Preview

The Sandwich Generation

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
892 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Sandwich Generation
Amy Tan begins by announcing, “I am not a scholar of English…I cannot give you much more than personal opinions on the English language and its variations in this country and others.” How does this opening set up your expectations for the rest of the essay? Why do you think she chose to begin by denying her own authority?

The introduction Tan decided to use presents the reader with a strong sense of the kind of individual she is. By saying “I am not a scholar of English”, Tan is revealing how humble she is. Amy Tan has written many novels and essays (some of which have been nationally recognized). Yet, she starts off her essay by stating that this is just a product of her opinion and that it is in no way superior to any others opinion. This manner of denying her own authority shows her strong belief that everyone can have their own interpretation of the value of the English language, much like she does. Her opening draws the reader in; it intrigues us. We are pleased with the idea that Tan is going to bring a new perspective to the “personal opinions on the English language”. Her opening also causes to reader to have a moment of self-reflection. We start to wonder what our opinion on the English language has been, momentarily stunned because, truly, we have never thought about this in-depth before. Therefore, our expectations for the rest of the essay increase. Tan writes about the different “Englishes” she speaks. What categories does she divide English into? Why are these divisions important to Tan? How does she say they affect her as a writer?
At the beginning of the essay, Tan herself questions how to put a label on the complex “Englishes” that she has grown up with. To Tan, these “Englishes” do not just represent a way of speaking; they are multi-dimensional and a big part of her journey to find out who she truly is. Through self-reflection, at the end of her essay, she is able to come up with four categories of the English she uses: the kind of
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Mother Tongue
    • 1199 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Mother Tongue

    “So easy to read”(p.4). Amy Tan ends her essay, “Mother Tongue” with this short and even grammatically wrong sentence. She tells us this mother’s brief review is a proof of success of her writing. Why does she think that easiness is an essence of her writing? She suggests answers to this question by her essay.…

    • 1199 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Questions on "Mother Tonge" by Amy Tan
    • 335 Words
    • 1 Page

    Questions on "Mother Tonge" by Amy Tan

    1.Tan opens her essay by stating, "I m not a scholar of English or literature," then states, in the next paragraph, "I am a writer" to show she is not critical, but passionate about language. It is important to her because she was able to excel in English, even though the odds were against her. To be a scholar you must know every corner of something, but to be a writer you have to be creative in order to appeal to an audience. Tan is appealing to pathos, or emotions. Tan wants readers to know her guilt and the difficulties her mother has gone through.…

    • 335 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    amy tans essay
    • 711 Words
    • 3 Pages

    amy tans essay

    The article “My Mother’s English” by Amy Tan is mainly about the author’s thoughts and judgments on her mother broken English in comparison to “Standard English”. Tan is a fictional writer who is “fascinated by language in daily life” (Tan 1) and uses language as everyday part of her work as a writer. Tan’s point in this article is to prove that even if her mother is speaking English! Others should not use that to judge your intelligence. Tan’s mother did not speak perfect English, but the points and ideas she was trying to get across are what really were important. Tan observes some in paragraph two and three experiences that made her realize the different types of “Englishes” she uses. Tan illustrates this to her audience by giving examples of the struggles her mother was faced with due to her English. Tan examines the different versions of English people use for example Tan giving the example of letting her mother explain the story “about the political gangster who had the same last name as [Amy Tan’s mother]” which Tan explains the percent of how many people were able to understand her mother’s English and who could not, in order to make the reader realize that English takes many different forms which leads to difficulty and conclusion to those who are attempting to learn and speak the language like her mother. This essay is directed towards those who do not have an understanding of the variations of languages and the complications that come along with trying to learn a new language like English. Although, this relates to me because English is my second language and Spanish is my native language, Tan gives us some main ideas in the article that are just related to my daily life: treat everyone with respect, the power of language, and how children are influence by their parents, English. She emphasizes these ideas to mainly agree with her because now in these days many people are trying to learn and speak English. Sometimes most of us make mistakes by speak…

    • 711 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Analysis of "Mother Tongue" by Amy Tan
    • 184 Words
    • 1 Page

