mother tongue amy tan quizlet
Math is precise; there is only one correct answer. Find examples of peopleincluding Tan herselftreating her mother disrespectfully. It was most gratifying to Amy Tan when her mother read The Joy Luck Club, Amy's first book. . -7 space 17 space. In fact, Tan uses the same tone in the beginning and end of her storythe reader starts at a homebase, sees the journey Tan is leading them on, and returns right back to where they started but with more insight than before. So mad he lie to me, losing me money. -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." And my mother was standing in the back whispering loudly, "Why he don't send me check, already two weeks late. 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. Explain. In "Mother Tongue," Amy Tan explains that she uses multiple "Englishes" in her daily life. c. Her mother relies on and trusts Tan to talk to the doctors about the CAT scan. Then evaluate her message. Do you think her idea is valid? What argument is Tan making here about language and its connection to our identity in "Mother Tongue"? She is the second of three children born to Chinese immigrants, Daisy and John Tan. On what were these descriptions and perceptions based according to paragraphs 15-16 of "Mother Tongue"? What is Amy Tans primary identity according to what she says in paragraphs 1-3 of "Mother Tongue"? -Informal - conversational; "So you'll have some idea.." This is the sociological aspect of language. 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. How do they further her argument? She makes this argument in various ways. Like others, I have described it to people as 'broken" or "fractured" English. Write a journal entry from the perspective of Richard the Lion-Hearted during the Crusades. The same was true with word analogies, pairs of words in which you were supposed to find some sort of logical, semantic relationship -- for example, "Sunset is to nightfall as is to ." At one point, Tan writes about being embarrassed about her mother. mother tongue amy tan chinese american writer amy tan, whose mom moved from her homeland china to america to make better life for her daughter, struggles with 3-2 Writing Plan 5-3 Feedback and Mother Tongue, by Amy Tan Comprehension 1. She reads the Forbes report, listens to Wall Street Week, converses daily with her stockbroker, reads all of Shirley MacLaine's books with easeall kinds of things I can't begin to understand. literature. Accept any answers that address the concern of the question and are elaborated by examples or details from the literature or from life. When she's not working, she's constantly trying to expand her creativity through music, writing, art, and animation. Amy Tan, in full Amy Ruth Tan, (born February 19, 1952, Oakland, California, U.S.), American author of novels about Chinese American women and the immigrant experience. How is Amy Tan's use of the phrase "mother tongue" ambiguous? In "Mother Tongue," Amy Tan explains that she uses multiple "Englishes" in her daily life. Do you agree that family members have the greatest effect on a child's intellectual development? However, Tans mothers English also symbolizes the limitations of immigrants in America and the challenges they have to face to be accepted. Our experts can deliver a "Mother Tongue" by Amy Tan essay tailored to your instructions for only $13.00 $11.05/page 308 qualified specialists online Learn more Main text Tan speculates that because Asian Americans score so much higher on math achievement tests than on English tests, they are encouraged to pursue math and science in college. In directly quoting her mother, Tan is able to demonstrate her mother's speech patterns in text form. -understand how her mom talked and how it was hard for others to understand her She majored in English at college and began writing as a freelancer. How does each have its own type of power? Many of the mothers in The Joy Luck Club, such as Betty St. Clair in The Voice from the Wall, feel isolated from those around them, never at home in America, and hyper-aware of their outsider status, despite becoming legal permanent citizens in the country. check out these example essays on Mother Tongue.. Why does Tan believe that envisioning a reader specifically, her mother enabled her to write more authentically? 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. This was understandable. Get started for free! Who is the intended audience for "Mother Tongue"? Those tests were constructed around items like fill-in-the-blank sentence completion, such as, "Even though Tom was, Mary thought he was --. Tan was born on February 19, 1952, in Oakland, California. Her mother's "limited" English limited Tan's perception of her. What argument is Tan making here about language and its connection to our identity in "Mother Tongue"? She is just as special a person, despite what language she uses or how she uses it. Eliasib. Describe how others (those who do not know her intimately) see Tan's mother versus how Tan describes her in "Mother Tongue." How do they differ? } !1AQa"q2#BR$3br Amy Tan "Mother Tongue" How do you want to study today? In Amy Tan's short story "Mother Tongue," explain the essence of what "mother tongue" signifies in the story. The phrase "mother tongue" refers to the language people learn to speak first. It helps us to understand the way Tan approaches and uses language within the stories that make up The Joy Luck Club. Omitting one of these stories would get rid of one of her key points in the way language can affect a person's life. /BitsPerComponent 8 Her language, as I hear it, is vivid, direct, full of observation and imagery. She said they would not give her any more information until the next time and she would have to make another appointment for that. He come to my wedding. But once Tan had arrived and upon hearing her perfect English, the staff had taken the case up with more urgency. The story helps readers understand one of Tan's points: her mother's English does have intent, passion, imagery, and rhythm, and it shows the complexity of her thoughts. The only way I would have gotten that answer right would have been to imagine an associative situation, for example, my being disobedient and staying out past sunset, catching a chill at night, which turns into feverish pneumonia as punishment, which indeed did happen to me. Finally, she wraps it up nicely with a note about how she now uses those various forms of English in her career. Still, she said, the hospital did not apologize when they said they had lost the CAT scan and she had come for nothing. 