Form is often overlooked when analyzing a multitude features in a variety of literature. In “3 ways to speak English,” by Jamila Lyiscott, “The Dangers of Single Story,” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and “Mother Tongue,” by Amy Tan utilizes both form and content to bring unity into their writings. Throughout this essay, it will discuss the parallel relationship between form and content. In “3 ways to speak English,” Jamila Lyiscott captures the audience attention in her firm yet ardent spoken word-essay. She utilizes tone, word choice and other various aspects to convey her message of what it means to be “articulate.” From the beginning of the speech, her voice is loud and assertive which immediately catches the audience attention. Also, …show more content…
Tan stresses that just because someone cannot speak the English language with accuracy, that does not make them less intelligent than someone who is born in this country and understands and speaks English fluently. She uses a variety of literary devices in her essay, for example, “And I use them all- all the Englishes I grew up with,” and “Recently, I was made keenly aware of the different Englishes I do use” (76). Here these quotes display repetition to stress how there are different variations of in speaking english. Also, she uses repetition when she uses the words “fractured,” “broken,”and “limited” which is shown multiple times in the text, these words indicates what other people see of her mother's English. However Tans use of an antithesis when she uses the phrase “impeccable broken english” really grasps the reader's attention, as the idea of something being broken but yet impeccable is very bizarre. Similarly to Adiche, Tan uses personal anecdotes to show content of why people speak different dialects, even within in the english language when they’re around certain and should not be judged because of
It is interesting for Lisa Kanae to use three different voices in her book, Sista Tongue. The structure of Sista Tongue is different from standard books as if to make her words flow and become active. Her message still holds truth in today’s society. In many homes, younger generations face the inadequacy of being unable to understand their mother tongues while their parents struggle with learning English. Code-switching is natural for bilingual people and those that speak to other sub-cultures. Lisa Kanae’s different voices are similar to
Tan’s essay on Mother Tongue depicts a story of a daughter who grew up learning different type of “Englishes” (510). The latter described as the kind of English wherein on may regard as “simple”, yet she fondly refers to as her “Mother’s English”. In addition is the “broken English” or Tan’s mother’s communication style with her. Lastly is Tan’s own translation of her mother’s English that she described as “watered down.” An impression that is distinctly different from Tan’s loving description of her Mother’s English, Rodriguez connotes feelings of detachment. Rodriguez’s childhood consist of traditional catholic educators who expected a non-native speaker communicate in English. As a result, the young Rodriguez socially withdrew which prompt the nun teachers to approach the parents regarding the language issue. Since then, life has changed for Rodriguez, thus the beginning of what seem to be a detachment from his own family. Unlike Tan’s warm story of her Mother’s broken English, Rodriguez’s childhood experience connotes feelings of
In “Se Habla Español,” the author, Tanya, talks about her personal experience with dealing with language issues. Tanya was born in Guatemala and moved to the U.S when she was only three years old. Tanya’s mother did not want her to speak Spanish, because they believed that when they moved to the U.S speaking only English would help her blend in. For so long Tanya believed that speaking Spanish went hand in hand with being poor and speaking only English made her feel superior. After many years she has tried to learn Spanish but has found it quite difficult because although that is her native language it was like trying to learning a whole new language for her. In “Mother Tongue,” Amy’s explains how she has come to the realization that she speaks more than one “English,” meaning that the way she speaks in front of a crowd is different than the way she speaks with her mother. The way Amy speaks with her mother is still English although it is not proper. Amy expresses how she does not really like the phrase “broken English,” because if something is broken it needs to be fixed and she does not feel that her mother’s English needs to be
By using a lot of exceptional and moving metaphors like “Words are blades of grass pushing past the obstacles, sprouting on the page” (93), underline her impressing skills in turning images into words. The tone of the essay is enthusiastic and compelling, Anzaldua asks the readers to believe in themselves. Anzaldua even connects her native language with her adopted one, in her current essays.
