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mother tounge
Mothers tongue analysis

Profound writer and best-selling novelist Amy Tan is well known for her works which tends to explores mother daughter relationships. In her narrative essay “Mother Tongue” she discusses the discrimination and prejudice opinions on “broken English”. Amy makes the readers realizes how not being an American can not only influence the way we speak English, but have an effect on how we handle real life situations. She does so by incorporating her mother’s real life struggles into her essay.
Tan opens her narrative essay by addressing the two types of English she uses, one being fluent English; the other being fractured English also known as broken English. Both version of the English language have a great impact on her writing skills helping mold her into the writer she is today. In the beginning of Amy Tan's narrative, Mother Tongue, she states “I am someone who has always loved language. I am fascinated by language in daily life. I spend a great deal of my time thinking about the power of language the way it can evoke an emotion, a visual image, a complex idea, or a simple truth”(Tan A). Tan explains the passion she has for the English language detailing what it means to her and the people in her life that help influence the two type of English she speaks, Her mother being the biggest influence.
By using the role of logic and emotion, Tan shares personal experiences about the kind of English her mother spoke and how her broken English makes others view her differently. Illustrating the influence language can have on life experience For example, when Tan made phone calls for her mother or communicated for her in any way, this showed that the mother’s life experiences were limited due to the language barrier. With real life examples, Tan is able to get her point across portraying how others view her mother based upon the language she spoke. This rhetorical strategy is Logos; Amy Tan uses rhetorical strategies to help the audience grasp the
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