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. Tan refers to how much language impacts/changes our lives. Amy Tan's essay "Mother Tongue" is a wonderful tale that addresses the substance of languages and how language is not only a tool of communication, but a sociological tool of measuring individual worth. stream Mother tongue is usually referred to the first language a person is taught, however I think Tans use of the word mother tongue is much more intimate in a sense that she feels that ere English or her mother tongue is unique to her, and that the variation of English she speaks to her mother is her mother tongue. Chinese way, came only to show respect, don't stay for dinner. 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. What strategies does she use to make this argument? Her mother's language is colorful, powerful, and direct. Discuss the way stereotypes or bias affect how we see ourselves and others. The class tests at school which reduced English proficiency to an ability to recognise a correct answer are thus contrasted with Tans resounding final words of Mother Tongue, which see her seeking to capture the passion of her mother, the nature of her thoughts, and the imagery she uses: all things which her daughter has clearly inherited a respect for, and which school tests fail to capture or observe. She reads the Forbes report, listens to Wall Street Week, converses daily with her stockbroker, reads all of Shirley MacLaine's books with ease--all kinds of things I can't begin to understand. So she said she would not leave until the doctor called her daughter. Near the beginning of Mother Tongue, Tan says, I am fascinated by language in daily life. "Like others, I have described it to people as "broken" or "fractured" English. WhowasJohnWilkesBooth? Who is the intended audience for "Mother Tongue"? So mad he lie to me, losing me money. Log in here. "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. I've been giving more thought to the kind of English my mother speaks. /Filter /DCTDecode I cannot give you much more than personal opinions on the English language and its variations in this country or others. 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. 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. 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. /Creator ( w k h t m l t o p d f 0 . eNotes Editorial, 28 June 2020, https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-argument-is-tan-making-here-about-language-2353688. /Subtype /Image 4. Writer discussed: Amy Tan's "Mother Tongue" (Link to story) Amy Tan is speaking of writing her book "Joy Luck Club" (there's a scene below), so in that sense it works as a good example of a literacy narrative in that Tan writes about writing something. Why? When writing about becoming an English major in college, Tan said that she had always been rebellious. Find examples of peopleincluding Tan herselftreating her mother. 6. 5) To what extent do you think that speaking a non- standardized English (through grammatical differences or an accent) "limits . 2)? taylor_garrett36. At several points in her essay, Tan related anecdotes. 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. Every piece of literature, whether its an epic novel or a haiku, has some sort of structurewhich is simply the organization of the material. /SM 0.02 One time Amy did this with her mother's stockbroker. Here is the text: http://www.umsl.edu/~alexanderjm/Mother%20Tongue%20by%20Tan.pdfSupport me by buying mugs, t-shirts, notebooks and more! But I do think that the language spoken in the family, especially in immigrant families which are more insular, plays a large role in shaping the language of the child. 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. Tan uses it with this definition, but also utilizes it to refer to the language her mom spoke (Chinese). In "Mother Tongue," do you think that Tan and her mother have a close relationship? Here's what she said in part: "Du Yusong having business like fruit stand. 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. C q" -the piece is about how Amy's mom speaks (original language); Amy's mother had a different language then her own. Describe how others (those who do not know her intimately) see Tan's mother versus how Tan describes her in "Mother Tongue." eNotes Editorial, 10 Nov. 2019, https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/in-amy-tan-s-short-story-mother-tongue-explain-258339. /Type /XObject Educators go through a rigorous application process, and every answer they submit is reviewed by our in-house editorial team. /CreationDate (D:20210407080443+03'00') 3. What assumptions are people making about Tan's mother in these situations and why? 5. Hopefully this list leaves you feeling like youre no longer short on ideas for your analysis of this short story. You should know that my mother's expressive command of English belies how much she actually understands. This is not to say that people of other countries do not learn English as well, but generally there is a language specific to the place where they were born: this is their mother tongue. It's my mother tongue. 