“Mother Tongue” Response Questions

1. The expression used in Amy Tan’s title, “Mother Tongue,” is also used in paragraph seven.

What does this expression generally mean? What does it seem to mean in this essay?

This expression generally means how she speaks. In this essay it is basically how she only understand what and how her mother speaks, which goes back to the shows she watches.

2. Tan uses dialogue throughout the essay…why do you think she does this? What purpose does

it serve? Which sentences of dialogue do you find particularly effective, and why?

I think she use dialogue to help us see how someone talks. It helps give us more insight. One dialogue I like was when she was acting like her mother and how she translated what her mother said into a lot smoother words.

3. In what ways did outsiders (like bankers and waiters) make judgments of Tan’s mother

because of her language? Do you think the judgments where deliberate or unconscious on their

part? Explain.

She felt outsiders treated her mother poorly just because she didn't speak perfect english. I think the judgments were not deliberate just probably little shorter tempered because it was hard to understand her.