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Asian experience in the us
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Amy Tan’s “Mother’s Tongue” essay fails as a rhetorical essay. This can be proven with a substantial amount of evidence, with a definitive lack of ethos and logos throughout the essay. This makes her point lack a backbone due her lack of credibility and proof. With the lack of these two rhetorical tools she fails to convince her audience of what is truly the issue of the stereotypes Asian Americans face in society and the education system. In failing to do these objectives for rhetorical pieces, the essay loses meaning and it’s message.
In the Essay the author addresses the stereotypes Asian Americans face in society in regards to education, in the work field, and language. In our society today Asian Americans are considered to have “broken”
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or “limited” English by society. She starts off by telling the audience of her life growing up with her recently emigrated Chinese Mother. The author shows the struggles that her mother went through trying to learn the language and how Amy Tan assisted her through this hardship. It shows us why the author wanted to prove herself competent in English and literature so that she could fight the stereotype that most Asian Americans have “broken” or “limited” English. She addresses the injustice that people faces that are not able to speak English as well as many do in society, which can relate to many first generation immigrants and people with speaking disorders. Amy Tan also states that the education system does not support Asian Americans pursuing options of interest in literature and having alarming low amount of them in writing programs. She states that they are veered toward majors in the engineering and medical field while not given the option to explore majors in English and Lingustics. This struggle that Amy had to go through with her mother gives us the pathos why Asian Americans face the stereotypes that they have “broken” or “Limited” English.
She makes us feel remorse and sympathy for her mother when she has to talk to stockbrokers, stating how hard it is in society when you are unable to learn the main language. She gives us a idea of what is it like to face that give of struggle and embarrassment that one would face if they were in their shoes. This is shown in the example of when Amy Tan had to neither pretend to be her mother when she would call the stockbrokers, since stockbrokers could not understand her nor take her seriously just because she spoke with “limited English”. It also makes the reader sympathize with the author on why she wanted to be a writer. She also gives the notion of stereotypes for Asian Americans in this text stating, “ they also have teachers who are steering them away from writing and into math and science, which happened to me”. This proof of personal experiences and observations give her some credibility showing that there is existing stereotypes in our society and education system today. Today in Americas Society there is a notion the good “stereotypes” Asian Americans face today. Some of these are that these students are smart, docile, will be wealthy, submissive to instructions and never needing assistance. These expectations prevent from having self-esteem if they are different and if they go against the norm. It also prevents students from pursuing majors that they would actually want to pursue like Tan did. These facts are based on research studies from the University of Texas at Austin. This inclusion of pathos gives her a strong point of pathos using the emotional and cultural notions to make a
point. The author does use pathos fairly well in this essay, but fails to use the rhetorical tools of logos and ethos. She absolutely destroys her ethos in her first sentence by stating “I am not a scholar of English or literature”. While doing some research I found out on her web page that in fact she obtained a masters degree in English and Linguistics. This discounting of this studying she did makes the audience have doubt of why she is addressing the issue of the lack of Asian-Americans interested in writing and English while she has doubts about a topic she has multiple masters degrees in. It does not nesseciarily make her point wrong but makes me wonder as the reader that if she doesn’t consider herself a scholar why she is writing on this issue. While she lacks the credibility to write on this issue the author gives no factual support for her points. In the seventeenth and eighteenth paragraph Tan does not give statistical facts supporting the notion that there are too many Asian Americans being pushed toward medical or engineering degrees, the lack of Asian-Americans in writing programs and in American literature. She could have noted that college students who are Asian Americans face based on the research done by the University of Austin Texas. This research states “Asian American college students are more likely to seek medical leave, more likely to go on academic probation, and are less likely to graduate in 4 years.” To conflict the notion that Asian Americans students are docile using the information from the University of Austin’s study reporting that “Asian American students were more likely than White students to report difficulties with stress, sleep, and feelings of hopelessness, yet they were less likely to seek counseling.”. She also could’ve used the researches facts that “33% of Asian American students drop out of high school or don't graduate on time” to prove that the generalization where the were all efficient is false. Amy tan also could’ve countered the notion that all Asians were wealthy by using the facts that “In 2004, 11.8% of Asian Americans lived below the poverty line, experiencing the greatest rise in poverty among all groups.” This lack of logos and ethos makes her essay ineffective when she easily could have credited herself and done the research to back up her argument. Since Amy Tan fails to use the rhetorical tools of ethos and logos, the message is not convincingly given in this essay. Since she discredits herself she loses credibility and fails to support her points with factual evidence, the audience has no reason to neither take her argument seriously nor believe in it. Though it does make good use of Pathos it is simply not enough to convince the audience.
