“Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan Essay

Amy burning begins by announcing, I am not a scholar of sideI cannot give you much more than personal opinions on the English language and its variations in this country and former(a)s. How does this opening set up your expectations for the rest of the essay? wherefore do you think she chose to begin by denying her own authority?The introduction Tan obdurate to use presents the reader with a strong sense of the var. of individual she is. By saying I am not a scholar of English, Tan is revealing how humble she is. Amy Tan has written galore(postnominal) novels and essays ( rough of which have been nationally recognized). Yet, she starts off her essay by stating that this is simply a product of her opinion and that it is in no way superior to any others opinion. This expression of denying her own authority shows her strong belief that everyone can have their own interpretation of the value of the English language, much like she does. Her opening draws the reader in it intrigues us. We be pleased with the idea that Tan is going to bring a new perspective to the personal opinions on the English language. Her opening in like manner causes to reader to have a moment of self-reflection. We start to wonder what our opinion on the English language has been, momentarily stunned because, truly, we have never prospect about this in-depth before. Therefore, our expectations for the rest of the essay increase.Tan writes about the different Englishes she intercommunicates. What categories does she divide English into? Why are these divisions important to Tan? How does she say they affect her as a writer? At the beginning of the essay, Tan herself questions how to put a label on the complex Englishes that she has grown up with. To Tan, these Englishes do not just represent a way of speaking they are multi-dimensional and a big part of her journey to find out who she truly is. Through self-reflection, at the lay off of her essay, she is able to come up with four cat egories of the English she uses the mannequin of English she speaks to her mother (considered a simple English), the English her mother uses with her (considered a humble English), her translation of her mothers Chinese (considered a watered down version), and the kind of English Tan aspires to capture (her mothers knowledgeable language- the translation of Chinese if her mother could speak Englishperfectly.)These divisions matter to Tan because each of these Englishes uniquely contribute in forming who Tan is. As a writer, this motion picture to all of these Englishes has affected her greatly. She no longer focuses on writing to the readers who can understand English perfectly. Tans understanding of the multifaceted Englishes present in our nation allow her to get her message across to a larger audience.How does writing for a literary audience affect the language Tan principally uses in the essay? What kind of English do you think she believes her audience speaks? Why? Support your answer with quotations from the text.Tan is aware that the literary audience ordain have a higher expectation of her writing. Therefore, she does not write in the manner in which her mother would speak (broken English). However, throughout her essay, any reader, whether an English scholar or student would easily be able to understand what Tan is trying to convey through her writing. In her essay Tan states Fortunately, for reasons I wont get into today, I later decided I should envision a reader for the stories I would write.And the reader I decided upon was my mother. Tans writing fully expresses the nature of her thoughts and ideas, but she writes in a way that will allow anyone to read her essay. Tan knows that there are people full of thoughts and emotions as complex as hers but are hindered by their lack of knowing English perfectly. She does not want her complex English phrasing to stop them from being able to gain something from her writing.How does Tans title of resp ect Mother Tongue affect the way you read her argument? What other titles might she have chosen? Tans choice of title-Mother Tongue- allows the reader to understand Tans relationship with her mother. Although at some points, Tan was critical and embarrassed of her mothers English, she has grown to understand and accept the idea that everyone can have their own kind of English. As a reader, the title allows you to have an open mind to the concept that broken English is not necessarily broken. People may not be able to speak English perfectly, but that does not mean you can label them as uneducated nor does it mean you are superior. Tan could have used a title that was patronizing or condescending.Her title could have swayed the reader to let go of whatever English they use and to start using proper/formal English. nevertheless as Tan said in her essay Fortunately, I happen to be rebellious in nature and enjoy the challenge of disproving assumptions.. Tan embraces the kind of Engli sh her mother uses because it plays a big part in who she is and how she speaks her own English and the title Mother Tongue is a testimony of that.