Similarities Between Amy Tan And Isaac Asimov

These two articles are similar in that they are both writing pieces by authors writing in first person about their books or writings. Amy Tan and Isaac Asimov are both writing about something specific about their writings. Amy Tan talks about how her experiences with her mother contributes to her writing and Isaac Asimov analyzes why he is a good science fiction writer and what it takes to be one. In the article Mother Tongue by Amy Tan, Amy writes about what it was like growing up with her mother's limited English. "because when I was growing up, my mother's 'limited' English limited my perception of her. I was ashamed of her English." (1) As the author implies in this passage and throughout the article, other people's perception of
Mother Tongue, Amy Tan is sharing a personal story and relating it back to the way it affected her writing style and technique. His main purpose is sharing for understanding. "We used a similar routine just five days ago, for a situation that was far less humorous. My mother had gone to the hospital for and appointment, to find out about a benign brain tumor a CAT scan had revealed a month ago." (4) Isaac, in his article, is essentially answering the question "Where do you get your crazy ideas?" and is elaborating on that. He uses a lot of factual information and examples to prove his arguments about being a science fiction writer. "To begin with, in 1831, when Charles Darwin was twenty-two, he joined the crew of a ship called the Beagle." (5) The difference in Mother Tongue is that Amy does not use any hard facts but, instead, used her personal accounts to get her point across. These are two different styles of writing that partway has to do with the subjects their writings are
And the reader I decided upon was my mother, because these were stories about mothers. So with this reader in mind-and in fact she did read my early drafts- I began using all the Englishes I grew up with: the English I spoke to my mother, which for lack of a better term might be described as 'broken'; my translation of her Chinese, which could certainly be described as 'watered down'; and what I imagined to be her translation of Chinese if she could speak in perfect English." (6) Isaac Asimov concludes his article, answering the question "Where do you get those crazy ideas?" with a blunt "I don't know." He reiterates that we need to encourage scientific creativity and experiment more with creativity itself. "How, then, does one go about encouraging scientific creativity? For now than ever before in man’s history, we must; and the need will grow constantly in the future." (7) "I don't know. Here, it seems to me, is where we need experimentation and perhaps a kind of creative breakthrough about creativity. Once we learn enough about the whole matter, who knows- I may even find out where I get those Crazy Ideas."