Rogerian Essay
English III
Oct 28, 2013
During the course of American history, immigrants have come in from all around the world. In “Mother Tongue”, Amy Tan describes her mother’s experience as well as her own experiences with the English language. Amy Tan tries to give a more positive view of people who immigrate to this country and shine a light on those who try to take advantage of these immigrants. In her essay she appeals to pathos, applies subjective diction, and uses several anecdotes in order to clearly tell the experiences she and her mother have and to give us a better understanding of people who do not speak English well like her mother. In her essay “Mother Tongue”, Tan does not describe her mother’s English as bad or incomplete.She instead, uses words like ‘broken’ or ‘fractured’ to give the reader a better images of how her mother spoke English. In her essay she gives some examples of these ‘fractured’ and ‘broken’ sentences such as, “Why he don’t send me check, already two weeks late. So mad he lie to me, losing me money.” In this sentence her mother attempts to obtain money that a stockbroker had agreed to send, but the man tried to take advantage her instead because of her ‘limitations.’ Throughout the essay, Tan includes several of her past experiences allowing the reader to sympathize for Amy and what she had to go through with her mother and the forces that shaped her life and her relationship with her mother. By appealing to pathos and empathy as humans, she creates a connection between the events that happen in her life as well as the readers of her essay. In one of her past experiences, Tan says, “She said she had spoken very good English… no mistakes. Still, she said, the hospital did not apologize when they said they had lost the CAT scan and she had come for nothing.” and through this excerpt readers relate the fact of the mother not originating from America and her English to the reason of why people treat her the way they do. Even
Oct 28, 2013
During the course of American history, immigrants have come in from all around the world. In “Mother Tongue”, Amy Tan describes her mother’s experience as well as her own experiences with the English language. Amy Tan tries to give a more positive view of people who immigrate to this country and shine a light on those who try to take advantage of these immigrants. In her essay she appeals to pathos, applies subjective diction, and uses several anecdotes in order to clearly tell the experiences she and her mother have and to give us a better understanding of people who do not speak English well like her mother. In her essay “Mother Tongue”, Tan does not describe her mother’s English as bad or incomplete.She instead, uses words like ‘broken’ or ‘fractured’ to give the reader a better images of how her mother spoke English. In her essay she gives some examples of these ‘fractured’ and ‘broken’ sentences such as, “Why he don’t send me check, already two weeks late. So mad he lie to me, losing me money.” In this sentence her mother attempts to obtain money that a stockbroker had agreed to send, but the man tried to take advantage her instead because of her ‘limitations.’ Throughout the essay, Tan includes several of her past experiences allowing the reader to sympathize for Amy and what she had to go through with her mother and the forces that shaped her life and her relationship with her mother. By appealing to pathos and empathy as humans, she creates a connection between the events that happen in her life as well as the readers of her essay. In one of her past experiences, Tan says, “She said she had spoken very good English… no mistakes. Still, she said, the hospital did not apologize when they said they had lost the CAT scan and she had come for nothing.” and through this excerpt readers relate the fact of the mother not originating from America and her English to the reason of why people treat her the way they do. Even