    Analysis of "Mother Tongue" by Amy Tan

    In her story "Mother Tongue," Amy Tan describes her relationship with her mother, who speaks "broken" English. Essentially, Amy ending up changing her style of writing because of her mother, who changed Amy's perception of language. In the beginning of her life, Amy was always ashamed and embarrassed because of her mother; her mother, in speaking broken English, would often sound weird and not be understood by people in every day affairs. As an attempt to get away from this side of her heritage, Amy--once she becomes a writer--writes with great English and diction, and she uses a plethora of vocabulary. However, she soon realizes that she is being someone she is not; Amy eventually fully realizes her true relationship with her mother, and subsequently allows that newfound knowledge to affect her writing. Their relationship is one of wonderful love and comfort, one where they can speak broken English ("mother tongue") and have it mean something very special. Essentially, Amy Tan becomes authentic and true to her roots; inspired by her mother, she begins to right so that the 'common man' can understand…

    • 184 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Amy Tan Mother Tongue Analysis
    • 760 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Amy Tan Mother Tongue Analysis

    Amy Tan’s story “Mother Tongue” starts by the affirmation that she is not a scholar of English or literature. She is just a writer and the person who understand the power of language. From Tan’s observations from her daily life, she realizes that there are different types of English that she uses. The first time Tan notices the difference is when she gives a speech on her book “The Joy Luck Club” using academic English, the one that she never uses to talk with her mother. The second time is when Tan talked using “fractured” English unconsciously with her mother when walking down the street. After that, Tan recalls her memories from her early age: the phone call for her mother to the stockbroker, the meeting with a doctor in the hospital for her mother’s CAT scan result to demonstrate her mother’s realization of “limited” English. Then Tan agrees with the idea that language spoken in…

    • 760 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Rhetorical Analysis Of I Know Why The Caged Bird Cannot Read
    • 506 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Rhetorical Analysis Of I Know Why The Caged Bird Cannot Read

    With the use of examples from personal as well as her friends’ and family’s experiences, her argument is considered more credible and trustworthy. In paragraph 30, Prose describes her experience being taught how to deeply analyze the meaning of a Shakespeare play, and how she loved it after being able to deeply understand it. This gives the audience a different perspective, one of a student who received the education Prose argues for. This consequently supports her proposal that the reason english class has become such a useless chore to students is as a result of the straightforward and fruitless examinations of literature. Along with the narration of her and her friend’s children’s experiences, found in paragraphs 5 and 23, the audience may relate to the description of a poorly taught english class that uses unoriginal reading choices or cursory lesson plans, which in turn inspires them to invoke change in the education…

    • 506 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Compare and Contrast
    • 944 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Compare and Contrast

    Tan portrays her experiences as a child of Chinese parents growing up in an American culture. She constructs a view showing the reader the vast differences between language at home and language in public. She explains some of these languages through instances with her own mother. Tan often explains her mother’s English as “broken” or “fractured” and is often feels embarrassed by this because she feels it shows lack of…

    • 944 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Amy Tan
    • 462 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Amy Tan

    4. Tan relatively gives much meaning behind her argument with her mother. That many foreigners are judged for their limited English and that American’s may have that problem with the judgment. That this is an issue that can open the eyes of anyone, whether they experience it or not.…

    • 462 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Rhetorical Analysis On Azaldua
    • 704 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Rhetorical Analysis On Azaldua

    Anzaldua would not really agree with Tan’s goal for her writing. In a society where perfection is practically expected but impossible to achieve, language is one of the many ways that anyone around us can judge us. It is as Tan said, “…the fact that people in department stores, at banks, and at restaurants did not take her seriously, did not give her good service, pretended not to understand her, or even acted as if they did not hear her. “ Tan even said how her mother’s English ashamed her, that because her mother’s English was limited, it limited her perception of her mother, and that since her words were said imperfectly her mother’s thoughts were imperfect. There are instances every day of people that are not fluent in English, not being treated with the same respect, kindness, and service as their counterparts that are fluent. For some reason, it is embedded in most Americans’ minds that if someone cannot speak English as well as themselves, they are either not intelligent, not worthy of their time, or even not considered to be anywhere near important as someone who can.…

