“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore, Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” (Lazarus). Lady liberty stands towering and majestic with an inscription of Emma Lazarus’ poem, The New Colossus. The “huddled masses yearning to breathe” refers to the dark slums and ghettos that were once found in Europe, and beckons those people to America where they may breathe and be free. Lady Liberty cries out to the homeless and those who couldn’t afford first class and endured a rough journey to America (tempest-tost). The light is always on to welcome refugees day or night as Lady Liberty lifts her lamp beside the golden door. America has been built upon immigration and open arms since July 4, 1776. English should not be declared the official language of the United States in order to let diversity and the Right of Individualism flourish along with the continuation of America’s core ideas of encompassing multilingualism. Except for Native Americans, every ‘American’, is a descendant of foreigners and immigrants. Even the English language originated from England! Brick by brick, diversity has built this country. For instance, the Articles of Confederation and other documents printed by the first Continental Congress were produced in English and German. “By the beginning of the 19th century, Polish, Norwegian, Italian, Dutch, and Czech all had bilingual education programs throughout the country through the National Education Association” (Kuechler, maxweber.hunter.cuny.edu). There is indignation over the very distinctive quality that made America noteworthy. It may be considered hypocritical to laude English... ... middle of paper ... ...the official language of the United States of America. Although the roots may be diverse, Americans unite because they are American. The diversity that has been maintained since the founding of America is a beautiful accomplishment to be cherished, not destroyed. Works Cited Anzaldua, Gloria. “How to Tame a Wild Tongue.” 50 Essays: A Portable Anthology. Ed. Samuel Cohen. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2004. 22-34. Print. Kuechler, Manfred. Social Sciences. n.d. Hunter College, March 1997. Web. 14 February 2014. Silko, Leslie Marmon. “Language and Literature from a Pueblo Indian Perspective.” 50 Essays: A Portable Anthology. Ed. Samuel Cohen. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2004. 346-357. Print. Tan, Amy. “Mother Tongue.” 50 Essays: A Portable Anthology. Ed. Samuel Cohen. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2004. 404-408. Print.
Have you ever been to another country, state, or even city and realized how different your accent may be? Have you been asked to repeat a word or phrase that you may say differently? Sometimes we were asked for a good laugh, but that’s not always the case. In “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” by Gloria Anzaldúa and “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan, both authors use personal narrative to demonstrate how their lives and identity are affected by their language and culture.
Language can bring people together but can also isolate. The United States is known as a melting pot, not only does that refer to culture but also the many different languages. We know of language barriers, but very seldom do we think of the language barriers within our borders. Even with the language barriers it solidifies the need for a national language, the United States of America should allow the freedom to express one’s culture while maintaining English as our national language, therefore offering common ground to its citizens.
“Language and Literature from a Pueblo Indian Perspective” an essay written by Leslie Marmon Silko brings to life the diversified facets of the Pueblo Indian culture, sharing with readers the infrastructure of Puebloan dialect and folklore. Likewise, Amy Tan’s essay “Mother Tongue” details a series of prominent reflections of the nurturing voice responsible for constructing the author’s perceptions of the world. Both of these essays share a corresponding theme of the influence one’s culture can have on can have on individual styles of communication. The implication of the nonfiction elements plot and setting throughout the piece allows the author to adequately reinforce the theme of each piece. Each essay embodies commonalities, as well as, differences in the nonfiction elements used to depict the common theme.
From the time the Pilgrims landed in this great nation at Plymouth Rock, immigrants have been culturally diverse and have spoken many languages. When the Pilgrims arrived in the New World, they did not know how to communicate with the natives. Through intense study the natives learned the Pilgrims’ language. Even with the common language they were still a melting pot of different culture. Some would say that America has gotten over the language/ cultural barriers and now almost everyone speaks the common language of English, but there are still many immigrants who do not know English. Bilingual education is put into public schools for this reason, so that immigrant children can be assimilated to English gradually. The national language should be English instead of the official language because America has prided herself in being very diverse. If we take away the diversity, then we take away the core values that America has always had since her founding.
Language is part of the few benefits that immigrants bring with their culture. United States benefits from cultures of the many immigrants that migrate to the U.S. the variation of different languages brings great benefit to the U.
The United States is made up of multiple cultures and race, but that’s not all, we also have different Englishes. While the main language in the US is English, people use different Englishes. What I mean by different Englishes depends on what group of people one is talking to. One English can be known as sophisticated English referring to talking to a professor. As opposed to the English we use with our friends. Everyone has a unique way of communicating. In the United States, after people learn English they realize they go from using one English to using different Englishes without knowing, in order to communicate, whether it be with parents, professors, or your own pets.
