Authors come up with great works by following a set of instructions that help their workflow. There are various ways an author might categorize their work such as problem-solving, attention and awareness. The information should come out clearly for the reader to understand and keep up with the author’s ideas. For that to take place, the author needs to streamline the ideas and give depth to it for the reader to experience. A good flow brings about the best read or understanding of a topic and excites the reader to keep looking for the author’s other works and similar sources.
The reader tries to come up with a blueprint that will help him/her understand the ideas presented in the work of art. For instance, a reader can pick up two different sources and try to see the similarity and differences between the sources. By doing so, the reader is in a position to stretch out their thoughts towards the various ways the authors present in their works. It is important to analyze and synthesis different works if one wants to come up with a better conclusion in the end. Apart from coming up with conclusions, the reader is in a position to come up with their views and analysis of the works hence enhancing their skills.
The paper will look into two works that have similar characteristics that focus on the use of English. The first work to focus on is Mother Tongue by Amy Tan. She is an immigrant from the Asian country. She moved to America with her family. She brings into focus the problems people go through when it comes to the use of broken English. She says that they rarely notice that they use broken English because they have spoken like that since the time they arrived in the country. She brings into light cultural racism but does not point a direct finger into it. Her thoughts come from the difficulty non-Americans face in their day to day life through communication.
She centers on how her mother shy from speaking to people because her English is not proper. She helped her mother in various situations while growing up because people did not take her mother serious because of her accent. She recalls a time her mother gave her the phone to speak to a stock broker because her English was better than hers. For a while, the change of character helped her mother to get her way without people looking down upon her. Tan did not realize that when growing up till the day she was at the Joy Club. She went there to give a short review of her book and felt her English was too academic in comparison to her mother’s English.
Another time she feels the change is during shopping with her mother and husband. Tan said “not waste money that way” and felt odd about it. It did not feel right saying that because it was what her mother used to say. It brought about the two sides of English that she spoke that was the proper English and broken English. The broken English contradicts her mother’s understanding of the language, but it does not imply that she is not intelligent. However, Tan expresses that her mother’s English does not limit her, contrary to what other people felt about her. She recognizes the limitation of the improper English towards her mother’s interactions and opportunities.
Her mother suffered a gruesome experience when she went to the doctor to pick up a CAT scan and the doctors ignored her after many pleas that they lost her results. The doctors’ action was as a result of her English; they looked down upon her because of it. Tan came later to seek out the problem with the doctors who later had a change of her and apologized for the loss and solved the issue immediately. Tan continues with her research on discrimination and how various people suffer due to their language. She comes up with an idea that immigrant’s family play a major role in equipping their children’s language since they tend to pick up from their parents and guardians. She comes up with a thought that she missed some opportunities in life because of her language.
She looks at the education system and finds that most Asians prosper well in math exams but fail in English exams. The English limitation makes her wonder whether the education system tries to direct immigrants to focus nonliterature fields. She relates the discovery of her life as she was looking forward to doing medicine. She challenged herself in changing her career from pre-med to literature. Her aim is to show people that immigrants can be good at English and mentor other people in following her footsteps. She later comes up with books with easy English that the average person could understand. She gave her mother one of her books and she later told her that it was easy to read. Finally, Tan achieved her goals.
The second work is “Concerning the American Language” written by Mark Twain. The book centers on the differences between English and American as a language. True English came from England before the split of some of the Europeans to America. While in America, the people changed how they pronounced some words and sentences. However, the English men did not find the pronunciation correct, and a wall erupted in the dos and do nots of English. Instead of fighting out in changing the American English, they registered it as a language though halfhearted.
Twain begins the paper by echoing a compliment given to him by an English man for the correct use of language. The man said that Twain spoke better English than the other Americans.However, he felt insulted by it and brings up an argument with the man. As per Twain, he did not speak English but spoke American. There was a contrast between the two which he was more than honored to spell it out for the Englishman.
The man found it humorous since to him it was more of a distinction that lacks a difference. However, Twain felt the difference between the two languages were not prodigious though considerable. The languages had equal identities a couple of generations ago. The diversity of people from the south and the west brought about the change in the pronunciation of words and introduction of new words. A major distinction that Twain brought to light was how the two regions talk. The Americans do not through their noses like the English men hence the differences in pronunciation, for instance, the Americans say cow while English people say nao. However, the argument bears no fruit as no party wanted to admit defeat.
The writer establishes other avenues that show the widespread of each language. England and the small part referred to as New England use the English and close to forty-five million Americans use American. The American language shortened the English phrase ‘glass of wawtah’ to a ‘glass of water’ since it felt too long and had unnecessary ‘a’s in it. As per the author, it felt much better than before.
The two text begin by outlining the various situations that surround language. The language in focus is English and how it evolved to what it was today. Mark Twain gives a brief introduction of English and its roots. He establishes the differences between the old English and American English. The difference makes the Britons look down upon the Americans because of their English. They see them as cripples to the language and gather no sympathy for them. The statement speaks for itself from the English man compliment to Twain. The language discrimination appears in Tan’s story. The Americans look down upon immigrants due to their broken language. The scenario of Tan’s mother in the hospital shows the way doctors discriminate immigrants with broken English. What comes to light is the fact that doctors took Tan serious because of her speech. The doctors had a racial characteristic to them, but it is not because of their race but because of the language.
Another thing established in the texts is the zeal both authors try and defend themselves and their people. Tan gets agitated by the education system’s way of diverting Asians into focusing on non-literature courses because of their language. The thought hits her after she takes a look at the performance of immigrants in various subjects. She takes upon herself to undertake the challenge and switch careers to English. Her main focus is to prove the system wrong and bring awareness of the problem faced by immigrants. Mark, on the other hand, battles out with the English man on the differences that exist between English and American. The English man suggests that there was a distinction between the two but no differences. The author battles his points out though no one conceives defeat as they establish different stands towards the matter.
The major difference between the two contexts is the targeted audience. The Americans overpower the English in terms of numbers hence they do not face discrimination individually. However, the immigrants are few hence increasing their chances of discrimination. Tan recalls of the several cases that her mother experienced while communicating with other people and their perception. The immigrants are few and have no option but to comply with the language. Their broken English seems to put them down in terms of opportunities that they can get.
Works Cited
Hernandez, Karloz. Amy Tan's "Mother Tongue" Summary. 6 November 2009. Web. 20 April 2015. <http://cnslassignment1.blogspot.com/2009/11/amy-tans-mother-tongue-summary.html>
Tan, Amy. Mother Tongue. 6 February 2008. Web. 20 April 2015. <https://blogs.law.harvard.edu/guorui/2008/02/06/mother-tongue-by-amy-tan/>
Twain, Mark. Concerning the American Language. 2015. Web. 20 April 2015. <http://www.online-literature.com/twain/3276/>
