecdotes, Tan realizes that she uses a different type of English when with her mother. But once Tan had arrived and upon hearing her perfect English, the staff had taken the case up with more urgency. Tan was born on February 19, 1952, in Oakland, California. Accept any answers that address the concern of the question and are elaborated by examples or details from the literature or from life. In dividing the essay into sections, she is able to flow through to her points clearly and subtly. "Like others, I have described it to people as "broken" or "fractured" English. How many subjects does Tan explore in the essay? She reads the Forbes report, listens to Wall Street Week, converses daily with her stockbroker, reads all of Shirley MacLaine's books with easeall kinds of things I can't begin to understand. Amy Tan also believes her mothers English affected her daughters school results. But because she is rebellious and likes to challenge peoples assumptions about her, Tan bucked this trend. Although Tan clearly appeals to pathos through personal narration and characterization, she makes some appeals to logos. Latest answer posted March 29, 2020 at 10:08:05 AM. "9 [5 Educators go through a rigorous application process, and every answer they submit is reviewed by our in-house editorial team. 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. But they seem just as bad, as if everything is limited, including people's perceptions of the limited English speaker. 20 terms. As for accents, it's usually a stereotype of some sort. I am not a scholar of English or literature. a. fragment /Length 7 0 R Near the beginning of Mother Tongue, Tan says, I am fascinated by language in daily life. Amy Tan, in full Amy Ruth Tan, (born February 19, 1952, Oakland, California, U.S.), American author of novels about Chinese American women and the immigrant experience. As her mother wasn't able to speak English fluently, she wasn't taken seriously by the staff. defining her mother's tongue and other's interpretations of it (their reactions), -how other's react to her mother's tongue - pretended not to understand her or hear her, did not take her seriously, and did not give her good service. One time Amy did this with her mother's stockbroker. -the piece is about how Amy's mom speaks (original language); Amy's mother had a different language then her own. 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. 2. Discuss how and why parents identities and personalities are often a source of embarrassment or tension when people are young. defining her mother's tongue and other's interpretations of it (their reactions) -defining her interpretation, others interpretation, and how it influenced her writing structure 1st part -1-7 -awareness of the diff types of English -nature of her mother's English Include details from the text. 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.
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