Amy Tan, the author of Mother Tongue, narrates about Tan and her mom. The essay narrates about the disparities and disagreement amongst the Chinese and American cultures. Amy Tan utilizes writing to create a bridge amongst these two cultures. Amy Tan believes that language is powerful than people think. Tan aims at breaking the stereotypes that Asians are not skilled in liberal arts, but they are good in mathematics and science. Tan uses her writing skills to communicate concepts with the audiences. Tan recognizes that people should gain other people’s attention across the globe. Also, Tan suggest that people should offer self-improvement for their lives. In the story, the author provides details about what she encountered with her mom, more so when her mother uses English. Although Tan is good in English, she understood everything her mother communicated using the broken English language (Tan 431). Tan uses satire, pathos and ethos to show that language is powerful, and people can utilize this power in expressing their feelings and encounters to others.
First, the author utilizes satire to narrate on what she experienced with differences in the English language she learned and the one she is communicating with her mother. In the essay, Tan states that “a speech filled with carefully wrought grammatical phrase, burdened, it suddenly seemed to me with normalized form… the forms of English I learned, I am not using it with my mother” (Tan 432). In this case, the satire is evident in the phrase when Tan states that the English she learned are not the one she is using while communicating with her mother. Tan suggests that she can speak fluent English language that she learned at school, but her mother cannot understand it. Therefore, she is forced to speak broken English to make her mother understand. While narrating her experiences with the use of broken English language with her mother, Tan want to suggest to readers that circumstances can, at times, force people to adjust to accommodate others. In this case, Tan must adjust to using broken language to accommodate her mother. In the essay, Tan states that “our language of intimacy and a different sort of English that relates to family talk” (Tan 433). By stating this, Tan suggests that language can create close relationships, and individuals can use broken language to express ideas and feelings. The author uses her language to share her experiences and to make readers understand its importance.
Secondly, Tan utilizes pathos to appeal the emotions of the readers; for instance, when she narrates about her mother’s tumor, whereby the health facility never apologized after claiming that a CT scan was lost. The hospital also appeared not to care when Tan and her mother needed to know the diagnosis (Tan 434). Due to negligence and carelessness, the healthcare facility was not sympathetic to Tan’s mother, and if there was no one to communicate to, the illness could have worsened. Conversely, Tan utilizes ethos to provide a concept that people should not allow societal expectations to affect their opinions negatively. Tan trusts that examinations should not be used to establish the level of one’s intelligence. Using examination to determine the level of intelligence among people is unfair because every person has a unique thinking way. While growing up, the language Tan learned in school was affected by how she spoke to her mother.
Tan narrates that her mother spoke broken English, and her academic performance was also affected by the family environment. Tan’s issues relate to what other Asians have suffered, more so in the hands of educators, motivating them to abandon writing and focus on math and science. Generally, Amy Tan want to suggest that people should stop stereotyping those who cannot speak fluent English as less intelligent. Before the story concludes, Tan clasps needs of finding communication and appealing ways, more so to readers. Tan offers an example of her mother, who required simple English that she grew up with. The greatest literary skill is the ability to use complex and simple English to fit all audiences.
In conclusion, Americans understand that their country is full of migrants, who initially created it. Regardless of this, those unable to used fluent English are still criticized, and this makes them struggle to communicate because of confidence issues. Tan wrote this story to show and persuade the audience about the significance of other people’s opinions, regardless of how good their language is. Even though Tan does not indicate such sentiments, she is suggesting about the essentialness of remaining true to one’s self. Amy Tans states that her mother is free and justified to use a broken language to express her ideas because it makes her remain true and raw. By using broken English, her mother has an authentic meaning rather than trying to talk in a fluent language. After reading the essay, it is evident that some Americans need civilization to learn and embrace other cultures because of increased diversity. Understanding the various cultures will enable people to accept and assist new people in the country.
Work Cited
Tan, Amy. “Mother tongue.” Enriching ESOL Pedagogy: Readings and Activities for Engagement, Reflection, and Inquiry, by Vivian Zamel, Ruth Spack. Lawrence Erlbaum (2002): 431-435.
