English 122 Writing Plan: Mother Tongue May 24Th 2018 Morrow PDF

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The first final project for this course is the creation of a writing plan. Writing is a craft that people spend a lifetime refining, and one that allows people to express themselves in various ways. Effective writing has the ability to shape and inform the opinions of its readers. T...

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Alexandra Morrow Sarah Wishnewsky English 122 24th May 2018

Writing Plan: Mother Tongue

After re-reading “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan and revisiting the original interpretation, I have come to a deeper understanding of the Tan’s goal; when I first read the article, I concluded that Tan’s was writing about her mother's struggles as a bilingual person who spoke limited English. However, after re-reading it with a more analytical eye, Tan's goal is not only about sharing her Mother’s struggles; but also about her experience as a second-generation Asian-American; and how she overcame the restraints and stereotypes associated with bilingualism.

I have identified three key points in the essay. The first key point is Tan’s use of several anecdotes, starting in her childhood and adolescence in which she talks about the shame she felt from her mother's limited grasp of the English language. Tan then goes on to discuss stereotypes within the education system toward Asian-American students. Finally, in the conclusion of her article, she explains how she overcame her shame by deciding to write books that used "all the Englishes" (Tan, 23) she heard in her upbringing.

The primary audience for the essay will be non-bilingual people, these people have lived their entire lives speaking only one language, and living in homes in which their parents only spoke one language. Potential challenges faced by this demographic may include bigotry and the school of thought that if someone lives in a country that speaks English, then

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that person should have a perfect grasp of the English language. Other challenges include difficulty garnering a sense of empathy and understanding from someone who has never experienced what it is like to know a second language or have parents who speak limited English.

The goal is to break the article down into three key points in which I will provide an in-depth analysis of these points in the hopes of educating the target demographic about the labels and restraints placed on bilingual people. By the end of the essay, I hope the audience has a greater understanding of the stereotypes placed on second-generation AsianAmericans and the shame they feel about their parents broken English, which seems to stem from interactions with non-bilinguals.

I will use the following evidence gathered from the article to strengthen my claims and achieve my goal. In the first paragraph of the body, I will discuss Tan’s shame surrounding her mother’s English using this quotation “…my mother’s ‘limited’ English limited my perception of her. I was ashamed of her English. I believed that her English reflected the quality of what she had to say.” (Tan, 21). Within this paragraph, I will also paraphrase the stories Tan shares with readers about her upbringing and the way she had to pretend to be her mother at times.

In the second paragraph of the essay body, I will talk about Tan's experience with stereotyping within the education system; I will paraphrase her thoughts on why AsianAmericans score higher on math than on English; as well as her thoughts on whether this is because teachers push them in that direction. I will also use the quote “…I was told by my boss at the time that writing was my worst skill and I should hone my talents toward account management.” (Tan, 23).

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Finally, in my conclusion where I will discuss Tan overcoming her stereotypes and shame, I will paraphrase the sections of her work in which she talks about “using all the Englishes” (Tan, 23) in the book she wrote. I will also use the quote “I knew I had succeeded where it counted when my mother finished reading my book and gave me her verdict: ‘so easy to read.’” (Tan, 23).

Writing can only improve from an outsider perspective; a fresh set of eyes can catch things the author might miss such as, grammatical errors, wordy sentences, or parts that need further development. After receiving feedback, I can go through the essay and fix any mistakes, expand on paragraph or ideas that may not have been correctly developed and rearranged sentences or wording that may be pointed out as undesirable. The person reading over an article may also give positive feedback and identify areas that are well written, this is just as important as critical feedback as it feeds a person’s self-confidence and self-worth regarding their academic pursuits.

Peer reviewing is a highly effective form of revision as colleagues or classmates are writing essays or articles on the same subject matter or at least a very similar subject. Therefore, a colleague or classmate will know precisely what is expected to achieve the highest grades or accolades; as opposed to having a spouse or friend reading it. Although, it still is not a bad idea to have a spouse or friend read it, as they might be able to find grammatical errors and provide the writer with valuable feedback; especially if they fit within the realms of the target reader demographic.

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Works Cited Tan, Amy. Mother Tongue. Oakland: Weekly Reader Corporation , 2006.

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