I became an English major my first year in college, after being enrolled as pre-med.” (Tan 3). Much like in her academic life, Tan believes in disproving critics and those who pigeon-hole people with pre-determined ideas. Her purpose is reflected by her “enjoying the challenge”. In this essay, she also enjoys the challenge of sharing her story and clearing up the negative stigma of broken English. Another example of her purpose is indicated when she explains other people’s ideas of her mom. People use degrading language when describing her mother and other “broken” English speakers. Tan shares her thoughts: “I’ve heard other terms used, ‘limited English,’ for example. But they seem just as bad, as if everything is limited, including people’s perceptions of the limited English speaker.” (Tan 2). Tan’s purpose becomes clear here when she describes people’s negative perception of “broken” English speakers. The last part of that quote is extra powerful, when she describes the English speaker as limited. It is
The audience Tan is reaching are people who are very ignorant to the fact that others who speak broken English, regardless of race, know that they are taken advantage of and are not given the respect that a fluent English speaking person would get. The essay is also aimed toward people who can relate to the ?language of intimacy? (36), which is a different sort of English ...
Tan makes an appeal to emotion with the connections she describes. A connection between a mother and daughter that is wrought with emotion is as relatable as humaneness is to a human. There is a soft declaration to be found in Tan’s statement, “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 gains trust by appealing to emotion with something as understandable as the loving and more often than not tension riddled connection between a mother and her daughter. Tan incorporates the intimacy of the “broken” language in correlation to her husband with these words, “It has become our language of intimacy, a different sort of English that relates to family talk, the language I grew up with” (Tan 1). Under the assumption that Louis DeMattei (Tan’s husband) has no prior history with the Chinese Language Tan makes an important point of the use of the “broken” language she learned from her mother. Demattei doesn’t inquire or correct Tan when she switches between the English she acquired from the vast expanses of English literature and the English she acquired from her mother. Tan says, “he even uses it with me,” there is an implied level of comfort within the relationship she has with her husband. Tan shares what is viewed as “broken” and in need of fixing with Demattei and he reciprocates, leaving them
Tan includes a direct quote from her mother in paragraph six of the reading, and she does not shorten it for an important reason. Tan decides to keep the entire quote instead of paraphrasing to add an effect that a reader can only understand with the full quote. It shows that even though some people speak the language of English it is hard for others to understand based on the person’s full understanding and comprehension of the language. In Tan’s case she is used to the way her mother speaks and uses the language, but to others it is almost impossible to understand. If it were not for Tan summarizing what the quote meant before putting it in the text, few readers would have understood what the mother was trying to convey with her use of the language. Tan’s strategy in including this direct quotation is to show that language differs from person to person even if they all speak the same language. She is implying that the whole world could speak English; however, it would not be the same type of English because of how everyone learns and how others around
Whenever an immigrant must first learn English when coming to America, it is always a challenge. This is due to the fact that English is one of the hardest languages to learn, especially in the verbal sense. The term “Broken English” strives from the lack of certain placement and filler words within the language. For example, instead of saying “Let us not waste money that way” immigrants will say “Not waste money that way” (Tan). Tan, who is the famous author of The Joy Luck Club and Saving Fish from Drowning, and whose mother was a Chinese immigrant, never liked the term “Broken English” since it has a negative context or seems unwholesome. When referring to “Broken English” and the heavy accents that come from the immigrant's native country, native English speakers claim to never understand what the other person is saying. As a child, Tan had to pretend to be her own mother to speak to formal officials; such as, stock brokers and advisers. This is because they claimed that they could not understand a single word of English she spoke (Tan). Not being able to understand what another person is trying to say is a direct form of
In Jamila Lyiscott’s speech 3 Ways to Speak English, she grabs the audience’s attention by using a rhyme scheme and the word “articulate” throughout the entire speech. The way she explains the 3 ways is her ability to call herself “tri-langual” by using 3 forms of communication towards many numbers of groups.
