SA 1 Rhetorical Analysis Mother Tongue By Tan

Christopher Horton
In her essay Mother Tongue, Amy Tan does a thorough job articulating her entire essay and the
subject matter to the audience. However, one has to note that it is rather not the actual surface area
(that which an average reader sees without analysis) of the essay that is singularly astounding, but the
her use of rhetoric in phrases, tones, and words to add emphasis to her points and convey her thoughts
to the readers easier that is also astounding within her work.
Tans opening paragraph I am not a scholar of English or literature. I cannot give you much
more than personal opinions on the English language and its variations in this country or others
conveys a sense that the audience that she is writing to is one that has absolutely no clue who she is, in
a sense that they have never heard of her and thus may have valid confirmation of why to doubt her
words or whatever argument that she is setting up for. This opening two sentences, despite being short,
also give us a somewhat solid idea of what the subject of the essay is to be about: something related to
either English or literature, as Tan stated herself.
However, in her direct next paragraph, she goes on to explain why, even though she is not a
scholar of English or literature she is choosing to write about the topic, stating that *she is+ someone
who has always loved language *and is+ fascinated by language in daily life. (Pg. 1) This is stated in such
a tone (I would describe it as passionate) that the reader is able to see just how much language is
actually important to her in both her daily life and the topic that she is writing about.
After the short introduction and slight background, Tan then immediately dives into her actual
essay topic: that of the English that both she and her mother speak, and how it is becoming rather
painfully obvious that she was finding *herself+ conscious of the English she was using and the English
that *she+ used with *her mother+, (Pg. 1) in a sense that it was much different than that of actual
English (a term that Tan would heavily disagree with me using, as the definition of actual English; can
severely vary). Tan paints a picture with her writing that portrays her as someone who has become so
SA 1 Rhetorical Analysis Mother Tongue By Tan
Christopher Horton
used to *her+ language of intimacy, a different sort of English that relates to family talk, the language
that *she+ grew up with. (Pg. 1) The tone of the essay also helps to visualize that this realization (or
becoming conscious of) is really becoming prominent within her mind, and that is becoming fully
visualized and painfully obvious to her.
However, the last two-thirds of Tans essay switches focus, from that of English and her
becoming painfully aware of her own and her family in the first part to more specifically her mothers
English in the latter part. In the essay, Tan drops hints that her mothers English is much better than
what people who look at her English from an outside perspective. Even with pieces of evidence dropped
to state that like others, *she+ have described *her mothers English+ as broken or fractured English,
(Pg. 2) Tan is quick to adopt a defensive tone after this, taking up more of a defensive tone as if she was
actively and specifically defending cases of her mothers English and the fact that many people find it
strange or dont give it as much credit as her mothers English (which is perfect to tan in a sense).
Examples such as the CAT scan hospital checkup (Pg. 2) and the New York stockbroker add to the tone
and rhetoric that Tan is using in an attempt to defend her mother (more specifically, her English) and to
give her more credit that is current giving to her at the time.
In the last third of the essay, Tan as well goes into detail about how her mothers English ability
has had an effect on her own life and everything else as well. She states that language spoken in the
family, especially in immigrant families which are more insular, plays a large role in shaping the language
of the child (Pg. 2) and then goes into specific details about her results on tests such as the
achievement tests, I.Q. tests, and the SAT in particular. While some readers might take this change in
tone as an attempt to try and gain pity for Tan herself, I view it as more of her just stating a fact that she
had noticed in her life and an attempt to send out to the readers that language, the English language
specifically in Tans work, is a very important factor in everyones lives, but is doubly so within the lives
SA 1 Rhetorical Analysis Mother Tongue By Tan
Christopher Horton
of people whose native language or native background isnt from an English-speaking country. Tan
states that English is unlike items such as math, which have one distinctive, absolutely correct answer,
whereby English in itself has many different forms, answers, styles, dialects, among other items. Tan
finalizes her thoughts by providing a detailed look into what the English languages does overall to
immigrants or non-native speakers of English, specifically Asian-Americans, in her questions of Why do
so many Chinese students go into engineering? Why are there few Asian Americans enrolled in creative
writing programs? among others, and answering her own rhetorical questions with the fact that this
makes [her] think that there are other Asian-American students whose English spoken in the home
might also be described as broken or limitedand perhaps [because of this] they have teachers who
are steering them away from writing and into math or science, an experience that actually did happen
to Tan herself.
In short, Mother Tongue is a few in-depth and rhetorical look written by tan into the English
language and its effects upon people, specifically upon those whose native backgrounds or native
language into English. By incorporating and utilizing real-life examples and experiences from her own life
into the work, I believe Tan was able to lead more credibility into what she was saying and communicate
her works message to the readers in a better way than by not doing so.