Mother Touge By Amy Tan Analysis

The author, Amy Tan is a fictional writer who is “fascinated by language in daily life” and inscribes her love for language into her work. As the article, “Mother Touge” progressed into the beginning paragraphs, she realized the different types of “Englishes” she uses. She was giving a speech to an audience with her mother in the crowd about her new book when she realized the language she speaks to the audience is different from her conversation with her mom. Then, later in the book she was walking with her husband and mother and noticed one of her “Englishes”. This type of English, “No waste money that way”, was a personal language that she only used around her family. She did not speak this “limited” language in public or professional settings because of judgment and disrespect. She

During school, Tan would be persuaded by her teachers to focus in math and sciences rather than English. She understood that English was a greater challenge because of the environment she was raised in as a child. Tan scored in the lower percentile in English sections while scoring in the ninetieth percentile in math and science, but she was not discouraged and went against all advice from teachers. Tam changed her major from pre-med to English and decided to become a freelance writer. As time grew, Tan started writing fictional stories influenced by her mother. She wrote her stories for people like her with “broken” or “limited” English. This short story does not directly apply to my life because I was born in the United States with American parents, but as a student at a university I can see the affects in other student’s lives. Most foreign students are treated different, and I can admit to treating these students different. Also, African Americans are usually associated with slang or thug talk which is not always the