In the work of Amy Tan’s “Mother’s Tongue” she provides a look into how she adapted her language to assimilate into American culture. She made changes to her language because her mother heavily relied on her for translation. She was the voice of her mother, relaying information in standard English to those who were unable to understand her mother’s broken english. She tells about her mother’s broken english and its impact on her communication to those outside their culture. Her mothers broken english limited others’ perception of her intelligence, and even her own perception of her mother was scewed: Tan said, “I know this for a fact, because when I was growing up, my mothers ‘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.” (419) The use of standard english was a critical component to Tan’s assimilation into American culture. Standard English was an element she acquired to help her mother but more importantly is was an element that helped in her gain success as a writer. Tan changed her ‘Englishes’ (family talk) to include standard English that she had learnt in school and through books, the forms of English that she did not use at home with her mother. (417-418) Tan realized the ch...
English is an invisible gate. Immigrants are the outsiders. And native speakers are the gatekeepers. Whether the gate is wide open to welcome the broken English speakers depends on their perceptions. Sadly, most of the times, the gate is shut tight, like the case of Tan’s mother as she discusses in her essay, "the mother tongue." People treat her mother with attitudes because of her improper English before they get to know her. Tan sympathizes for her mother as well as other immigrants. Tan, once embarrassed by her mother, now begins her writing journal through a brand-new kaleidoscope. She sees the beauty behind the "broken" English, even though it is different. Tan combines repetition, cause and effect, and exemplification to emphasize her belief that there are more than one proper way (proper English) to communicate with each other. Tan hopes her audience to understand that the power of language- “the way it can evoke an emotion, a visual image, a complex idea, or a simple truth”- purposes to connect societies, cultures, and individuals, rather than to rank our intelligence.
Despite growing up amidst a language deemed as “broken” and “fractured”, Amy Tan’s love for language allowed her to embrace the variations of English that surrounded her. In her short essay “Mother Tongue”, Tan discusses the internal conflict she had with the English learned from her mother to that of the English in her education. Sharing her experiences as an adolescent posing to be her mother for respect, Tan develops a frustration at the difficulty of not being taken seriously due to one’s inability to speak the way society expects. Disallowing others to prove their misconceptions of her, Tan exerted herself in excelling at English throughout school. She felt a need to rebel against the proverbial view that writing is not a strong suit of someone who grew up learning English in an immigrant family. Attempting to prove her mastery of the English language, Tan discovered her writing did not show who she truly was. She was an Asian-American, not just Asian, not just American, but that she belonged in both demographics. Disregarding the idea that her mother’s English could be something of a social deficit, a learning limitation, Tan expanded and cultivated her writing style to incorporate both the language she learned in school, as well as the variation of it spoken by her mother. Tan learned that in order to satisfy herself, she needed to acknowledge both of her “Englishes” (Tan 128).
The purpose of Amy Tan’s essay, “Mother Tongue,” is to show how challenging it can be if an individual is raised by a parent who speaks “limited English” (36) as Tan’s mother does, partially because it can result in people being judged poorly by others. As Tan’s primary care giver, her mother was a significant part of her childhood, and she has a strong influence over Tan’s writing style. Being raised by her mother taught her that one’s perception of the world is heavily based upon the language spoken at home. Alternately, people’s perceptions of one another are based largely on the language used.
Amy Tan is the author of the essay Mother Tongue. In this essay, she explains how the power of language has influenced her life through her mother and the experiences they have had together concerning her mother's English-speaking ability, or lack there of. She was born into a Chinese family where both Chinese and English were spoken. She is sensitive to and accepting of people's lingual differences. She talks about how the inability to speak English well in America gives others the wrong impression: "...everything is limited, including people's perceptions of the limited English speaker" (Tan 13). She is saying here that prolific English speakers place limitations on people who have limited English-speak...