Mother Tongue by Amy Tan was one of the best short stories I have ever read and I am excited to analyze it. Tan was born in California to Chinese immigrants. She writes in her story about the struggles she faced with language. Tan makes great use of ethos, pathos and logos in her essay to make her claim that there are many Englishes, and none should be considered wrong.
For 20 years, Asian Americans have been portrayed by the press and the media as a successful minority. Asian Americans are believed to benefit from astounding achievements in education, rising occupational statuses, increasing income, and are problem-fee in mental health and crime. The idea of Asian Americans as a model minority has become the central theme in media portrayal of Asian Americans since the middle 1960s. The term model minority is given to a minority group that exhibits middle class characteristics, and attains some measure of success on its own without special programs or welfare. Asian Americans are seen as a model minority because even though they have faced prejudice and discrimination by other racial groups, they have succeeded socially, economically, and educationally without resorting to political or violent disagreements with the majority race. The “success” of the minority is offered as proof that the American dream of equal opportunity is capable to those who conform and who are willing to work hard. Therefore, the term ...
The Essay written by Amy Tan titled 'Mother Tongue' concludes with her saying, 'I knew I had succeeded where I counted when my mother finished my book and gave her understandable verdict' (39). The essay focuses on the prejudices of Amy and her mother. All her life, Amy's mother has been looked down upon due to the fact that she did not speak proper English. Amy defends her mother's 'Broken' English by the fact that she is Chinese and that the 'Simple' English spoken in her family 'Has become a language of intimacy, a different sort of English that relates to family talk' (36). Little did she know that she was actually speaking more than one type of English. Amy Tan was successful in providing resourceful information in every aspect. This gave the reader a full understanding of the disadvantages Amy and her mother had with reading and writing. The Essay 'Mother Tongue' truly represents Amy Tan's love and passion for her mother as well as her writing. Finally getting the respect of her critics and lucratively connecting with the reaction her mother had to her book, 'So easy to read' (39). Was writing a book the best way to bond with your own mother? Is it a struggle to always have the urge to fit in? Was it healthy for her to take care of family situations all her life because her mother is unable to speak clear English?
Tan divides the essay into three sections as a way to organize her own thoughts. The first section shows the way Tan speaks and makes a small break into how her mother speaks as well. In the second section, Tan furthers her thoughts on “broken” or “limited” English, and how it can be quite confusing to new learners because of what is expected of them to learn. Tan also references to specific times that her mother was treated differently due to lacking “proper” English. In the third break, Tan includes information of what is expected of Asian Americans to be in life, and how they cannot be writers just because that is not expected of them. She includes that she notices on surveys that many Asian Americans go into the math or science field as expected of them. If it were not for these breaks the essay would still make sense and be clear, but it would not seem to be as organized as it is with the three
Chang-Rae Lee’s Native Speaker expresses prominent themes of language and racial identity. Chang-Rae Lee focuses on the struggles that Asian Americans have to face and endure in American society. He illustrates and shows readers throughout the novel of what it really means to be native of America; that true nativity of a person does not simply entail the fact that they are from a certain place, but rather, the fluency of a language verifies one’s defense of where they are native. What is meant by possessing nativity of America would be one’s citizenship and legality of the country. Native Speaker suggests that if one looks different or has the slightest indication that one should have an accent, they will be viewed not as a native of America, but instead as an alien, outsider, and the like. Therefore, Asian Americans and other immigrants feel the need to mask their true identity and imitate the native language as an attempt to fit into the mold that makes up what people would define how a native of America is like. Throughout the novel, Henry Park attempts to mask his Korean accent in hopes to blend in as an American native. Chang-Rae Lee suggests that a person who appears to have an accent is automatically marked as someone who is not native to America. Language directly reveals where a person is native of and people can immediately identify one as an alien, immigrant, or simply, one who is not American. Asian Americans as well as other immigrants feel the need to try and hide their cultural identity in order to be deemed as a native of America in the eyes of others. Since one’s language gives away the place where one is native to, immigrants feel the need to attempt to mask their accents in hopes that they sound fluent ...
