Amy Tan's Story Mother Tongue
A good portion of Americans today speak English as their first language. However, what makes us different is that it is rare to find two people that speak the exact same English. This is the argument Amy Tan makes in her story “Mother Tongue”. A first-generation Asian American, Tan emigrated from China to Oakland, California, where she became a famous writer. She shares her personal story of the English she speaks, and how much the people you are around can change the way you converse. While at home, she speaks to her mother in a “broken” sort of choppy English that she can understand. When she is talking to people she works with or deals with on a more business-oriented basis, she uses clearly spoken, grammatically correct, standard English. It was not until giving a speech in a room that her mother was a part of that she finally realized how different her two forms of English really are.
“Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan, was written for all kinds of people. Those who, like her mother, speak a broken form of English, those who speak a more...
The Essay written by Amy Tan titled 'Mother Tongue' concludes with her saying, 'I knew I had succeeded where I counted when my mother finished my book and gave her understandable verdict' (39). The essay focuses on the prejudices of Amy and her mother. All her life, Amy's mother has been looked down upon due to the fact that she did not speak proper English. Amy defends her mother's 'Broken' English by the fact that she is Chinese and that the 'Simple' English spoken in her family 'Has become a language of intimacy, a different sort of English that relates to family talk' (36). Little did she know that she was actually speaking more than one type of English. Amy Tan was successful in providing resourceful information in every aspect. This gave the reader a full understanding of the disadvantages Amy and her mother had with reading and writing. The Essay 'Mother Tongue' truly represents Amy Tan's love and passion for her mother as well as her writing. Finally getting the respect of her critics and lucratively connecting with the reaction her mother had to her book, 'So easy to read' (39). Was writing a book the best way to bond with your own mother? Is it a struggle to always have the urge to fit in? Was it healthy for her to take care of family situations all her life because her mother is unable to speak clear English?
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Ouimet, Marc. "Crime In Canada And In The United States: A Comparative Analysis." Canadian Review Of Sociology & Anthropology 36.3 (1999): 389-408. Academic Search Premier. Web. 5 Apr. 2014.
Improved economy helped Canada’s rate of crime decrease since the 1990’s but different evidence suggests that methods used in response to serious crimes during that time may have influenced the crime trends. The Constitution Act of 1867 contains the authority to enact criminal laws and procedures to be followed by the federal government (Welsh & Irving, 2005). First enacted in 1892, the Criminal Code, continually revised, is used for setting out two main categories of offense: indictable and summary conviction, indictable being homicide and robbery, more serious kinds of crime with involved trials (Welsh & Irving, 2005). Canada is also known for its Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and these police ...
English is an invisible gate. Immigrants are the outsiders. And native speakers are the gatekeepers. Whether the gate is wide open to welcome the broken English speakers depends on their perceptions. Sadly, most of the times, the gate is shut tight, like the case of Tan’s mother as she discusses in her essay, "the mother tongue." People treat her mother with attitudes because of her improper English before they get to know her. Tan sympathizes for her mother as well as other immigrants. Tan, once embarrassed by her mother, now begins her writing journal through a brand-new kaleidoscope. She sees the beauty behind the "broken" English, even though it is different. Tan combines repetition, cause and effect, and exemplification to emphasize her belief that there are more than one proper way (proper English) to communicate with each other. Tan hopes her audience to understand that the power of language- “the way it can evoke an emotion, a visual image, a complex idea, or a simple truth”- purposes to connect societies, cultures, and individuals, rather than to rank our intelligence.
Demand for Panera franchising opportunities was very high, which allowed Panera to be picky about where and with whom they would do business. Panera determined where bakery-café locations could be. The franchisees bore the cost of opening new locations, and were required to obtain their ingredients from the home company. Expansion using the franchise model provided many upside benefits for Panera, while limiting the downside r...
In their articles, Chang Rae-Lee and Amy Tan establish a profound ethos by utilizing examples of the effects their mother-daughter/mother-son relationships have had on their language and writing. Lee’s "Mute in an English-Only World" illustrates his maturity as a writer due to his mother’s influence on growth in respect. Tan, in "Mother Tongue," explains how her mother changed her writing by first changing her conception of language. In any situation, the ethos a writer brings to an argument is crucial to the success in connecting with the audience; naturally a writer wants to present himself/herself as reliable and credible (Lunsford 308). Lee and Tan, both of stereotypical immigrant background, use their memories of deceased mothers to build credibility in their respective articles.