In the story “Mother Tongue,” by Amy Tan, Mrs. Tan talks about (in the book) her life and how she grew up with different Englishes was very hard and how it has affected her today. The setting of the book goes from being at lecture to the past of Amy Tan and her mother along with the different Englishes she had to come accustomed to. In “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan, the author’s attitude towards the “different Englishes” she grew up with is fascinated. Amy Tan conveys this attitude through wanting to learn all different kinds of Englishes, her use of Englishes in her novel, and the acceptance she developed of her mother’s broken English.
Language is universal, but there are different meanings and sounds, which vary from one culture to another. In China citizens speak many languages, but about 94% speak the Chinese language. The difference in dialects was overcome by the written word and eventually a version of Mandrin became the “official speech” (The Cambridge Illustrated History of China, 1996,p.304). In America there are many ethnic groups with many varieties of language. The U.S. was created through many people from different countries migrating to the new states. In the U.S. there is an “official speech” which is the English language. The language of both these countries are not only different in meaning and sound, but also reflect the way in which the people in these societies live, believe, and function.
Language is an important part of who we are. It influences the way we think and behave on a great scale. However, sometimes it is forced upon us to go in different directions just so we can physically and mentally feel as if we belong to the society in which we live in. Just as we see in Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue” and Richard Rodriguez’s “A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood”, both authors faced some challenges along the way by coping with two different languages, while still trying to achieve the social position which they desired.
Despite growing up amidst a language deemed as “broken” and “fractured”, Amy Tan’s love for language allowed her to embrace the variations of English that surrounded her. In her short essay “Mother Tongue”, Tan discusses the internal conflict she had with the English learned from her mother to that of the English in her education. Sharing her experiences as an adolescent posing to be her mother for respect, Tan develops a frustration at the difficulty of not being taken seriously due to one’s inability to speak the way society expects. Disallowing others to prove their misconceptions of her, Tan exerted herself in excelling at English throughout school. She felt a need to rebel against the proverbial view that writing is not a strong suit of someone who grew up learning English in an immigrant family. Attempting to prove her mastery of the English language, Tan discovered her writing did not show who she truly was. She was an Asian-American, not just Asian, not just American, but that she belonged in both demographics. Disregarding the idea that her mother’s English could be something of a social deficit, a learning limitation, Tan expanded and cultivated her writing style to incorporate both the language she learned in school, as well as the variation of it spoken by her mother. Tan learned that in order to satisfy herself, she needed to acknowledge both of her “Englishes” (Tan 128).
Tan, Amy. “Mother Tongue." 50 Essays: A Portable Anthology. 4th Edition. Ed. Samuel Cohen. Boston/New York: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011. 417-23. Print.
Tan, Amy. "Mother Tongue." Across Cultures. Eds. Sheena Gillespie and Robert Singleton. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1999. 26-31.
The purpose of Amy Tan’s essay, “Mother Tongue,” is to show how challenging it can be if an individual is raised by a parent who speaks “limited English” (36) as Tan’s mother does, partially because it can result in people being judged poorly by others. As Tan’s primary care giver, her mother was a significant part of her childhood, and she has a strong influence over Tan’s writing style. Being raised by her mother taught her that one’s perception of the world is heavily based upon the language spoken at home. Alternately, people’s perceptions of one another are based largely on the language used.
English becoming the official Language of the United States is not just a controversial topic, it is necessary to keep America alive. American history and tradition is falling, and the ground on which she was founded is slowly fading. Americans must wake up to the importance of preserving the history of their culture. America is considered to be the greatest country in the world by even some who are not Americans. The “American Dream” is something people fantasize over all around the world. In order to keep the desire to be American, one must truly understand what it takes to be American. English is essential in living the American life. English should be the official language of the United States to give the people what they want, to recognize the historic role, and to limit controversy.
Language is like a blooming flower in adversity – they are the most rare and beautiful of them all as it struggles to express itself. It blooms and flourishes in strength, awe, and passion as the riches of thought is imbibed from the seed and into a finished beauty. For others, a non-native person speaking in a language that they are not familiar with sprouts out like a weed – the way its thorns can puncture sympathy and comprehensibility. Amy Tan, however, addresses the nature of talk as being unique under its own conditions. In Tan's “Mother Tongue”, she discusses how her mother's incoherent language is “broken” and “limited” as compared to other native English speakers. When focusing on Amy Tan, she grows noticeably embarrassed with her mother's lack of acuteness in the language, which then influences Tan to “prove her mastery over the English language.” However, she soon learns from herself and -- most importantly -- her mother that a language's purpose is to capture a person's “intent, passion, imagery, and rhythm of speech and nature of thought.” With such an enticing elegance...