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Mac Fackrell

Mrs. Jackie Burr, Instructor

English 1010, P. 3

22 October 2018

The Tongues of a Believer

Amy Tan’s piece written in 2007 “Mother Tongue” forces readers to dive deeper into

what it can be like to grow up learning and understanding different ways people utter the same

English. Tan argues that the way you speak, the words you use, or how you write does not

determine anything about your status or value. She explains that even though her mother may not

speak perfect English, it is not the only factor that can define an individual’s being or success.

The author exemplifies and strengthens her idea that success is not determined by what others

think, but whether or not you achieve your personal goals in the face of adversity and challenge

by sharing personal stories, first-hand experience, and statistics.

Tan’s credibility and knowledge initiates and creates a baseline with her telling us that

she gave speeches based around her very own book, ​The Joy Luck Club​, showcasing two modes

of communication, both of which involve great amounts of word knowledge and usage. Having

written something that has been published shows an extensive understanding on both the writer’s

and the reader’s side, appealing to the ethos of the argument (391). Had her work not been

published and dispersed to the public, her credibility may be limited and this would be more of

an article to tell about her experience rather than its true purpose which is to emphasize validity

in a variety of tongues. She makes a point that she doesn’t write for everyone’s validation, but to

express an idea she wants to share. Tan says that she “...wanted to capture what language ability
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tests can never reveal: [my mother’s] intent, her passion, her imagery, the rhythms of her speech

and the nature of her thoughts” (397). She uses pathos and ethos to empower and justify her

mother and her argument that the central idea of one’s words should be more important than the

words one uses. Everyone has their own original thoughts and everyone has a passion. Tan wants

to show her readers that the challenges unique vernacular may present will never be too great to

overcome and that individuality will prosper.

Many believe grades mean everything. After all, students use them to get into universities

or obtain careers. In school, Amy Tan “...did moderately well, getting perhaps B’s, sometimes

B-pluses, in English and scoring perhaps in the sixtieth or seventieth percentile on achievement

tests,” (396). With scores equivalent to an achieving student, Tan has as much knowledge as

anyone else does on the english language despite her family history. Her ability to differentiate

the types of spoken word continue to support her argument, as she has the ability to speculate

from a scholarly viewpoint as well as appealing to her mother’s tongue. Tan’s achievement in

subjects like math and science follow the social norm, her interest in writing and English

surprises her teachers and classmates due to stereotypes, such as the misbelief that people of

Asian heritage are better and should stick to sciences and mathematics. Tan finds nothing wrong

with studying more about language, and explains to the audience with a humanistic tone

displaying her thought processes. This internal description makes readers aware that she has

many ideas about words, phrases, similes and metaphors just like anybody else.

Tan sets the stage with pathos when she tells a tale that her mother once shared of a

gangster from Shanghai, China. As she wrote the story in the way her mother spoke it, a listener

would understand why a barrier may be present. Many people had told Tan that the story made
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little sense, or that they couldn’t understand it because of the “broken” or “fractured” English she

used (392). However, no matter how much of the story that can be understood, its purpose is to

provide insight as to what Tan means when she says “tongues.” She gives herself a chance to set

herself apart by explaining the many ways her family talks and listens, but also gets to tell the

audience that in the midst of all those ways of speaking, understanding has never been the issue.

Being able to get real examples of different ways of speaking the same language helps readers

understand the true meaning of the title on top of building a sense of unity. As Tan’s mother

serves as one of the subjects of the piece, one compares and contrasts her mother with their own.

Comparing the hardships a family faces to one’s own life often resonates with the reader, as

introspection of the sort deems uncommon in many readings.

Tapping into emotion helps Tan further her argument when she recalls a recent tabaccle

they faced while at the hospital. With a family history or cancerous tumors, Mrs. Tan went to the

hospital to get hers checked, only for the hospital to lose the CAT scan:

[Mrs. Tan] said they did not seem to have any sympathy when she told them she

was anxious to know the exact diagnosis, since her husband and son had both died

of brain tumors. ...when the doctor called her daughter, me, who spoke in perfect

English -- lo and behold -- we had assurances the CAT scan would be found…

and apologies for any suffering my mother had gone through. (395)

In more dire situations like the one above, the lack of empathy and understanding causes a big

issue to many foreigners. This is extremely relevant, for this scenario was fixed with a phone call

with well-spoken English. As for the Tan family, they wanted to ensure the wellbeing of Mrs.

Tan since both her son and husband died from similar circumstances. Telling this story
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emphasizes the importance of recognizing that English isn’t about perfection, but about

expression and comprehension. Having tried their best, not everyone has a family member they

can call who will sort things out in perfect English. This example about a one-sided lack of

empathy increases the value of Tan’s argument that a person’s essence should not be based off of

how they look or speak, but how they behave or wish to achieve.

Amy Tan convinced readers to recognize the value of what someone has to say, not how

they say it. Many foreigners face this problem on a daily basis, and to take a second to fully

comprehend what someone says can make a big difference. Tan continues to empathize and tap

into emotion while writing about a topic in which she understands through hardship and trial,

then proceeds to backs it up with emotional and relevant anecdotes. Though she starts off shy

and sounding more hesitant about her mother’s native tongue, she persuades the audience to

reflect with pathos when she tells her personal stories like the hospital scenario or how her

grades did not define who she believed she was, and how dealing with adversity is different than

overcoming it. Having presented that vulnerability, the connection she makes with the readers

helps encompass and build comradery between her and the audience. She maintains her ethos by

giving insight to her thought process, having written a book, and basing this article off of her

own mother and diction, proving her knowledge on the subject is full and true.

Work Cited

Tan, Amy. “Mother Tongue.” ​75 Readings: An Anthology. 1​ 0th edition, ed. Santi Buscemi,

Charlotte Smith. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2007, 391-397. Print.