Some say they understand 80 to 90 percent. Educators go through a rigorous application process, and every answer they submit is reviewed by our in-house editorial team. 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. I selected the article Mother Tongue by Amy Tan. You can read Mother Tongue here before proceeding to our summary and analysis of Amy Tans essay below. How does she establish ethos by this juxtaposition? What motivates her to make such an argument? In Amy Tan's short story "Mother Tongue," explain the essence - eNotes Amy Tan's Messages in "Mother Tongue" Short Summary - GraduateWay This question is about the essay "Mother Tongue" by Amy Tan. Then write an essay in which you explain the use of English in your life and communications. Do you agree that family members have the greatest effect on a child's intellectual development? As for accents, it's usually a stereotype of some sort. Two Kinds Summary - eNotes.com Although Tan clearly appeals to pathos through personal narration and characterization, she makes some appeals to logos. Our summaries and analyses are written by experts, and your questions are answered by real teachers. Discuss the way stereotypes or bias affect how we see ourselves and others. 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. 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. /CreationDate (D:20210407080443+03'00') Log in here. Stephen Crane Amy Thompson Amy Tan Anne Tan 2. How does she use language in the rest of her story to portray this rebelliousness? What strategies does she use to make this argument? 1. Mother Tongue is an essay by Amy Tan, an American author who was born to Chinese immigrants in 1952. But now you have to do a literary analysis on itand suddenly its short length seems like more of a burden than a blessing. This progression is typical of many stories, both long and short, but in this case you can apply it to tone as well. -7 space 17 space. Chinese custom. Why? 5) 2. /Subtype /Image 6. And then I said in perfect English, "Yes, I'm getting rather concerned. Amy Tan's "Mother Tongue" questions & answers for quizzes and Do you agree or disagree with Amy Tan's conclusions about standardized tests? When she's not working, she's constantly trying to expand her creativity through music, writing, art, and animation. Many of the mothers in The Joy Luck Club, such as Betty St. Clair in The Voice from the Wall, feel isolated from those around them, never at home in America, and hyper-aware of their outsider status, despite becoming legal permanent citizens in the country. eNotes Editorial, 10 Nov. 2019, https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/in-amy-tan-s-short-story-mother-tongue-explain-258339. All together, we expect forty or fifty volunteers to work on the project. What argument is Tan making here about language and its connection to our identity in "Mother Tongue"? 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. Mother Tongue by Amy Tan: 10 Tips for a Literary Analysis - Kibin Blog endobj I hesitate to use the word plot in the case of Mother Tongue because it doesnt seem to have much of one, at least not in the traditional sense that most fiction stories do. 2)? What are some good things Andrew Carnegie did? Mother tongue Flashcards | Quizlet This could create a gap in their education "level" as you usually don't absorb much of the content if you've no clue what the teacher is saying. 16, Tan)". 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. What argument is Tan making here about language and its - eNotes It's my mother tongue. Near the beginning of Mother Tongue, Tan says, I am fascinated by language in daily life. I've heard other terms used, "limited English," for example. Do you think her idea is valid? 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 Explain the meaning of Tans title and how it relates to her own identity as both a Chinese American, a daughter, and a writer. Recently, I was made keenly aware of the different Englishes I do use. 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. Analysis of "Mother Tongue" by Amy Tan: DRAFT - GraduateWay Flashcards. 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. -understand how her mom talked and how it was hard for others to understand her Amy Tan "Mother Tongue" Flashcards | Quizlet 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. 17) that Tan claims accounts for her high performance on math tests but not on English tests specifically, analogies? Other Quizlet sets. She is the second of three children born to Chinese immigrants, Daisy and John Tan. The only way I would have gotten that answer right would have been to imagine an associative situation, for example, my being disobedient and staying out past sunset, catching a chill at night, which turns into feverish pneumonia as punishment, which indeed did happen to me. I believe that there is a play on words with the title, "Mother Tongue." } !1AQa"q2#BR$3br But Tans language, or tongue, has been shaped by her actual mother, whose first language (or mother tongue) was not English, but Chinese. "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. 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. You should know that my mother's expressive command of English belies how much she actually understands. He come to my wedding. Many of the terms, such as broken or limited, are too negative and imply her English is imperfect. Du Zong father wasn't look down on him, but didn't take seriously, until that man big like become a mafia. So I never did well on tests like that. How did Tans teachers identify her when she was in high school? Get started for free! 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. Our experts can deliver a "Mother Tongue" by Amy Tan essay tailored to your instructions for only $13.00 $11.05/page 308 qualified specialists online Learn more Main text Identify the message of Tan's essay, "Mother Tongue." 10th ed. 3 0 obj Describe what the fighting is like and what you feel are the strengths and weaknesses of your army. Sample answer: Communication is more about intent than specific words and word usage. By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University). And I believe that it affected my results on achievement tests, I.Q. She said they did not seem to have any sympathy when she told them she was anxious to know the exact diagnosis, since her husband and son had both died of brain tumors. -better explain her mother's tongue and how others were effected (including herself) %PDF-1.4 $4%&'()*56789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz ? She said she had spoken very good English, her best English, no mistakes. Lately, I've been giving more thought to the kind of English my mother speaks. 