Lexe Selman Published with Permission of Student

Lexe Selman [published with permission of student]

English 101

Professor Frey

July 24, 2013

Establishing Relationships

Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue” is a literacy narrative essay about “broken” English. In

English classes we are often given rules to abide by when writing an essay, poem, or other literary form. Once written, we are critiqued on how well we follow instructions and not on our ideas. In her essay, Tan argues through diction and reflection on memories that English is more than just following rules: it’s a way to establish relationships.

Tan uses diction to set a relaxed tone by using simple understandable words. She starts off stating, “I am not a scholar of English or Literature” (160). Here the word choice sets a casual tone that will follow throughout the essay. The use of the phrase “not a scholar” explains to readers they are not about to read a long, difficult to understand, academic essay. Instead, readers feel more confident in reading the essay and more open to the content. At the end of the essay she continues the informal tone when she includes a line from her book as “a terrible line, which

I can barely pronounce” (166). “Terrible” is a common way to describe how you negatively feel toward something. The choice of the word “terrible” is significant because Tan could have used a more scholarly term but instead she chose to simply express her dislike for an academically correct sentence. By using these simple words Tan connects to the reader on a more intimate level.

After setting the opening tone, Tan’s word choice establishes a more personal relationship with the reader. Throughout the essay we learn of several different specific types of language: academic, “broken”, family talk, and “language of intimacy” (161). When discussing

The Joy Luck Club or “Mother Tongue” with a fellow author it would be inappropriate to use SELMAN 2 “intimate” English, rather academic English terms should be exchanged. Tan uses “intimate” language when she talks with her husband, giving her tone a more reverent meaning. Tan even starts to get intimate with us as readers; on page 161, she starts to interact with us by saying “so you’ll have some idea of what this family talk I heard sounds like, I’ll quote what my mother said during a recent conversation which I videotaped and then transcribed.” Here the word

“you’ll” invites us as a reader to have interaction with her mother’s English. The beginning of the essay gives us a little information about Tan, kind of like meeting someone for the first time and getting background information on them. Once she’s introduced herself and the topic, readers are invited to gain a connection between broken English and what it sounds like when spoken, similar to having a two-way conversation. After sharing with us the dialogue of how a rich mafia member came to pay respect at her mother’s wedding, Tan refers to the language as

“mother tongue” (162). There are many different ways to say mom. I find it interesting that the author chose to say mother, which is a more old fashioned, respectful way to refer to a mom. She changes the type of language from broken English to mother tongue because it has a more humble, respectful sound to it. Broken English sounds like the language is shattered and needs to be repaired but Mother Tongue is more personal, like a language reserved for certain relationships.

Although there is a more simple and respectful feel throughout the essay, there is a point when Tan’s diction demonstrates how English rules make people think they are superior to others who don’t follow those rules. When Tan talks of a teenage memory, her word choice becomes more scholarly since her mother’s English embarrassed her and she believed that,

“because she expressed them imperfectly her thoughts were imperfect” (163). She begins to use complicated words like empirical, guise, adolescent, and impeccable. These words establish that SELMAN 3 at this time Tan thinks that she is above her mom because of her perfect English. We can infer that she learned the “correct” way to speak from her English classes and we see how that knowledge influences her relationship with her mom. When they travel to New York to yell at the stock broker who was taking advantage of Tan’s mother, Tan describes her reaction as

“sitting there red-faced and quiet, and my mother, the real Mrs. Tan, was shouting at [the stockbroker’s] boss in her impeccable broken English” (163). “Impeccable” is chosen to draw attention to how embarrassed Tan was of her mother’s English. Even before using the words “her impeccable broken English” Tan’s usage of “red-face” and “quiet” manner, portray deep embarrassment. Since Tan feels humiliated, it seems like she would want to apologize, for her mother’s sake, because the rules of English are not being followed, but she doesn’t.

In “Mother Tongue,” Tan reflects on memories in order to figure out why she feels uncomfortable using academic English—a language she uses often and that is appropriate for the setting and audience. When speaking to a large crowd of scholars Tan quotes herself using the words “I was saying things like, ‘the intersection of memory upon imagination’ and ‘there is an aspect of my fiction that relates to thus-and-thus’—a speech filled with carefully wrought grammatical phrases” (161). Normally these would be great phrases to use when talking to a room filled with academic geniuses. However, what makes this dialogue significant is that her mother is also in the audience and has never heard her speak this way because they don’t have an academic relationship. Tan writes how, as a teenager, she used academic English to show superiority over her mother. Therefore, we can also make the connection of why Tan feels so uncomfortable using academic English in front of her mother. Tan is ashamed that she felt academic English was superior to her mother’s “broken” English. SELMAN 4 Tan reflects on memories not only to determine why she feels uncomfortable overlapping language relationships but also to discover why English is more than following rules. Tan reflects on her own test taking experiences in English when she says, “the answers on English tests were always a judgment call, a matter of opinion and personal experience” (164). English is being referred to as a “judgment call” and not a specific rule that will determine the outcome. To understand why Tan believes that the answers on an English test are a “matter of opinion,” we have to read on to the next page when Tan reveals, “according to my mother, there were very few limitations as to what Tom could have been and what Mary might have thought of him”

(165). Her mother is referring to a standardized test that Tan took as a child and didn’t perform well on because of such ambiguous sentences. We can take away from this quote that “according to her mother” English could be whatever you wanted it to be. The fact that she mentions her mother’s opinion suggests she respects her mother’s view on English. This view shaped her idea of how English should be spoken and as we know her mother’s English is looked at as “broken.”

Maybe English is a “judgment call” or a “matter of opinion,” who’s to say that one form of

English is above another.

There are many different ways to speak one language and no one way is the correct way.

We use different types of language like academic, intimate, and family talk to establish relationships with others. Often we use playful and simple language when speaking with friends but when talking with a professor we use a more reserved, polite way of talking. Tan’s essay

“Mother Tongue” describes how we shouldn’t use language as a measuring tool of intelligence, but rather as a way to build and establish relationships with all kinds of people. Sometimes it can be hard to be patient with people who talk differently, but when we think of him or her as a person’s brother or sister, father or mother, we can use language to build a relationship on a more SELMAN 5 personal level. To understand an individuals use of language is to understand their culture, socio economic status, educational opportunity, and home environment.