Mother Daughter Relationships in works by Chang Rae-Lee and Amy Tan

Tan goes on to explain what sociological impacts she experienced based on her upbringing. She concludes that her mother should not be judged based on her “watered down” English, and that people should be more accepting to those who cannot express their feelings in English.

On one side, Amy Tan “Mother Tongue” shows how Amy Opens doors for her mother. One example of this is when Amy says “Just last week, I was walking down the street with my mother, and I again found myself conscious of the English I was using, the English I do use with her. We were talking about the price of new and used furniture and I heard myself saying this: "Not waste money that way." My husband was with us as well, and he didn't notice any switch in my English. And then I realized why. It's because over the twenty years we've been together, I've often used that same kind of English with him, and sometimes he even uses it with me. It has become our language of intimacy, a different sort of English that relates to family talk, the language I grew up with ” (Tan 363). This opens a door for her mother by being in and understand a conversation that she is not normally involved in. This is as simple as Amy talking to her mom in her mother’s language. This is similar to an adult explaining something to a child in the in

“Mother Tongue” was a speech Amy Tan made in front of many authoritative scholars who had investigated English literature for long time. Tan perhaps had great pressure for the experience she talked about is not familiar at all to those experts. They wouldn’t understand easily how someone from an immigrant family felt. Later the speech became a well-known essay of Tan and the audience changed. She was talking to everybody, especially the ones who speak perfect English. She wanted them to know that one with limited English could still be intelligent. Things behind language might be more valuable than language itself sometimes. That was something exceeded fluency, vocabularies and grammar. Amy Tan’s purpose of writing Mother Tongue is to remind the native English speakers to respect the “broken English” speakers and to find out the worthy thoughts concealed by the imperfect languages.

Amy Tan’s literacy narrative “Mother Tongue” is about the different dialects of English, she is familiar with. She explains that her intelligence is judged by the way she speaks. Amy Tan, explains memories from her life where she encounters many forms of English. Her mother, a Chinese immigrant spoke “broken English.” She describes her mother as someone who was able to understand English, well the mother claims that she understands everything, but when it came to speaking, she spoke without the correct grammar. Due to her mothers broken English, Amy Tan has adapted to the type of English her mother speaks, their own type of English language. Tan feels as if the English she is speaking with it outside world is more complex than the English she

On the other hand the main focus on Tan’s story is to show the beautiful and passionate side of her mother that people can't see. Tan describes how all of the English’s that she grew up with, normal English and "mother tongue" English, has shaped her first outlook of life. She writes, "But to me, my mother's

Mother Tongue is a story that describes how Amy Tan’s mother was treated unfairly because of her “broken English”. As the second generation of Chinese immigrants, Tan faces more problems than her peers do. Her mom, who speaks “limited” English, needs Tan to be her “translator” in order to communicate with the native English speakers. Tan has felt ashamed of her mother “broken” language at first. She then contemplates her background affected her life and her study. However, she changes her thought at the end since she realizes things behind language might be more valuable than language itself sometimes. Through the various different literary devices and rhetorical strategies such as the ethos, pathos, and logos appeals, as well as a

She wants the audience to know right away that even though she is about to tell you the story of a difficult childhood, she did reach her goal in the end. After making this statement, Tan dives into her past and how she came to be where she is today. Her mother is the next most important point of discussion. Her mother influenced her writing style as well as her beliefs about her culture and heritage. ?Just last week, I was walking down the street with my mother, and I again found myself conscious of the English I was using, the English I do use with her? (Tan, 2002, p. 36). The broken up English her mother uses is the next issue Tan focuses on. ??everything is limited, including people?s perceptions of the limited English speaker? (Tan, 2002, p. 36). Lastly, she talks about her education and the role it had on her deciding what she wanted to do with her life. ?Fortunately, I happen to be rebellious in nature and enjoy the challenge of disproving assumptions made about me? (Tan, 2002, p. 39). By structuring the essay in order of importance, Tan reinforces her message that you can be anything you desire even with a different culture than the norm.