In the work of Amy Tan’s “Mother’s Tongue” she provides a look into how she adapted her language to assimilate into American culture. She made changes to her language because her mother heavily relied on her for translation. She was the voice of her mother, relaying information in standard English to those who were unable to understand her mother’s broken english. She tells about her mother’s broken english and its impact on her communication to those outside their culture. Her mothers broken english limited others’ perception of her intelligence, and even her own perception of her mother was scewed: Tan said, “I know this for a fact, because when I was growing up, my mothers ‘limited’ English limited my perception of her. I was ashamed of her English. I believed that her English reflected the quality of what she had to say.” (419) The use of standard english was a critical component to Tan’s assimilation into American culture. Standard English was an element she acquired to help her mother but more importantly is was an element that helped in her gain success as a writer. Tan changed her ‘Englishes’ (family talk) to include standard English that she had learnt in school and through books, the forms of English that she did not use at home with her mother. (417-418) Tan realized the ch...
The paper topic is to explore how law enforcement can break up or deter the organized crime. Taking the mafia in Italy as an example, it can demonstrate that how the law enforcement come up with the methods or publish the laws to fight against the mafia and the effectiveness of various strategies to combat the organized crime. Through research, it is a milestone that government published the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO) law to prosecute those who are in the part of crime and give them punishment and penalties as severe consequences. Moreover, it is significant that government and local intelligence agencies cooperate together to achieve high-effective restraint of organized crime. Furthermore, it is sufficient to
Not having to answer to a corporate boss is the dream of many and the flexibility that owning a business franchise creates provides this option. Success is not reached by simply creating a business, however. The level of success is measured by the size and efficiency of the business. Business growth is the driving force of the economy. The additional jobs and revenues created when a business expands allow the economy to grow at exponential rates. One of the fastest and most popular ways to increase the size of a business is to turn it into a franchise, which can then be purchased by individuals. Franchising provides opportunities that are beneficial to both the parent company and the purchaser. The company that owns the business can expand without having to pay such a large initial cost to open a new store since the franchise purchaser pays a cost to open the business. As well, the company can regulate many of the business activities so that there is a sense of consistency throughout all of the locations. The purchaser is allowed to use the trademarks and goods of the franchise which already have a large market presence. As well, they are provided with training and work standards by the company to help their business run smoothly (Kalnins & Lafontaine, 2004, p.761). Looking at the business model of the world’s largest food retailer, McDonald’s, provides great insight into franchising and business growth in general as well a better understanding of a global business that utilizes the franchising technique.
Sacco, V.F and Kennedy, L.W (2011). The Criminal Event: An Introduction to Criminology in Canada. Toronto Cengage Learning.
A franchise is simply investing money in a location or store, and then having the store become your own business after learning how to manage the entire business. You earn the majority of the profits, and you also don't have to worry about operations. You'll be taught by the company on how it run the entire business, and this is the reason why this is a huge and very easy way to become rich. Franchises require quite a hefty investment depending on the business you plan to buy. However, if the business is in high demand, there is profits to be made. Take for exMple the Cold Stone Creamery business. Countless people purchase one of their many franchises. The money is very good, the opportunities are endless, and the fact that there is no more need for advertising is what makes this more worth the investment in the long
The first step in any business is to think of or create a business idea. Without an idea, one cannot launch their business off the ground. A right direction is needed to create a business with a unique idea. However, other options include franchising or buying an existing business (1). Franchising allows an individual to run stores such as Burger King or McDonalds under the corporate name. It involves taking training classes and a heap of money in order to start a franchise. A Franchisee will have to buy products and services from the corporate entity they are franchising from, which is often required. Buying a franchise is like taking a piece of the pie from the company that is franchising and sharing that pie with everybody else. In addition having a franchise allows one to communicate and in essence become a big part of an added business opportunity (4). Franchising is far from easy to start and maintain for that matter. Starting a franchise involves a l...
By choosing to expand into markets later than other fast food restaurants Burger King hopes to avoid the problems of developing infrastructure and establishing a market base. For instance, by following McDonalds into Brazil, Burger King avoided the need to develop the infrastructure and mark...