Shanteria, Nasiir, Mahari, Genesis
Dr.Greene
English 1101
16 September 2017
RRR: " Broken English "
In this written story, “Mother Tongue” (1990 ), by Amy Tan, is directly based on the social and cultural difference experience of Amy, who loved language, but as a child her and her mother struggled with English. In this personal essay, she argues the importance of proper communication skills because if they aren’t given out properly it could be perceived in the wrong way. The author gave examples of her mother's dialect in order to prove her point that her English and her mom's English was different. The audience might be those who don't know the challenges of immigrants who has difficulties with the English and have to communicate with others.
I found the text to be relatable to people that come from other cultures. The fact that America has become a diverse country, most people that come from different ethnicity can come to agree with this opinion. In the text here's been multiple incidents that she states how it was when her mother had handle her situations. For an example when they went to New York, her had limited English use so she had to accept the calls and pretend to be her mother. Evidence proven states " when I was fifteen, she used to have me call people on the phone to pretend I was she". (119).
The passage, “Mother Tongue” gave a great depiction of Tan's and her mothers struggle with English by depicting flashbacks that impacted her personally. The evidence of this is when Amy Tan said “I again found myself conscious of the English I was using with her.” (118). The lack of communication caused others in society to mistreat Ms. Tan’s Mother, inferring that they thought of her being incompetent, intellectually challenged, inferior, third paragraph, she states “ for a situation less humorous...she said she had spoken very good English, her best, no mistakes.(123) Tan believed an apology was much deserved. That's why Amy argues in her personal essay why we shouldn't judge a person's intelligence based off their fluency in a non-native language. To make sure her audience understands, she go through flashbacks in her essay to make an effective appeal personally, along with the use rhetorical devices. Pathos in this text could be found on ( 120 ) ,“I 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”.This emphasizes that she respected her language that she grew up with. She also used ethos at the beginning or her essay. She amplifies on her qualifications as a writer. Evidence shown saying " I am a writer. And by that definition, I am someone who has always loved language. I am fascinated by language in daily life. I spend a great deal of my time thinking about the power of language — the way it can evoke an emotion, a visual image, a complex idea, or a simple truth." ( 118 ). Here she makes sure her audience know her qualifications as a writer. Amy includes logos, to give the reader a statistical side of the story. Evidence proven where she states, "Yet some of my friends say they understand 50 percent of what my mother says. Some say they understand 80 to 90 percent." (119). This statement gives the audience an interpretation on how well they understand her compared to others. Imagery also be found throughout her text in order to allow her audience to get a clear picture of what she is trying to convey. " ...Just threw up a mass of confusing images... logical as saying a sunset precedes nightfall... a chill precedes a fever". (121) Overall Amy purpose was to be effective and informative telling her story of her "broken" English that led her to love language at the end. In order to convey her message she used rhetorical devices, imagery, and flashbacks. Her experience shared insights of what might also happen between immigrant families. Based her off experience, she made it clear that she would disapprove assumptions made about her by becoming writer.