English is an invisible gate. Immigrants are the outsiders. And native speakers are the gatekeepers. Whether the gate is wide open to welcome the broken English speakers depends on their perceptions. Sadly, most of the times, the gate is shut tight, like the case of Tan’s mother as she discusses in her essay, "the mother tongue." People treat her mother with attitudes because of her improper English before they get to know her. Tan sympathizes for her mother as well as other immigrants. Tan, once embarrassed by her mother, now begins her writing journal through a brand-new kaleidoscope. She sees the beauty behind the "broken" English, even though it is different. Tan combines repetition, cause and effect, and exemplification to emphasize

As an adult, Tan understands that her mother’s English is the language of intimacy. She now understands that her “mother’s expressive command belies how much she actually understands” Her mother reads “The Wall street Journal” and converses with their stockbroker on matters Tan doesn’t comprehend. It becomes evident that her initial

The significance behind this quote is that because Tan’s mother’s English isn’t quite well understood to society she gets unfairly judged or mistreated because of it. Since people aren’t able to understand what the mother says most of the time they think that she has limited understanding of the English language when in fact she’s quite intelligent. But no one in society can tell that from the way that she speaks. From the perspective of Tan her mother’s English is perfect, referring it as her “mother tongue”, so vivid and full of imagery. On the other hand, in Silko’s essay, she expressed language also, but through the art of storytelling. Not only does language makes a person’s lifestyle so distinct from others, but language is a part of culture. Storytelling played a tremendous role in her Pueblo culture. Storytelling is what also created a cultural identity and brought them together as one because the stories that were told connected past and future generation. For example, the story told about

In the story “Mother Tongue” Amy Tan says “ I again found myself conscious of the english i was using.”, growing up with a father

“Mother Tongue” is an essay by American writer Amy Tan who was born to immigrant parents from china. She writes this essay after looking at the different forms of English she has used in her life. Her mother played a crucial role in her becoming aware of the power language gives an individual and differences in the language she used in different aspects of her life. The language that Amy Tan talks about is English and how her form of English differs from that of her mother. The event that was described in the beginning paragraphs of her essay with her mother helped her acknowledge the importance and power of language and how people should be more aware of the different types of “Englishes” that exist in society today, not only should they be

In Amy Tan’s Mother Tongue, Tan writes about her troubles with personal relationships and the English language. Her piece details the cultural invalidation one might experience from a formal education’s way of teaching language . She writes about how she uses “the forms of standard English” (Tan 700) when speaking to formally educated people, and “family talk” (Tan 701) with her mother. As an educated writer, Tan is well versed in the English language and of course is an eloquent and sophisticated orator. That is the type of English that is taught in schools and is what is accepted as the correct way to to speak English, and that is the type of English Tan uses when she talks to educated people. Tan is also the daughter of a Chinese woman who speaks broken English, with whom she converses with using

Tan tells her story “Mother Tongue” to relate her experiences with her mother’s dialect of English. Her mother did not speak English well and therefore, used “broken” English that was not simple to understand, although Tan was able to understand it quite well. She explains that her mother’s English was perfect and clear, almost better than regular English. She states “Her language, as I hear it, is vivid, direct, full of observation and imagery. That was the language that helped shape the way I saw things, expressed things, made sense of the world” (Tan, 2006, P.2). This strengthens the idea that their language was their bond as Tan saw no flaw in her mother’s English. To Tan, there was nothing

In Amy Tan’s Mother Tongue, Tan writes about her troubles with personal relationships and the English language. Her piece details the cultural invalidation one might experience from a formal education’s way of teaching language . She writes about how she uses “the forms of standard English” (Tan 700) when speaking to formally educated people, and “family talk” (Tan 701) with her mother. As an educated writer, Tan is well versed in language arts and of course is an eloquent and sophisticated orator. She speaks in a way that has been deemed proper. That is the type of English that is taught in schools and is what is accepted as the correct way to to speak English, and that is the type of English Tan uses when she talks to educated people. Tan is also