8-4 Critical Analysis Essay PDF

Preview

Summary

8-4 Critical Analysis Essay Mother Tongue...

Description

[Last Name] 1 “Mother Tongue” is an entertaining short story written in 1990 that tells the story of the linguistic upbringing of its writer Amy Tan. In the text, Tan reflects on the various forms of English she has spoken throughout her life by recalling moments and memories of her upbringing. She focuses on the way we speak and how it characterizes us. With her story, she challenges the common misconception that improper spoken English is a measure of one’s intelligence. Using her mother as an example throughout the story, Tan argues that intelligence is measured by a person's ability to understand and analyze, not speak in a standard way. “Mother Tongue” is an excellent short story that is emotional, warm, and informative. It focuses on the struggles that bilingual immigrant families experience within society due to their linguistic background, which is a relevant topic to this day. Tan illustrates the difficulties associated with speaking a form of English that is hard to understand, and she sheds light on an educational system that places students from Asian immigrant families into science-related studies, rather than literary fields. She eventually learns that imperfect English has the potential to make one's work stand out and can bring richness to writing, rather than being a hindrance. Her story challenges the conception that there is only one correct way to speak a language. Tan’s short story is structured into three main parts. It moves from the love a young Amy feels towards her mother, to embarrassment over her mother’s limited English and resentment in her teenage years, to final appreciation as she has grown into a young woman who follows her passion to become a writer. “Mother Tongue” successfully argues that a person should not be judged by their ability to speak in a standard way by examining different types of English, the difficulties associated with speaking a form of English that is hard to understand, and the value such language brings to literature.

[Last Name] 2 “Mother Tongue” reveals that communication between family members can be different from the language used in professional environments. While giving a speech about her book “The Joy Luck Club” writer Tan becomes aware of this. Talking about her book in front of an audience she finds herself using grammatically correct and “perfect” English that feels odd in the presence of her mother, whereas at home she chooses a much simpler form of the language. Tan is so immersed in the various forms of English that often she hardly even notices the switch from one to another. For example, while out for a stroll with her mother she exclaims “Not waste money that way (Tan 20).” There is no reaction from her husband who seems to have gotten used to this oversimplified language throughout their marriage. Tan describes her mother’s English in a very endearing way. “My mother’s English is perfectly clear, perfectly natural. Her language, as I hear it, is vivid, direct, full of observations and imagery (Tan 21).” These words describe a belief that language does not have to follow certain rules to be valid or to convey meaning. However, Tan did not always view her mother’s English in such a positive way.

Unfortunately, spoken English often fails to give a true notion of how much a person really understands. Tan’s mother, for example, is an educated woman who effortlessly reads business magazines and listens to an investment news program regularly. However, because she expresses herself in an unusual way, society does not take her seriously, treats her worse than others, or ignores her completely. Throughout her adolescent years, Tan is very much embarrassed by her mother’s bad command of the English language, as she repeatedly must speak on her mother’s behalf to sort out problems. Then there are Tan’s friends who understand her mother’s spoken word only to various degrees, or not at all, and who describe it as “limited”, a term that begins to disturb Tan. “It has always bothered me that I can think of no way to describe it other than “broken”

[Last Name] 3 as if it were damaged and needed to be fixed (Tan 21).” Like many people, Tan’s mother is wrongfully judged based on her spoken English. The real issue, though, seems to lie with the observer, which Tan eventually acknowledges and sees in herself. “... when I was growing up my mother’s “limited English” limited my perception of her. I was ashamed of her English. I believed her English reflected the quality of what she had to say (Tan 21).” This is a misconception that many people hold. The truth is, intelligence is not measured by the way we speak, but by the ability to comprehend and analyze.

There is a noticeable shift in thinking on Tan’s part towards the end of the story. Rather than viewing her mother’s language as a source of problems, she begins to question an educational system that seems to stereotype its students. Surveys have observed that Asian-American students generally do better in math than English tests, which is thought to be linked to the English spoken at home. However, a lot of students seem to be purposely steered into technical fields by their teachers. Interestingly Tan finds herself in the same situation. Although she describes herself as someone who has “always loved languages (Tan 20)” she is directed into medicine. Tan eventually realizes this mistake and switches majors from pre-med to English. Her superior openly disapproves of this, claims that writing is her “worst skill” and to remain in her chosen field instead. Most people would have quit at this point, but Tan used this comment as an incentive to pursue her true passion, which was writing. Her book became hugely successful because in it she used the different types of English she grew up with, instead of a standard language. This imperfect English brought a richness to her writing that was well received by readers.

[Last Name] 4 “Mother Tongue” was written to challenge people on their preconception that intelligence is measured by a person’s language skills. It becomes clear throughout the story that there is no correct way of speaking English. There are three important points that Tan makes throughout her short story “Mother Tongue”. For one, although both Tan and her mother speak various types of English, all these versions are perfectly understandable and make sense to both of them. A native speaker might consider Tan’s mother’s English as “limited”, but for Tan, her English is completely comprehensible. Then there is the misconception that speaking English correctly says something about a person’s intellect. Being a highly educated woman who struggles with English, Tan’s mother is a wonderful example of how speaking a language flawlessly and fully comprehending it are two completely separate things. Lastly, Tan utilizes her mother’s English in a book that becomes widely successful and therefore proves that imperfect English can make work authentic and distinctive in its own way. Critical thinking has taught me many things, one of them was how to be an autonomous thinker. This is such an important and fundamental skill because information is so readily available these days, but also making sense of it has become a lot harder. Critical thinking has allowed me to carefully examine statements to decide whether they are valid and logically sound. Furthermore, I have noticed how much easier it is for me to distinguish various ideas within a reading now, and how these different ideas are linked to each other. Being able to link ideas is applied throughout the analysis process, so it’s not only a skill acquired by critical thinking, but also directly helps in the analysis process. To write a seamless analysis, I have to be aware of how different ideas connect and ultimately make sense of each other. Analyzing the text helped me to break a complex subject into smaller parts that are easy to understand. As far as the revision process goes, I have learned various ways to look over my work with a new perspective. During careful revisions, I

[Last Name] 5 have found that some arguments should be reconsidered, or that evidence might need to be reviewed. I also addressed small-scale revisions during the revision process, like spelling and grammar, and learned to pay extra attention to them. All the things that I learned throughout this class in regard to critical thinking, analysis, and revisions, are very useful for future writing in both my academic and professional life. For example, it is important to strike the right tone in business communication and get information across as efficiently as possible.

Work Cited

[Last Name] 6 Tan, Amy. "Mother Tongue." Read Magazine, vol. 56, no. 4, 06 Oct. 2006....