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? On what were these descriptions and perceptions based according to paragraphs 15-16 of "Mother Tongue"? 1. Underline the verb in parentheses that correctly completes the sentence by agreeing with the subject. /ca 1.0 How do each of these shifts in tone help move the reader along in the story? 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. She recognizes that her mom is in fact able to comprehend complex sentences in English, but just struggles to express herself clearly in the language. Identify them and describe their effect. Every piece of literature, whether its an epic novel or a haiku, has some sort of structurewhich is simply the organization of the material. When they called her daughter, who had perfect English, they suddenly found her scan. Like off the street kind. 1. Now important person, very hard to inviting him. So mad he lie to me, losing me money. But Tans language, or tongue, has been shaped by her actual mother, whose first language (or mother tongue) was not English, but Chinese. 4 0 obj All of these questions will help you pinpoint the essays effectiveness. I cannot give you much more than personal opinions on the English language and its variations in this country or others. Tan wrote Mother Tongue in 1990, a year after her novel The Joy Luck Club was a runaway success. Amy Tan born in 1952 in California to Chinese immigrants. 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. 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. Our summaries and analyses are written by experts, and your questions are answered by real teachers. Multiple-choice 30 seconds 1 pt Where was the author born? -she uses four types of English (the English she grew up with) Mean gives lots of respect. Du Zong father wasn't look down on him, but didn't take seriously, until that man big like become a mafia. So you'll have some idea of what this family talk I heard sounds like, I'11 quote what my mother said during a recent conversation which I videotaped and then transcribed. Log in here. Mother Tongue. The McGraw Hill Reader: Issues Across the Disciplines. 6) rather than paraphrasing what she said? -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. 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. In literature, tone is the feeling an author conveys to the audience. You may also wish to discuss some of the emotions that a king in battle might be feeling. 4)_g|a>x{9}=vyG`?>x}.(72qgn>n * {1Mo$*=rnZ|!:Oc@`g=~l^0r8 WC,f;8vu4[e$Nexug (Byo O9|'uc+#Wv8Ee,9 :?6Ns C;0:j1E 66S~o^xzYX8R9 g= ^NTw{ _s7@ "1s m?M ;o V6'=:h while growing up, what assumption did Amy Tan make about her mother because of her mother's language skills? Latest answer posted March 29, 2020 at 10:08:05 AM. 6 0 obj Tan, author of "Mother Tongue," explains that her mother's language had the greatest influence on her understanding of English. Many of the terms, such as broken or limited, are too negative and imply her English is imperfect. Tan talks about growing up with different forms of English and how that affected both her childhood and adult life. This English is expressive, grammatically distant from proper forms, hard to understand for some native English speakers, and perfectly comfortable to Amy. /ColorSpace /DeviceRGB Some say they understand 80 to 90 percent. Sample answer: Communication is more about intent than specific words and word usage. Log in here. \text { Who was John Wilkes Booth? } -influenced Amy's writing (four Englishes) Eden Meirow is a full-time copywriter and part-time freelance writer. possibilities" for people in the United States today? While my English skills were never judged as poor, compared to math, English could not be considered my strong suit. In "Mother Tongue" why does Tan include her mother's story about the political gangster in Shanghai? 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 I am not a scholar of English or literature. 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. https://www.etsy.com/shop/TolentinoTeaching?ref=seller-platform-mcnavSubscribe to Tolentino Teaching for online teaching resources: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxVnC3TU90xGfwGGJj--dHA?view_as=subscriberHere is the software I use to make my videos: https://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=18708\u0026awinaffid=844903\u0026p=Where I get my background music: https://www.epidemicsound.com/referral/pg826v/Microphone I use: https://amzn.to/3kYpflxMy favorite books on writing:The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century by Steven Pinker: https://amzn.to/38m0FWmHow to Argue with a Cat by Jay Hendrichs: https://amzn.to/2MWQXCsThe Elements of Style Fourth Edition: https://amzn.to/2MZeentOn Writing Well by William Zinsser: https://amzn.to/30ouPnJMy Social Media LinksInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/tolentinoteaching/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tolentinoteaching/?eid=ARCDTu1yPrWNU95MIiqiab32h2xup6OJBVFlENV03XB6HHUOFxeS0gGlYvdIx-bKlzwzEW7N8uwtCagPTwitter: https://twitter.com/TolentinoTeach**Disclaimer: Tolentino Teaching is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and AWIN, affiliate advertising programs designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to www.amazon.com and http://paidforadvertising.com/ 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. On what were these descriptions and perceptions based according to paragraphs 15-16 of "Mother Tongue"? << 7. check out these example essays on Mother Tongue.. Who is the intended audience for "Mother Tongue"? Do you think her idea is valid? When Amy Tan recalls growing up, her mother would have Amy speak on the phone, pretending to be her mother, so that people would take her more seriously. You should know that my mother's expressive command of English belies how much she actually understands. Remember this quote as you read through and relate the rest of the content to this idea. 2. Latest answer posted March 29, 2020 at 1:00:09 PM. Mother tongue commonly means the language first learned by a person, but for the author, Amy Tan, it has a special meaning. In dividing the essay into sections, she is able to flow through to her points clearly and subtly. What is the "associative situation" (para. The "different Englishes" talked about in the essay range from perfect to broken english. b. eruption How would you describe Tan's attitude toward her mother? 