Rhetorical Analysis Essay

    Most people who have tried to learn another language have understood how difficult it is to become fluent. ”Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan gives readers the message that no matter how hard it may be to adapt to a new language such as English, with courage as well as passion, it is more than possible. There are many experiences that Amy Tan shares in mother tongue that further prove this point. Amy Tan’s use of rhetorical devices as well as her relationship to her mother, also help her best express herself to the reader in this text and also reveal her overall purpose for writing this piece.

        ”Mother Tongue” was published by Amy Tan in 1990. Amy Tan is a Chinese American author who is best known for writing the Joy Luck Club. In “Mother Tongue”, Amy Tan discusses her experience talking to her mother as well as talking to other people. “Mother Tongue” is a writing of self reflection where Amy Tan explains the different English she uses and tries to define the English that her mother speaks to her. She explains how her mother’s English is not very good and that sometimes people do not take her seriously and judge her prematurely because of it. Amy Tan explains that because of her home language, it was difficult for her to adjust to her school life because everything was new terrain. Although there were not many Chinese American writers, for this reason, Amy Tan decided to be rebellious and become a writer herself. Amy Tan’s use of rhetorical devices allowed her to express her thoughts and points more effectively in this text.

             Amy Tan uses the rhetorical device of logos to explain her love/hate relationship to her native language in “Mother Tongue”. She appeals to the logic of that simply because someone is at a disadvantage when it comes to English, does not mean they do not have the discipline or the ambition to improve. For example, Amy Tan’s struggle to learn English, does not mean she was unable to become a writer. She explains how she became an English major because she is rebellious in nature. What she is doing here is appealing to the logic that a person can still be ambitious in learning English even if they do not speak English correctly in the present moment. Through challenging herself, she discovered her passion of writing fiction. This leads us to the overall purpose of this text which is to give hope to readers who are struggling to adapt to English or another language that is somewhat foreign to them. This is why Amy Tan continues to mention the struggles that she has faced in her childhood with her broken English as a way of showing all the progress that she has made throughout the years. She helps the reader to understand her improvement through descriptive experiences in the text.   

    ”Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan gives readers the message that no matter how hard it may be to adapt to a new language such as English, with courage as well as passion, it is more than possible. The first example of the challenging aspect of this can be found in the following quote by Amy Tan “The language spoken in the family, especially in immigrant families which are more insular, plays a large role in shaping the language of the child. And I believe that it affected my results on achievement tests…” This quote shows a huge obstacle that children who try to learn another language than that of their families face and specifically one that Amy Tan had to overcome. This is important because she further talks about how through the art of practice and passion for the English language one can easily gain mastery over it. In Amy Tan’s eyes, writing about something you care for will allow you to get more practice. “I finally began to write fiction… I wrote using what I thought to be wittily crafted sentences, sentences that would finally prove I had mastery over the English language.” This quote further proves the point that through finding passion for a desired language, one can make himself capable of becoming fluent. Amy Tan makes it clear as she found joy in English writing fiction stories which allowed her to write more often and craft sentences that were better after each time. It was only when she started writing fiction and she started to see these improvements happening for her.

    Diving into the courage aspect of this, Amy Tan discusses in the text, a theory that she developed about why many Asians choose to not pursue writing careers. She concluded that it was because of the intimidation of not being fluent in English, had on them. However in the following quote she explains why she stood apart. “Fortunately, I happen to be rebellious in nature and enjoy the challenge of disproving assumptions made about me. I became an English major my first year in college.” This quote shows a significant reason why Amy Tan was able to become proficient in the English language over her peers. Her rebellious nature gave her the courage to oppose the stereotypes which allowed her to practice what others did not. Her courage to major in English ultimately resulted in her discovering her passion for fiction writing. Another quote that showcases Amy Tan’s courage and perseverance to fully educate herself in the English language, goes as follows. “After I was told by my former boss that writing was my worst skill and I should hone my talents toward account management.” Being told by her boss that she has a very potent weakness in English did not stop Amy Tan from pursuing the language. This experience proves that through having the courage to persevere, no matter what negative feedback you receive will ultimately be your greatest ally in the quest to fully learn another language.

    Amy Tan’s qualities that allowed her to become proficient in English is that of courage, perseverance, and passion. She clearly showed this in many areas of the text where she explained how she is rebellious in nature and why she chose to major in English despite the stereotypes and intimidations during that time. She also proved this in her explanation of the type of writing she felt passion for that allowed her to practice English much more frequently. Amy Tan’s relationship and experiences with her mother also help move the story along in a way that helps the reader fully understand Amy Tan’s relationship with English throughout her life. She also does this to convey her purpose for writing this text which was to inspire those people who aspire to learn a language that is somewhat unfamiliar to them through showing how she had struggled to learn English in her own past.