Context & Exigence 

This reading was mostly about people, who mainly come from different coin tires and speak a different language,go through because they might not be speaking, what many call today “correct english” This text was written by Amy, and was originally published as “Under Western Eyes’ in 1990.This reading speaks about a crisis happening today which involves many people who don’t speak the english language and how they are treated lesser than people who have learned the “right” way of speaking and writing english.

Author  

The author of this book is Amy Tan. She was born in 1952 in Oakland.california  and is the daughter of immigrants who fled from China.  Her very first novel was “The Joy Luck Club’ in 1989 and after that she has written many more pieces of writing. Amy has shared with us what it is like coming from an immigrant background and shared her perspective on how they are treated differently because of the way they have learned how to speak and write differently. 

Text

This reading is more of a personal essay, I say this because she shared many moments in her life and how she felt about certain things. This being a personal essay really gave depth and emotion to her writing. Many can relate to what she has gone through and because of that this piece of writing can be seen as very powerful. The text was published in the Threepenny review, stated in wikipedia “the threepenny review is an American Literary magazine founded in 1980, it offers fiction,memoirs,poetry,essays, and criticism” this shows that since that place the text was published is an “ American Literary magazine” many people in american can relate to what she is going through.

Audience 

The Author’s intended audience are 

• People of immigrant households 
• People who criticize those who english isn’t “perfect’
• People who are criticized because of there english

What I can infer about the audience is that they have been targeted because of how they speak. For example as it states,“The fact that people in department stores,at banks, and at restaurants did not take her seriously, did not give her good service, pretended not to understand her,or even acted as if they did not hear her.”(pg 78)”With this sentence you can think that many probably felt what her mother  might have felt in the moment. 

Purpose 

The author’s purpose is to bring awareness to those people, especially immigrants,who are disrespected because of the way they speak a language they have just learned.Not only just that she also wants to show others that it is not fair or even okay to criticize someone because of the way they speak or write in a certain language.  

Argument

The main claim of this text is that people who don’t speak “correct English” are seen as inferior and are treated less than those who do speak the language “correctly”. The Authors stace to her claim is that those people shoulnt be treated that way and should be respected and seen like any other human being. 

Evidence 

“I found myself conscious of the English i was using,english i do use with her.”(pg 76)

“Yet some of my friends tell me they understand 50 percent of what my mother says,some say they understand 80 to 90 percent. Some say they understand none of it”(pg 77)

“it has always bothered me that i can think of no way to describe it other than “broken”, as if it were damaged and needed to be fixed’(Amy Tan pg 77) 

“The fact that people in department stores,at banks, and at restaurants did not take her seriously, did not give her good service, pretended not to understand her,or even acted as if they did not hear her.”(pg 78)”

“ i think my mothers English almost effected on limiting my possibilities in life as well.”(pg79)

Rhetorical Strategies

When writing this piece the author uses many strategies to make sure the reader knows where she is coming from.strategies like sharing her own personal experience can help her connect with people who have gone through what she has. Another strategy she used was what her moms and people around her were going through, this shows that it was not only her going through this unfairness. She also connected with immigrant students by stating how school and tests like the SATs made her feel about her answers and writing.

Works Cited

Tan, Amy. Mother tougue. 1990. threepenny review.The Threepenny Review. 2022. Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Threepenny_Review. Accessed 31 august 2022.