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 Works have been adapted for film, opera, and TV mother tongue first language Whom does the author focus on in this narrative? 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. Those tests were constructed around items like fill-in-the-blank sentence completion, such as, "Even though Tom was, Mary thought he was --. Latest answer posted October 28, 2019 at 10:43:03 PM, Latest answer posted May 19, 2020 at 7:56:33 PM, Latest answer posted November 08, 2020 at 3:49:32 AM. 11th Grade - Poems by Emily Dickinson: Explain. /Filter /DCTDecode Explain the meaning of Tans title and how it relates to her own identity as both a Chinese American, a daughter, and a writer. 2. What is the context of Mother Tongue? Tan explains, "This was understandable. When I was fifteen, she used to have me call people on the phone to pretend I was she. WhowasJohnWilkesBooth? 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. Amy sets up this comparison by describing a talk that she gave about a book and had given so many times before that it was entirely familiar to her. Do you feel that people's abilities can be judged fairly by these kinds of tests? Tan, Amy. endobj Whereas, for me at least, the answers on English tests were always a judgment call, a matter of opinion and personal experience, (para. $4%&'()*56789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz ? -other peoples reactions; how it affected Amy (would make calls for her mom) Explain the meaning of Tans title and how it relates to her own identity as both a Chinese American, a daughter, and a writer. 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. -better explain her mother's tongue and how others were effected (including herself) Tan grew up speaking the formal acrolect of English she learned at school and the more vivid, less correct variety her mother used. 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. "In Amy Tan's short story "Mother Tongue," explain the essence of what "mother tongue" signifies in the story." %&'()*456789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz When writing about becoming an English major in college, Tan said that she had always been rebellious. How many subjects does Tan explore in the essay? Accept any answers that address the concern of the question and are elaborated by examples or details from the literature or from life. 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. Some say they understand none of it, as if she were speaking pure Chinese. 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. 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. How does each have its own type of power? /Width 625 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. 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. Discuss how Tan broadens the essay's relevance by going beyond just her personal experience and raising issues that would be germane to her audience. endobj I didn't see, I heard it. How did Tans teachers identify her when she was in high school? This is a key part of Feathers from a Thousand Li Away, and it helps us to understand Tans conflicted attitude towards her mothers use of language as explored in Mother Tongue. taylor_garrett36. If too important won't have to stay too long. 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. Theyll help you make Amy Tan proud by assisting with proper language and other editing. 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. 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. 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. Students' essays will probably address slang and jargon that they use, standard English that they use for most of their school experiences, and possibly formal English that they may use with relatives or in work situations. Although Amy Tan was born in the United States, her writing is shaped to a great degree by the immigrant experience. Include details from the text. The talk was going along well enough, until I remembered one major difference that made the whole talk sound wrong. In directly quoting her mother, Tan is able to demonstrate her mother's speech patterns in text form. Review terms and definitions. /AIS false Her mother's language is colorful, powerful, and direct. She is the second of three children born to Chinese immigrants, Daisy and John Tan. Be sure to consider the anecdotes regarding Tan giving a speech, the stockbroker, the CAT scan, and Tan's experience with the SATs. How does Tan avoid stereotyping Asian Americans in general and Chinese in particular in this essay? But because she is rebellious and likes to challenge peoples assumptions about her, Tan bucked this trend. Yet some of my friends tell me they understand 50 percent of what my mother says. Even though language is not an object you can hold, Amy Tan still uses language to symbolize different, more ambiguous concepts. Near the beginning of Mother Tongue, Tan says, I am fascinated by language in daily life. But it does have a loose progression. 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. 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. Be sure to focus on specific language, punctuation, and imagery used to create the overall tone. Much of Tans 1989 novel The Joy Luck Club is about daughters and their relationships with their mothers. Consider the story "Mother Tongue." Tan refers to how much language impacts/changes our lives. /CA 1.0 /SA true Math is precise; there is only one correct answer. Identify the message of Tan's essay, "Mother Tongue." "And the correct answer always seemed to be the most bland combinations of thoughts, for example, "Even though Tom was shy, Mary thought he was charming:' with the grammatical structure "even though" limiting the correct answer to some sort of semantic opposites, so you wouldn't get answers like, "Even though Tom was foolish, Mary thought he was ridiculous:' Well, according to my mother, there were very few limitations as to what Tom could have been and what Mary might have thought of him. Discuss the way stereotypes or bias affect how we see ourselves and others. Though Mother Tongue is a very short narrative, its rich in content. Amy Tan "Mother Tongue" How do you want to study today? She says it provides imagery and emotions that standard, grammatically-correct English cannot. Whereas, for me at least, the answers on English tests were always a judgment call, a matter of opinion and personal experience. Explain why Tan calls herself a rebel in "Mother Tongue" and how this identity led to her becoming a writer. 