Amy Tan

Shane Brabant
Eng 100 Tu-Th 4:00-5:20
Amy Tan: Mother Tongue
Anicca Cox

Although Amy Tan grew up speaking Chinese, she is now an accomplished and world renowned author. She begins by discussing the power language has on all of us, how the way you speak can determine what people think about you. She proves this point in her writing by explaining situations where her mother’s command of the English language inhibited her ability to get what she needed. Her mother spoke very choppy English, it was referred to as “broken”, “simple” English, and therefore her mother was thought of as simple, if not stupid. Amy tells us of how her mother’s ability to speak English affected her on an almost daily basis, and affected her negatively.

Mrs. Tan understands English very well, but her ability to speak has caused trouble for her and forced Amy to spe3ak for her in many cases she explains for us in the reading. I believe that because Amy needed to speak for her mother from a very early age, her command of the English language grew out of necessity. I really liked how she included her conversation with her mother in the text. Because the translation was verbatim I was able to grasp exactly what Amy meant when she attached “broken” to her mother’s speaking ability. This inclusion helped me to understand the concept of speaking different “Englishes”.

Amy explains how, growing up in a home with only her mother’s “broken” English to influence her affected her grades in school and her performance on tests. When Amy read about recent polls on Asian American’s and their preferred job choices, she found that there are very few Asian Americans in American Literature, and that there are not many Asian American writers. She attributes this fact to how mathematics, unlike English, has a definitive answer, whereas answers to English related questions are a “judgment call”. She supports this claim by giving us information about how Asian Americans often go into Engineering jobs, and jobs of that sort. Amy made the choice to decipher English and use her passion, imagery to seek out the internal intent of her words. In this way she was able to write the “Joy Luck Club”, using simple English, English that her mother was able to understand and enjoy.

To compare Amy Tans and Luc Sante’s narratives I would say that they both use real life stories to explain their points and ideas. The two grew up speaking a language other than English, yet English became their main language and the tool by which they are able to make money, be happy and generally prosper. The two writers emphasize the power of language and how it helped them throughout their very different lives. The two have strived to master the English language to better understand what it is they are saying and to help them speak to their audience with a clear and understandable voice. I would say the two narratives are of similar origin but like, for example, they are fruits, but Luc is an apple and Amy is a banana. The writing is from the same general category of literature, descriptive, based around stories and life experiences, but the twos journey into English were very different.