Mother Tounge By Amy Tan

Dissimilar nigh of the other literature you've read for course, "Mother Tongue" past Amy Tan is short and pretty easy to breeze through. Simply now yous have to practice a literary analysis on information technology–and suddenly its short length seems similar more of a burden than a approving.

Fortunately, there are several different literary devices you lot can concentrate on for your literary assay. I am going to bear witness you lot a few of these devices and requite you lot some awesome tips on how to incorporate them into your analysis of "Mother Tongue."

Symbolism in "Mother Tongue" past Amy Tan

Mother Tongue by Amy Tan — Image by Steve Johnson via flickr

Symbolism is when an writer uses an object, person, or place to stand for a deeper concept. Even though language is not an object you tin can concord, Amy Tan yet uses language to symbolize different, more cryptic concepts.

Tip #1: Think virtually Tan'due south apply of different Englishes and what they symbolize for her.

Tan talks about a few unlike types of English and in what situations she uses them, just each English form symbolizes something dissimilar to her.

What nosotros would telephone call "proper English" symbolizes both Tan's acceptance into American society and a separation from her mother. Tan highlights this dichotomy when she writes about giving her spoken communication, maxim the "proper English" words that she was using felt foreign to say when her mother was in the room.

Tan says she uses "elementary English" around her female parent, and while this isn't the aforementioned class that her mother speaks, information technology symbolizes the bail betwixt her and her family. She says even her husband started speaking this kind of English together and that it has come to represent intimacy.

Tip #2: Write near Tan's mother's use of English and what information technology symbolizes.

Tan is very attached to her female parent'due south English to the signal that she doesn't want to refer to it as "broken." To her it symbolizes home considering it's the English she grew up with. She says it provides imagery and emotions that standard, grammatically-correct English language cannot.

Nonetheless, Tan's female parent's English also symbolizes the limitations of immigrants in America and the challenges they have to confront to be accepted. She alludes to several instances where people, fifty-fifty a medico, would not take her mother seriously because of the way she spoke.

Structure in "Female parent Tongue" by Amy Tan

Every piece of literature, whether it'southward an ballsy novel or a haiku, has some sort of construction–which is merely the organization of the material.

Tip #3: Fifty-fifty though "Female parent Tongue" is a curt story, analyze its plot or progression.

I hesitate to utilise the word "plot" in the case of "Mother Tongue" considering it doesn't seem to have much of 1, at least non in the traditional sense that most fiction stories do. Merely it does have a loose progression.

Tan talks about growing up with dissimilar forms of English and how that affected both her childhood and adult life. She talks most the challenges her mother faced with her "express" English language. Finally, she wraps it up nicely with a notation nearly how she now uses those various forms of English in her career.

Tip #4: Write about the irresolute views of Tan on language.

Tan mentions several different emotions when talking near her mother'south English. She goes from existence ashamed of her mother'southward speaking–feeling that other people volition judge her family unit–to existence proud of the rich civilization behind her mother's English.

Tip #v: Remember about the essay's structure and how effective it is for the story itself.

Spend some time evaluating the essay'southward structure, and analyze whether information technology is right for "Mother Tongue." Would it have been meliorate as a novel or a poem, or is a short narrative the way to become? Does the story feel complete as is? Does it drag on too much? All of these questions will assistance yous pinpoint the essay's effectiveness.

Tip #vi: Explain how Tan'south love of language shows throughout the story.

Near the kickoff of "Female parent Natural language," Tan says, "I am fascinated by language in daily life. I spend a great deal of my time thinking about the power of language–the mode it can evoke an emotion, a visual image, a complex idea, or a simple truth."

Remember this quote as yous read through and relate the residue of the content to this thought.

Tone in "Mother Tongue" by Amy Tan

In literature, tone is the feeling an author conveys to the audience. There can be one tone throughout the entire slice or many different tones. Tan does a bang-up chore incorporating several different tones into such a short piece. Now all you lot have to do is clarify them.

Tip #vii: Hone in on the unlike tones throughout the story, and write about them.

From guilty to gracious, annoyed to appreciative, Amy Tan uses a few unlike tones throughout "Mother Tongue." Place these tones and explain how they are employed (the language used to convey the tones), and what effect it has on the reader.

Tip #8: Analyze the tonal shifts.

Considering there are quite a few different tones in this short story, they transition from one to the other. A good literary assay might explain these transitions, and how they affect the construction of the piece. How do each of these shifts in tone assistance move the reader along in the story?

Tip #ix: Recollect about the overall tone of "Mother Tongue" and how that tone is created.

Just because there are several tones throughout "Mother Natural language" doesn't hateful that there isn't 1 overarching tone. In fact, Tan uses the same tone in the outset and end of her story–the reader starts at a homebase, sees the journey Tan is leading them on, and returns right back to where they started but with more insight than earlier.

This progression is typical of many stories, both long and brusk, but in this case you can use it to tone equally well. Be sure to focus on specific language, punctuation, and imagery used to create the overall tone.

Tip #10: Tan says that she has always been rebellious. Write about how this shows in the tone of her writing.

When writing about becoming an English major in college, Tan said that she had always been rebellious. How does she employ language in the residuum of her story to portray this rebelliousness?

(Hint: Think about how she defies modern language standards and refuses to call her mother'due south linguistic communication "broken" or "express" without putting those terms in quotation marks.)

Final Thoughts on "Mother Tongue" by Amy Tan

Though "Female parent Tongue" is a very short narrative, information technology's rich in content. Symbolism, construction, and tone are only a few literary devices you lot can utilize for your analysis, simply they are the ones that'll aid you get the most out of your analysis.

It's non about how long a story is, but rather near its content.

To see how other students have handled their analyses, check out these example essays on "Female parent Natural language."

MLA Citation for "Female parent Natural language" past Amy Tan

Tan, Amy. "Mother Natural language." The McGraw Colina Reader: Issues Beyond the Disciplines. tenth ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2008. 62-67. Impress.

Hopefully this list leaves you feeling similar you're no longer short on ideas for your analysis of this short story. Afterwards you've written your literary analysis, and you don't feel very confident in it, pass information technology along to i of the Kibin editors. They'll help you make Amy Tan proud by profitable with proper language and other editing.

Good luck!

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