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. -mother's language; how author feels 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. She says even her husband started speaking this kind of English together and that it has come to represent intimacy. How did railroads help boost industrialization? What assumptions are people making about Tan's mother in these situations and why? She says this because it could have impacted her in developing the English skills that were expected in school. 4. Fortunately, there are several different literary devices you can concentrate on for your literary analysis. But many people who hear her mother speak can only partially understand what she is saying, and some even say they can understand nothing of what she says, as if she were speaking pure Chinese to them. Chinese way, came only to show respect, don't stay for dinner. In Amy Tan's short story "Mother Tongue," explain the essence of what "mother tongue" signifies in the story. d. infraction, Identify the following term or individuals and explain their significance. JFIF K K C 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. 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. As the second generation of Chinese immigrants, Tan faces more problems than her peers do. 2. << What argument is Tan making here about language and its connection to our identity in "Mother Tongue"? 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. ~"iW]JL^kP(K/N\' |! 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. When she began to write fiction, she made a conscious decision to write to a specific audience: she decided to write to her mother; as she was writing about relationships between mothers and daughters in her stories. Our summaries and analyses are written by experts, and your questions are answered by real teachers. But to me, my mother's English is perfectly clear, perfectly natural. 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. 1 0 obj I had to get on the phone and say in an adolescent voice that was not very convincing, "This is Mrs. This establishes ethos as she admits that her specialty is in being a writer. It helps us to understand the way Tan approaches and uses language within the stories that make up The Joy Luck Club. Finally, Tan highlights the absurdity of writing a book about the relationships between mothers and daughters which her own mother could not understand. Fill in the blank spot in the following sentence. /Type /XObject During this conversation, my mother was talking about a political gangster in Shanghai who had the same last name as her family's, Du, and how the gangster in his early years wanted to be adopted by her family, which was rich by comparison. Other Quizlet sets. 3 0 obj She used all of the "Englishes" she grew up with, giving her more connection to her work, and with the audience as well. 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. Tan was born on February 19, 1952, in Oakland, California. 5. 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? 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. 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. Focus your studying with a path. It has always bothered me that I can think of no other 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. She majored in English at college and began writing as a freelancer. Cite the text as needed to clarify and support your response. The phrase "mother tongue" refers to the language people learn to speak first. Tan divides the essay into three sections. Her language, as I hear it, is vivid, direct, full of observation and imagery. I am going to show you a few of these devices and give you some awesome tips on how to incorporate them into your analysis of Mother Tongue.. She acknowledges that when she was growing up, she was ashamed of the way her mother spoke. 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. "Mother tongue," as it is used in the title of this piece, is a pun on the traditional idea. Then write an essay in which you explain the use of English in your life and communications. Tan elaborates this idea by scrutinizing her mother's language, her own use of English and society's response to different people's English usage. I was giving a talk to a large group of people, the same talk I had already given to half a dozen other groups. Amy Tan begins her essay by offering her personal opinions on the English language. Latest answer posted October 28, 2019 at 10:43:03 PM, Latest answer posted November 08, 2020 at 3:49:32 AM. 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. 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. 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. But I wince when I say that. First, she points out that she uses the same language with her mother and her husband. For example, people with European accents may be perceived as "snooty" or "uptight", while those who speak in AAVE (African American Vernacular English) can be seen as "ghetto" or "thuggish". In this guise, I was forced to ask for information or even to complain and yell at people who had been rude to her. What is the author's purpose, style, and tone in the story? 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. 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. You had agreed to send the check two weeks ago, but it hasn't arrived.". Tan highlights this dichotomy when she writes about giving her speech, saying the proper English words that she was using felt strange to say when her mother was in the room. I believe that there is a play on words with the title, "Mother Tongue." c. Her mother relies on and trusts Tan to talk to the doctors about the CAT scan. In "Mother Tongue," Amy Tan explains that she uses multiple "Englishes" in her daily life. What incident in "Mother Tongue" makes Tan aware of the different Englishes that she speaks? Take a practice test. From guilty to gracious, annoyed to appreciative, Amy Tan uses a few different tones throughout Mother Tongue. Identify these tones and explain how they are employed (the language used to convey the tones), and what effect it has on the reader. 3. >> Finally, she wraps it up nicely with a note about how she now uses those various forms of English in her career. literature. It literally means one's first language. Answers will vary but should include points similar to the following: a. Tan includes the story to give readers an example of just how her mother's English sounds and how expressive it is.
Living On Matinicus Island,
Soy Casado Y No Puedo Olvidar A Mi Amante,
Articles M