Weekend Analysis Questions: Amy Tans Mother Tongue

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Weekend Analysis Questions: Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue”
1 The quote relays the effect of language on the life of a person. Language has the power to convey information in any form and express one’s thoughts. Thus, acts as a trading tool between individuals and across nations. We communicate through language hence, its influence on how we live.
2 The English language is a communication tool across people groups, however, mother tongues have led to its variations.
Language is a tool that opens or limits possibilities in life; it carries the power of our thoughts in spite of its variability.
3 Tan uses personal experience in her communication to different people to portray the variance inherent in her use of the English language. For instance, she states that she is a writer and gives an example of her giving a talk. In her speech, she uses perfectly lined sentences unlike how she communicates with her mother (358). Also, she explains how her mother’s limited English made it difficult for the receivers to comprehend her message thus, had to use Tan. She also uses her limitation in English subject in school as arising from the influence of her mother tongue (361).
Logically, the author discusses language as the key hindrance to Asian-Americans enrolling in creative writing programs. She indicates that the Chinese who English is a second language perform better in sciences with destitute performance in English (362).
Emotionally, Tan notes that her former boss told her that writing was her worst skill. This was meant to discourage her from pursuing literary work being a Chinese thus, weak in the English language (363). Another example is where she states that there is richness in language; intent, imagery, passion in spite of imperfection of speech as affected by mother tongue. Lastly, she talks about family language as having a great influence in shaping a child’s language and performance.
4 The evidence systematically argues on the power of language through the use of ethos, logos, and pathos. The persuasive text discusses language matters through the combination of these three tools.
5 A Critical Analysis of Mother Tongue
Introduction
In Mother Tongue, Tan tells of personal experiences as a child, writer, and speaker on the power and influence of language on one’s life. This section analyzes Tan’s main arguments as to whether she uses evidence or not in her story.
Summary
Tan starts off by stipulating that she cannot give much more than personal experiences and opinions on the English language. She goes ahead expressing her variation in language use in her talks and family as different. She uses professional and personal experiences such as poor performance in English, her mother’s limited English and her boss’ discouragement on literary work. She argues that it’s language that has made her who she is and also limited her performance in early life (360-361). Thus, mother tongue (family talk) has a significant influence on one’s prowess of the English language. It limits a person’s expressi...