Essay on Power of Language

Amy Tan’s novel “Mother Tongue” is a tale about Tan’s relationship with her mother. Chinese and American cultures are contrasted and contrasted with each other in this article. She uses her own writing style to establish a link between these two civilizations because she believes that language possesses unfathomable power, which she believes to be true. Tan wants to dispel the notion that Asians are incapable of succeeding in the liberal arts but thrive in mathematics and science, which he believes to be false. She loves writing papers since it allows her to share her thoughts with others. Besides that, she stresses the need of not only catching other people’s attention in the world, but also improving one’s own life in order to succeed. Her contacts with her mother, in particular the way her mother communicates in English, are discussed in detail. Amy Tan makes a passing mention to her mother’s “bad English” in an article she has written. Despite the fact that Tan speaks English quite well, she was always able to understand what her mother was saying when she talked in broken English. Tan demonstrates the power of language through archetypes, comedy, pathos, and conversation, demonstrating how you can use it to express your feelings and experiences to others in a variety of situations.

At the opening of the story, Tan points out that she does not wish to be a scholar but rather a writer, as she cannot tell us more than “personal views on English in this country or others” (466). Her intention is obvious to express her emotions in the manner she learnt English in school, but she can also speak the same poor English as her mama.

She utilizes an archetype to describe “the power of words” as “the way that an emotion, a visual picture, a complicated concept, or a basic fact may be evoked.” The significance of this declaration is that linguistic uses are diverse. All have a mother tongue and utilize it in their everyday lives, but also how to harness the language’s power to help you succeed. We should know how to utilize it to convince others, create a presentation, teach people additional information from their own studies, etc. “Language is my trade instrument. And I utilize them all the English with which I grew up.” My business here alludes to her writing. Language has become a key element of her existence. It is useful in her work and she continues to use it in the next life. We have the responsibility to study our mother tongue and other languages well (amy, 291). We can observe that she utilizes “English” in plural form which is revealed that English may have many forms or speaking methods in her thoughts. “English” implies for Tan that one is Chinese-English, the other is flawless English. I discover that in our lives language is necessary. Regardless of the language we use, the most important thing is that you can communicate emotions effectively to others, and then you utilize the power of words. The way she grew up is how she wants to get accustomed. We have to accept whatever we have and strive to enhance it if we can.

The position of the author is truly convincing because it shows us the power of language. I fully agree with her that language of opinion is a powerful tool on which we rely in our daily routines. The author uses a very persuasive tone with an excellent word choice. I believe that this essay is mostly intended to teach people that there is no correct kind of English and that the hat English comes in various forms, therefore no bias should exist.

Reference

Tongue, Mother. “Amy Tan.” The World is a Text: Writing, Reading, and Thinking about Culture and Its Contexts (2003): 291.