“Mother Tounge” by Amy Tan

Introduction

In this paper, we would be analyzing the rhetorical techniques used in “Mother Tounge” by Amy Tan . The paper will be discussing and analyzing the different aspects of rhetoric devices and techniques used in the story.

Summary

The primary purpsoe of Tan's “Mother Tongue” is to orient the readers about the author's inteperation of differentiating Standard English and broken English. Another purpose of writing such book is the fact that Amy Tan has spent much of her time in America, but she was born in China. This factor has enabled her to have the blend of both the socieities, which was also evident in her writing.

In the book “Mother Toungue”, the author has discussed the factors that has proved to be the primary determinants of association with her mother. Moreover, being a Chinese native, the author's mother often finds it difficult to speak Standard Language. In her writing, Amy Tan described the merits and demerits that arose due to the limitation of her mother's langauge.

About Author

Amy Tan, born on February 19 of 1952 , is a writer from the United States that explores the relationships between mothers and daughters and it MEANS to be part of the first generation of Asian Americans. In 1993 , the film adaptation of his most popular work, The Lucky Star Club, became a commercial success.

She is known for her first novel, The Good Star Club published in 1989. She also wrote The Kitchen God's Wife. In 1995, she wrote The Hundred Secret Senses. Her last published novel was The Bonesetter's Daughter, though her most recent work is Saving Fish For Drowing,  which recounts the experiences of a group of people when lost in an expedition to the jungles of Burma. In addition, Tan has written two books for children: The Lady in the Moon (1992) and The Chinese Siamese Cat (1994), and has also appeared in television spots PBS encouraging children to writing.

Amy Tan was known to the books, the wife of the fire god and daughters of heaven, which was filmed under its own direction. Other works include The Hundred Secret Senses and The Opposite of Fate: A Book of Musings, a collection of non-fictional essays. They also wrote two children's books: The Moon Woman (1992) and The Chinese velvet cat (1994). Her books have been translated into 35 languages.The libretto for the 2008 at the San Francisco Opera premiered in setting her bestseller The Bonesetter's Daughter Amy Tan wrote himself a composer of opera is Stewart Wallace .

At age forty, Tan was part of the garage-rock band literary Rock Bottom Remainders, along with Dave Barry and Stephen King, who dedicated his book. Along with King, Tan appeared in an episode of The Simpsons called Insane Clown Poppy. Although her work has been widely praised by critics, some of them, like The Joy Luck Club, have been criticized by the Asian American author Frank Chin for perpetuating racist stereotypes (Henderson, pp. 265-266).

Rhetorical Analysis

The author has used Appeal to pride ( an emotional appeal) device in the story “Mother Tounge” to grab the attention of the audience. In “Mother Tongue,” Amy Tan also uses other rhetorical devices such as anecdote and oxymoron to express her embarrassed and guilt, but loving attitude toward the broken English language of her mother. Amy Tan has used a comination of rhetorcial devices to express her emotions and feelings through ...