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).
In this paper I will be sharing information I had gathered involving two students that were interviewed regarding education and their racial status of being an Asian-American. I will examine these subjects’ experiences as an Asian-American through the education they had experienced throughout their entire lives. I will also be relating and analyzing their experiences through the various concepts we had learned and discussed in class so far. Both of these individuals have experiences regarding their education that have similarities and differences.
Amy Tan tries to spread a non-discriminatory message through her words; telling not judge people based on the way he/she speaks a language. Amy Tan also tries to impose her idea of language bringing people closer. The “broken” English that she invented, just like many immigrants, brought her closer to her mother, even though she was looked down upon in her community due to her ability to speak fluently. This is seen when she had to speak to a doctor when her mother was diagnosed with brain tumor and the doctor told her they had lost the CAT scans. The doctor at this moment was not cooperating with her mother due to her inability to speak English properly. When Amy finally talked to the doctor they were able to find the results and had to give her an apology. This along with many other examples in the essay show how Amy had to help her mother out to get her message across. Using pathos in her stories, Amy Tan is able to connect deeply with those who have encountered such people that speak “broken” English or have judged others in the past. This also makes the audience sympathize for
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.
I also researched instances of counter actions taken by Asian Americans to protest against these negative images. My research also has examples of Asians that have succeeded in breaking through the racial barriers in the media. The results show that even though racial stereotyping still exists in various forms of mass media, there are signs that show noticeable improvement in allowing a more balanced image of Asian Americans. Statement of the Problem There are close to 12 million Asian Americans living in the United States (U.S. Asian, 2000). Asian Americans are considered one of the fastest growing minorities (Pimentel, 2001).
The problem started with her mother because she spoke broken English. She had a hard time during her life when she moved to the US because she couldn’t speak English well. The first reason was mixed the English with Chinese, and they used code. The family didn’t practice the language. On one day Amy Tan 's mother exposed to a lot of attitude and that’s bothering her because when she spoke to the native speaker some people understood 50% and the other did not understand her. Since she wants to order something they didn’t give her a nice service, or tried to ignore her, but Amy Tan always tried to fix the problem for her mother because she can speak the English clearly. Amy Tan 's mother felt depressing and Her daughter decided to make her mother glad, so she made a huge deal for her mother because she made her mother tried to speak English by explaining the English words to Chinese, and that’s made the English for her mother more easily just to be in touched with the American people. Even Amy Tan 's mother was struggling with English, but she plain in her life goal that’s mean nothing impossible to do it, and everything from learning could be possible. If anyone would something they
Tan first presented a love for her mother. The words and candour of speech that her mother uses reminds her of home and family. Her mother’s way of speaking seems natural to Tan and shaped how she interacted and reflected on the world around her. Tan took issue with the term “broken” as a description of her mother 's language because she saw nothing broken or limited in the way that her mother was able to share ideas. The limits for her mother was not how she organized her words in her sentences but rather it was how people would treat her when they heard her speak the way she does. Tan became accustomed to dealing with authorities who would not listen to her mother 's broken language. The stockbroker who tried not to pay her and the doctor who ‘lost’ her test results. Tan however also believes that her mother limited her in the way she was able to learn and what she excelled at in school. Math and sciences came easier to Tan than language, she struggled with the ambiguity of writing. Tan out of rebellion and passion started to write seriously and went on to write novels like The Joy Luck Club with complex sentence structure and academic words. She later found that using her family and her mother’s English that she was able to see her mother for her true ideas and passion. Her story is one of a second generation
For those Asian Americans who make known their discontent with the injustice and discrimination that they feel, in the white culture, this translates to attacking American superiority and initiating insecurities. For Mura, a writer who dared to question why an Asian American was not allowed to audition for an Asian American role, his punishment was “the ostracism and demonization that ensued. In essence, he was shunned” (Hongo 4) by the white people who could not believe that he would attack their superior American ways. According to writers such as Frank Chin and the rest of the “Aiiieeeee!” group, the Americans have dictated Asian culture and created a perception as “nice and quiet” (Chin 1972, 18), “mama’s boys and crybabies” without “a man in all [the] males.” (Chin 1972, 24). This has become the belief of the proceeding generations of Asian Americans and therefore manifested these stereotypes.