Winnie Effendy 07911893
“Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan
This is a story about Tan with her mother and the differences and conflict between
Chinese and American cultures. Tan wants to break the stereotypes that Asian people
can’t do well in liberal arts but do well in math and science. She gives details of her
experiences with her mother, particularly about her mother’s use of English. Amy Tan
mentions her mother’s “limited English”. Even though Tan speaks English well, she was
always able to know what her mother meant when she spoken “broken” English. Through
Tan’s use of archetype, satire, pathos and dialogue, she demonstrates that language has
power and you can use this power to express your feelings and experiences to others.
In conclusion, Tan shows her opinions and personal experiences on persuading
others to believe that language has power. She uses her story about her mother to expose
a problem that really affected her mother’s life. Then, she uses satire that explores the
reason why English from books and from school is not suitable to use at home with her
mother. Then, she explains that the different ways of her speaking “Englishes” are not
always important. The goal of using any type of English is to make sense and express
our feelings and share our experiences. This is the power of language that appears in
many situations. The main point of this essay is telling us not to waste this power of
language.