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 Cite the text as needed to clarify and support your response. endobj -allows Amy to go in to saying how she was effected by her mother's tongue. Indeed, her mother read drafts of her work. More recent to this story, her mother had been diagnosed with a benign brain tumor, but when she went to the doctor's office, the CAT scan was lost and no one was remotely concerned with her need to understand her prognosishaving lost a husband and son, both to brain tumors. Be sure to consider the anecdotes regarding Tan giving a speech, the stockbroker, the CAT scan, and Tan's experience with the SATs. In "Mother Tongue," Amy Tan explains that she uses multiple "Englishes" in her daily life. Tan, by contrast, used standard English what used to be referred to, in loaded phrases, as correct or proper English and was thus able to succeed in getting herself, and by extension her mother, taken seriously by others. Amy Tan - Books, Short Stories & Movie - Biography But I wince when I say that. How would you characterize Tan's tone in the essay? What is Amy Tans primary identity according to what she says in paragraphs 1-3 of "Mother Tongue"? "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. In Amy Tan's short story "Mother Tongue," explain the essence of what "mother tongue" signifies in the story. 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. The difference is in the application of the phrase, which is between general and specific. In paragraph 18, she talks about how she's seen (in surveys) how most Asian students as a whole do significantly better on math tests than English ones. Tan seems to love and respect her mother despite her language boundaries. What is the difference? She had more difficulty answering questions presented in English class due to the nature of language, being able to be interpreted in more than one way. Award-winning novelist, short story writer, and essayist. 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. Review terms and definitions. Genius is the ultimate source of music knowledge, created by scholars like you who share facts and insight about the songs and artists they love. 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. Amy Tan's "Mother Tongue" | LAmyths 11th Review / Critical Thinking Questions. /Width 625 Students' writing should address the specific experiences and messages of the essays that they choose. Sociologists and linguists probably will tell you that a person's developing language skills are more influenced by peers. In paragraph 6, Tan quotes part of one of her mother's conversations. 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. She majored in English at college and began writing as a freelancer. But they seem just as bad, as if everything is limited, including people's perceptions of the limited English speaker. This was understandable. 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. But it does have a loose progression. What is your response to Amy Tan's point about the value of different languages? New York: McGraw-Hill, 2008. This text is a great starting point for discussions on culture, language and more. All of these questions will help you pinpoint the essays effectiveness. a. fragment Read the excerpt from Amy Tan's essay "Mother Tongue - Brainly At several points in her essay, Tan related anecdotes. indiiigo. Discuss how and why parents identities and personalities are often a source of embarrassment or tension when people are young. 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. d. Her mother is the audience (reader) for The Joy Luck Club, a book about mother-and-daughter relationships. Include details from the text. To see how other students have handled their analyses, check out these example essays on Mother Tongue.. Here is the text: http://www.umsl.edu/~alexanderjm/Mother%20Tongue%20by%20. A good literary analysis might explain these transitions, and how they affect the structure of the piece. On what were these descriptions and perceptions based according to paragraphs 15-16 of "Mother Tongue"? "Mother tongue," as it is used in the title of this piece, is a pun on the traditional idea. We used a similar routine just five days ago, for a situation that was far less humorous. Jing-mei's mother quizzes her on various topicsincluding state and national capitals, complicated mathematics, and weather predictionin hopes that she might possess a talent like the children. Its not about how long a story is, but rather about its content. /AIS false 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. Tan wrote 'Mother Tongue' in 1990, a year after her novel The Joy Luck Club was a runaway success. But I wince when I say that. Her language, as I hear it, is vivid, direct, full of observation and imagery. What is the "associative situation" (para. You should know that my mother's expressive command of English belies how much she actually understands. Include details from the text. Write a journal entry from the perspective of Richard the Lion-Hearted during the Crusades. 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. She talks about the challenges her mother faced with her limited English. But to me, my mother's English is perfectly clear, perfectly natural. 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. 11th Grade - Poems by Emily Dickinson: ", how did amy describe her mother's english, math and science (precise and exact answers). "Like others, I have described it to people as "broken" or "fractured" English. ACCTG 205: CH 1 Vocabulary. Some visitors on a search for new healing substances (looks, look) at medicinal plants. 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. Who is the intended audience for "Mother Tongue"? Chinese way, came only to show respect, don't stay for dinner. So she said she would not leave until the doctor called her daughter. How many subjects does Tan explore in the essay? 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. Finally, she wraps it up nicely with a note about how she now uses those various forms of English in her career. Envisioning her mother as the reader allowed Tan to write with more fluidity. I cannot give you much more than personal opinions on the English language and its variations in this country or others. She alludes to several instances where people, even a doctor, would not take her mother seriously because of the way she spoke. Tan grew up in Northern California, but when her father and older brother both died from brain tumors in 1966, she moved with her. She recounts a time when the doctors at the hospital were unsympathetic towards her mother when they lost the results of the CAT scan they had undertaken on her brain, but as soon as the hospital at her mothers insistence called her daughter, they issued a grovelling apology. The story helps the reader understand Tan's later comments about what to call her mother's English-words like limited or broken affect people's perceptions of her mother and her mother's abilities. I am not a scholar of English or literature. Her mother attends her lectures. How does this story help you better understand the point Tan is making in her essay? Describe how others (those who do not know her intimately) see Tan's mother versus how Tan describes her in "Mother Tongue." b. Tan, her husband, and her mother go out together. In a country where English is the dominant language, all of the school lessons are taught in it. Tan grew up speaking the formal acrolect of English she learned at school and the more vivid, less correct variety her mother used. A scholar would push to discover and learn about their particular subject, while the writer is to take their findings and put them into practice. 8. How does each have its own type of power? The talk was going along well enough, until I remembered one major difference that made the whole talk sound wrong. This shows how the way English is spoken affects how one is treated. In "Mother Tongue," Amy Tan uses people's inclination to assume as a way of exploring the subject of identity. Mother Tongue | Reading Quiz - Quizizz Mother Tongue by Amy Tan questions & answers for quizzes and worksheets - Quizizz Find and create gamified quizzes, lessons, presentations, and flashcards for students, employees, and everyone else. What does Tan mean when she says, "I think my mother's English almost had an effect on limiting my possibilities in life as well" (para. Identify them and describe their effect. "Mother Tongue" by Amy Tan Flashcards | Quizlet << 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.". 3) Tan describes in this essay? Unlike most of the other literature youve read for class, Mother Tongue by Amy Tan is short and pretty easy to breeze through. 291 terms. The local people call putong, the river east side, he belong to that side local people. 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. Give at least three details from the essay to support your opinion. 20 terms. Tan calls this a language of intimacy. -uses quotes to give an example of her mother's English Write the correct word in the space next to given definition. The same was true with word analogies, pairs of words in which you were supposed to find some sort of logical, semantic relationship -- for example, "Sunset is to nightfall as is to ." But once Tan had arrived and upon hearing her perfect English, the staff had taken the case up with more urgency. How does Tan avoid stereotyping Asian Americans in general and Chinese in particular in this essay? Now important person, very hard to inviting him. Mother Tongue Essay - 795 Words | Bartleby What argument is Tan making here about language and its connection to our identity in "Mother Tongue"? How do they further her argument? Tan says that her identity as a writer was originally separate from her identity as her mother's daughter. Tan does illustrate each category she identifies 4. /BitsPerComponent 8 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. Consider the story "Mother Tongue." 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. Although Amy Tan was born in the United States, her writing is shaped to a great degree by the immigrant experience. She adores her as any other child would adore their own mom. 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. w !1AQaq"2B #3Rbr /Creator ( w k h t m l t o p d f 0 . Mother Tongue, by Amy Tan Comprehension 1. Take a practice test. Some say they understand none of it, as if she were speaking pure Chinese. I've heard other terms used, "limited English," for example. Theyll help you make Amy Tan proud by assisting with proper language and other editing. Now all you have to do is analyze them. To what extent do you think that speaking a non- standardized English (through grammatical differences or an accent) "limits . -describes how her mom influenced her writing and this is why her mom is the audience. Tans autobiographical revelations in Mother Tongue show us that her own mother struggled to be taken seriously among Americans, and Tan diagnoses this struggle as a result of her mothers different way of speaking. WhowasJohnWilkesBooth? 3. Tan, author of "Mother Tongue," explains that her mother's language had the greatest influence on her understanding of English. Focus your studying with a path. 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. Amy Tan also believes her mothers English affected her daughters school results. The nature of the talk was about my writing, my life, and my book, The Joy Luck Club. While my English skills were never judged as poor, compared to math, English could not be considered my strong suit. /SA true What strategies does she use to make this How did Tans teachers identify her when she was in high school? (para. In this connection, it is noteworthy that Tan chooses to focus on the school tests she undertook before concluding that her mothers broken style of English has been misunderstood not just literally (by some people whove known her), but in terms of the misleading perceptions of her it has led others to formulate. But they seem just as bad, as if everything is limited, including people's perceptions of the limited English speaker. 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. 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. Yet some of my friends tell me they understand 50 percent of what my mother says. 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. What motivates her to make such an argument?" Educators go through a rigorous application process, and every answer they submit is reviewed by our in-house editorial team. << Eden Meirow is a full-time copywriter and part-time freelance writer. Mother Tongue Quiz Flashcards | Quizlet "Mother Tongue" by Amy Tan Flashcards | Quizlet . She says this because it could have impacted her in developing the English skills that were expected in school. How could I go about writing four pages about the essay "Mother Tongue" by Amy Tan, citing two or more different authors to support my claims? Fortunately, there are several different literary devices you can concentrate on for your literary analysis. How do each of these shifts in tone help move the reader along in the story? The phrase "mother tongue" refers to the language people learn to speak first. Amy Tan "Mother Tongue" How do you want to study today? 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. How did railroads help boost industrialization? 1 0 obj Math is precise; there is only one correct answer.