    • 704 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Questions
    • 372 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Questions

    14. Both Sandra Cisneros and Amy Tan (“Mother Tongue”) became extremely successful writers in English although they spoke another language at home as they grew up. Can you find any other common denominators in the experience of these two authors that account for their current skill in using English language?…

    • 372 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Rhetorical Reading
    • 362 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Rhetorical Reading

    Tan’s essay bWe live in a world that looks down on people who does not know and speak correct English. I witnessed how people who speak imperfect English are treated in the department stores, banks, and on my job. I used to be one those that didn’t have patience or didn’t wont to take the time to understand those who speak inadequate English. But over the time, I came to the conclusion that my reaction wasn’t right and fair. I thought about how I would have felt if I was one of those that spoke imperfect English and what if I was treated unfairly because of my ethnicity. Tan used evident on how people that are stereotyped are judged in this society. I like the fact that the evidence she used was her life and her mother’s personal experiences. Tan’s evidence gave me a clearer outlook on looking at it on the opposite side and understanding what her and her mother dealt with because of their lack of English language. In spite of Tan’s improper English, I strongly commend her for learning the real way to engage and educating herself so that she will know how to speak better…

    • 362 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    how to tame a wild tounge
    • 1454 Words
    • 6 Pages

    how to tame a wild tounge

    English is fast becoming the dominant means by which the world is able to communicate. It is being referred to as the global language as it is seen as a common means for interaction between different countries. This new phenomena can be seen in a positive light because the use of English as a common language brings efficiency and greater understanding. Nevertheless there some people who believe that this fact has changed and that now it is more important to learn Spanish and Mandarin than the English language. Anzaldua dealt with this issue on a consistent basis in her school life. Though she was not told to lose her Spanish ways, she felt that speaking English would not allow her to express herself. Especially in the American culture, it was necessary for her to learn English to communicate with her peers. Furthermore, the English language is the number one lingua franca no other comes close.…

    • 1454 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    A Summary of Amy Tan s Mother Tongue
    • 304 Words
    • 1 Page

    A Summary of Amy Tan s Mother Tongue

    In “Mother Tongue”, Tan writes about the awareness and discrimination about “broken English” compared to Standard English. In Tans essay she quotes her mothers’ speech to demonstrate her mothers “broken English”, it was a very trivial story but the thing that is worth looking at was her mother's grammar. The quoted parts were filled with grammatical mistakes and the text was quite confusing. In fact, her mother had better command in English than all that was evidently showed in her story. She could read very sophisticated and high level documents without much difficulty.…

    • 304 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    mother tongue
    • 317 Words
    • 2 Pages

    mother tongue

    Tan herself speak two kinds of English, standard English and broken English. She realizes that she always speak in perfect English, the standard English, when she gives a speech, when she is giving a speech which her mother attends. However, when she talks to her mother, she changes her language into a limited English, broken English, without any transfer. This is because the language people speak is based on how language can help us understand each other. Her mother only needs a limited English to be able to understand newspapers and radios. Thus, her English is just a transferred Chinese.…

    • 317 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Amy Tan - Mother Tongue
    • 1016 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Amy Tan - Mother Tongue

    Tan relates to her own experiences to compare how people think and to how society sees them. She believed her mother to be illiterate because she spoke improper or broken English and other people looked down on her for it. She was laughed at and often times not taken seriously because, being an immigrant with a strong Asian background, her English wasn’t as proper as others. Amy Tan grew up taking calls for her mother and impersonating her on the phone so her mother did not sound so illiterate while trying to communicate with superiors or people who owed her money. This strategy was soon found out however, when Mrs. Tan had to speak to these people in person. Amy believed, “her [mother’s] English reflected the quality of what she had to say. That is, because she expressed them imperfectly her thoughts were imperfect… People in department stores, at banks, and at restaurants did not take her seriously, did not give her good service, pretend not to understand her, or even acted as if they did not hear her.” (142) Society has the need to be perfect and if someone speaks imperfectly, then they are often treated unfairly.…

    • 1016 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics