by your family? In the memoir “Fish Cheeks” by Amy Tan‚ Amy‚ a Chinese-American girl is embarrassed by her family’s Chinese customs at Christmas Eve dinner. The reason she is so humiliated is because her family invited the minister and his family over for dinner‚ and Amy‚ who has a crush on their son Robert‚ is acutely aware of the cultural differences between the two families. In spite of the fact that the meal was a horrifying event for young Amy‚ she eventually learns to appreciate her mother’s
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After reading “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan‚ I have realized how many variations of English that are actually used today. When I am writing a essay‚ or speaking in front for a audience‚ I try to sound very formal. I use words I normally don’t. But more importantly‚ I structure the way I write or speak differently. Most of the time‚ I don’t focus on the words I put in my sentences‚ or how I structure them‚ I just say it. Like Tan‚ I speak differently with my family compared to when I am speaking to my
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Amy Tan’s excerpt Mother Tongue focuses on her use of different Englishes when she was surrounded by different people. When surrounded by strangers‚ Tan spoke fluently in grammatically sophisticated English. However‚ Tan referred to the English she used with her mother as being a broken down‚ limited version of the English language. Despite this description‚ Tan didn’t entirely agree with what these chosen adjectives suggested about her mother’s English & intelligence. Tan’s description of the different
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February 2014 (21 February) After reading the strongly “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tran‚ it shows a great deal of strength from the Asian American Culture. Throughout the reading it showed how hard it was and still is for Asian Americans to work through the difficulties of the English language. In her essay Amy Tan writes about the problems immigrant families have with speaking English‚ by reflecting on her own experience. While reading Mother Tongue‚ I remembered the difficulties I faced when I was
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treated with less respect because of the way they talk or pronounce a certain language. In the article "Mother Tongue‚" Amy Tan describes her relationship with her mother‚ who speaks "broken" English that essentially‚ isn’t broken at all. She shares her stories about the struggles of growing up with a mother who spoke imperfect English and the prejudice she received in turn for it. However‚ Tan didn’t let her mother’s “limited” English bring her down; instead she used it in her own personal narratives
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After reading the narrative “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan. It can be said that it is an engaging 1st person narrative where the author utilized some of her different memories to connect with the audience. At times explaining her feelings of sadness and embarrassment to strengthen her points. Thus‚ creating an emotional piece that had me connected with every sentence. I experienced a sense of empathy. The narrative started at the present time with a memory where the writer found herself speaking to a
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Alex Lawley English 102 Professor Thomas March 27 2013 Essay #3 In Amy Tan’s "Two Kinds"‚ there was quite a bit of mother daughter conflict. The mother and daughter had very different views on what the daughter’s destiny should be like and that led to many disagreements. In the story‚ there are two major characters‚ Amy and her mother. Amy is the daughter who is being forced by her mother to become some sort of child prodigy. Amy is the protagonist‚ but I also believe she is a dynamic character
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Based on Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue” it is evident that language has an affect on our lives. Language defines the type of person I am generally and it has had an affect on my choices as well as my lifestyle. Depending on my friends‚ family‚ and others I talk to my choice on language tends to vary. My decisions in life‚ sometimes‚ are influenced by the language I use and my surroundings. Language has become my way of seeing life in a different perspective. In Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue” she discusses
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In the story “Mother Tongue” Amy Tan tells the story of her mother and how her use of English within the family affected her early in life. She describes how that limited use of English had the potential to affect Tan’s choice of careers and her influence on literature. She begins by describing how she assumed the role of translator for her Asian born mother‚ who spoke with “broken English.” She describes situations where she assumed the role of translator for her mother. She was thrown into adult
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barrier. Learning English or even a new language‚ I found it challenging because it appears there was always more than one answer while also wary of following the correct grammatical format. For Amy Tan‚ the author of Mother Tongue‚ she too confronts with difficulties in understanding the English language. Tan is convinced of this fact through her standardized test scores on the achievement test‚ IQ tests‚ and her SAT. She found that on
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