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. Theyll help you make Amy Tan proud by assisting with proper language and other editing. But I wince when I say that. /Producer ( Q t 4 . In referring back to her experiences through the anecdotes, Tan realizes that she uses a different type of English when with her mother. I was saying things like, "The intersection of memory upon imagination" and "There is an aspect of my fiction that relates to thus-and-thus'--a speech filled with carefully wrought grammatical phrases, burdened, it suddenly seemed to me, with nominalized forms, past perfect tenses, conditional phrases, all the forms of standard English that I had learned in school and through books, the forms of English I did not use at home with my mother. What is the author's purpose, style, and tone in the story? 7. 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. 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. Each story holds a key to understanding her main argument points. She used all of the "Englishes" she grew up with, giving her more connection to her work, and with the audience as well. -mother's language; how author feels I spend a great deal of my time thinking about the power of languagethe way it can evoke an emotion, a visual image, a complex idea, or a simple truth.. It literally means one's first language. defining her mother's tongue and other's interpretations of it (their reactions), -how other's react to her mother's tongue - pretended not to understand her or hear her, did not take her seriously, and did not give her good service. 2. Yet some of my friends tell me they understand 50 percent of what my mother says. Tan grew up speaking the formal acrolect of English she learned at school and the more vivid, less correct variety her mother used. This text is a great starting point for discussions on culture, language and more. When her mother told her that what she had written was easy to read, Tan knew that she had succeeded in her aims as a writer. Tan." Whereas, for me at least, the answers on English tests were always a judgment call, a matter of opinion and personal experience, (para. She began writing fiction in 1985, and after several false starts trying to find her own style and idiom, she began to write with her mother in mind as the ideal reader for her stories. I believe that there is a play on words with the title, "Mother Tongue." This point leads on to Tan's presentation of the virtues of her mother's way of speaking. Tan uses it with this definition, but also utilizes it to refer to the language her mom spoke (Chinese). One time it was a call to her stockbroker in New York. A scholar would push to discover and learn about their particular subject, while the writer is to take their findings and put them into practice. 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. from Oxford University Ph.D. from St. Andrews University, Amy Tan, like many children of immigrants, has more than one identity, and these identities are primarily defined by language. Her language, as I hear it, is vivid, direct, full of observation and imagery. State your opinion in an essay, and support it with evidence from at least two of the essays. possibilities" for people in the United States today? /Title ( M o t h e r t o n g u e q u i z l e t a n s w e r s) %&'()*456789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz What would be the impact of omitting one of them? I knew what the tests were asking, but I could not block out of my mind the images already created by the first pair, "sunset is to nightfall"--and I would see a burst of colors against a darkening sky, the moon rising, the lowering of a curtain of stars.And all the other pairs of words --red, bus, stoplight, boring--just threw up a mass of confusing images, making it impossible for me to sort out something as logical as saying: "A sunset precedes nightfall" is the same as "a chill precedes a fever." When this occurred, everyone was much more cordial with Amy than with her mother: promises were made and apologies graciously extended. Accessed 2 May 2023. Who are the experts?Our certified Educators are real professors, teachers, and scholars who use their academic expertise to tackle your toughest questions. Tan acknowledges that, whilst she did well in maths and science, subjects with a single correct answer, she was less adept at English. Latest answer posted March 29, 2020 at 10:08:05 AM. Indeed, Tan conjectures that many Asian American children are probably encouraged to pursue careers in jobs requiring maths and science rather than English for this reason. Fortunately, there are several different literary devices you can concentrate on for your literary analysis. 7) Include details from the text. If too important won't have to stay too long. Genius is the ultimate source of music knowledge, created by scholars like you who share facts and insight about the songs and artists they love. What motivates her to make such an argument?" Already a member? Why does Tan open her essay by stating, "I am not a scholar of English or literature" but then state, in the next paragraph, "I am a writer"? . What is the context of Mother Tongue? Use Tan's ideas about different kinds of English from "Mother Tongue" as a basis to consider the kinds of English you encounter every day. 2023 eNotes.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved. "In Amy Tan's short story "Mother Tongue," explain the essence of what "mother tongue" signifies in the story." 11th Grade - Poems by Emily Dickinson: When I was fifteen, she used to have me call people on the phone to pretend I was she. 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. How did Tans teachers identify her when she was in high school? 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. Her mother attends a lecture that Tan is delivering, and Tan realizes that her mother is hearing Tan speak a kind of English that she does not use at home. Tan wrote Mother Tongue in 1990, a year after her novel The Joy Luck Club was a runaway success. Consider the story "Mother Tongue." Whereas, for me at least, the answers on English tests were always a judgment call, a matter of opinion and personal experience. 5. "The S, The Language of Composition: Reading, Writing, Rhetoric, Lawrence Scanlon, Renee H. Shea, Robin Dissin Aufses. 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 Answer: to inform readers based on Tan's childhood experience Explanation: Amy tan is a Chinese-American writer, she is the daughter of Chinese immigrants and her books reflect a lot on what she has experienced witnessing the culture clash between Chinese and North American cultures. What organizational pattern does Tan use in "Mother Tongue," and how does she control her tone? As a writer, she used the rigid, grammatical acrolect she had learned at school; as a daughter, she used the more forceful, vivid English spoken by her mother, for which she cannot even find a name, since she dislikes calling it "broken.". But they seem just as bad, as if everything is limited, including people's perceptions of the limited English speaker. What strategies does she use to make this argument? 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. ". How many subjects does Tan explore in the essay? And then I said in perfect English, "Yes, I'm getting rather concerned. She said she had spoken very good English, her best English, no mistakes. Be sure to consider the anecdotes regarding Tan giving a speech, the stockbroker, the CAT scan, and Tan's experience with the SATs. Underline the verb in parentheses that correctly completes the sentence by agreeing with the subject. Does it drag on too much? Amy Tan also believes her mothers English affected her daughters school results. Tan identify the different categories she discusses in "Mother Tongue" almost in the last paragraph, where she named all the kind of English she uses. Psst 98% of Kibin users report better grades! I didn't see, I heard it. 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. 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? Math is precise; there is only one correct answer. I hesitate to use the word plot in the case of Mother Tongue because it doesnt seem to have much of one, at least not in the traditional sense that most fiction stories do. Cite the text as needed to clarify and support your response. Educators go through a rigorous application process, and every answer they submit is reviewed by our in-house editorial team. Tan notes in paragraph 21 that she thinks of her mother as her audience when she writes stories. That was the language that helped shape the way I saw things, expressed things, made sense of the world. What organizational pattern does Tan use in "Mother Tongue," and how does she control her tone? But where Tan really gets to something deep, is this idea how we acquire language. Because dogs are legally required to be on a leash, letting your dog run free in the park is a(n) _______. eNotes.com will help you with any book or any question. Get inspiration from over 500,000 example essays. 6) rather than paraphrasing what she said? She talks about the challenges her mother faced with her limited English. Recently, I was made keenly aware of the different Englishes I do use. What we would call proper English symbolizes both Tans acceptance into American society and a separation from her mother. Mother Tongue. The McGraw Hill Reader: Issues Across the Disciplines. The main idea of Amy Tan's "Mother Tongue" is the limitations that imperfect English can impose in society and the richness that such English can bring to writing. Amy Tan born in 1952 in California to Chinese immigrants. But because she is rebellious and likes to challenge peoples assumptions about her, Tan bucked this trend. Then write an essay in which you explain the use of English in your life and communications. Remember this quote as you read through and relate the rest of the content to this idea. It is evident that Tan wants to avoid stereotyping in her essay. You may also wish to discuss some of the emotions that a king in battle might be feeling. What motivates her to make such an argument? Much of Tans 1989 novel The Joy Luck Club is about daughters and their relationships with their mothers. But I wince when I say that. Latest answer posted March 28, 2020 at 9:26:15 PM. 1. << Sociologists and linguists probably will tell you that a person's developing language skills are more influenced by peers. Mother Tongue is a story that describes how Amy Tan's mother was treated unfairly because of her "broken English". What does Tan mean by "the power of language" (para. I selected the article Mother Tongue by Amy Tan. "Mother tongue," as it is used in the title of this piece, is a pun on the traditional idea. And I believe that it affected my results on achievement tests, I.Q. Economics Semester 2 SG 40-60. 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. 16, Tan)". More recent to this story, her mother had been diagnosed with a benign brain tumor, but when she went to the doctor's office, the CAT scan was lost and no one was remotely concerned with her need to understand her prognosishaving lost a husband and son, both to brain tumors. Our summaries and analyses are written by experts, and your questions are answered by real teachers. 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. But it does have a loose progression. 6. Focus your studying with a path. Multiple-choice 30 seconds 1 pt Where was the author born? JFIF K K C 10th ed. 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. 1. While it may be difficult for some people to understand it, it is part of who she is, and it does not reflect negatively on her mother because it is "different." Unlike most of the other literature youve read for class, Mother Tongue by Amy Tan is short and pretty easy to breeze through. d. infraction, Identify the following term or individuals and explain their significance. How did railroads help boost industrialization? In the following sentence, underline each misspelled or misused word and write the correct spelling or word above the incorrect word. The nature of the talk was about my writing, my life, and my book, The Joy Luck Club. How does she use language in the rest of her story to portray this rebelliousness?
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