MOTHER TONGUE  
                - AMY TAN  
                          
                     III Semester  
             Common Course : Literature and/as Identity 
                   II B.A. / B.Sc / B.Com  
                 Aquinas College, Edacochin 
                                                  
                                                 • Chinese American Author 
                 AMY TAN                         • Born : 1952, Oakland , California 
                                                 • Parents : John and Daisy Tan (First 
                                                    Generation Chinese Settlers) 
                                                 • Major Works  : 
                                                    The Joy Luck Club (Global Acclaimed) 
                                                     Rules of the Game 
                                                     The Kitchen God's Wife 
                                                      The Hundred Secret Senses 
                                                     The Bonesetter's Wife 
                                                                                                          
                                                     
             Roshny Elizabeth, Asst.Prof. , Dept. of English, Aquinas College, Edacochin.       2 
                                                                           Mother Tongue  
                            • A brilliant Essay                                                                               • Recounts her own 
                            • Originally Published                                                                                  experiences :Cultural & 
                                  as Under Western                                                                                  Linguistic Clashes 
                                  Eyes in The Threepenny                                                                      • She uses Broken English at 
                                Rview, 1990                                                                                         Home & Standard English 
                            • Discusses the                                                                                         in Public  
                                  linguistic issues of first                                                                  • Reflects : The life of a 
                                  and second generation                                                                             young woman struggling 
                                  Chinese settlers in                                                                               with the different identities 
                                  America.                                                                                          bestowed upon her. 
                                                                                                                                     
                            Roshny Elizabeth, Asst.Prof. , Dept. of English, Aquinas College, Edacochin.                                                                                                                3 
                                            Main Points : 
             • Language is the tool of my trade : Writer , always loved language, fascinated 
                by language in daily life, power of language –the way it evoke an emotion, a 
                visual image , a complex idea, or a simple truth. 
             • Uses all the Englishes she grew up with. 
             • Made keenly aware of the different Englishes I do use : a talk to a large group 
                of people on her writing, life and book 'The Joy Luck Club'. One major 
                difference that made the whole talk wrong - presnces of her mother in 
                the room. The first time her mother listened to her speaking Standard 
                English(grammatical phrases - nominalised forms, past perfect tenses, 
                conditional phrases) which she never uses with her mother at home. 
             Roshny Elizabeth, Asst.Prof. , Dept. of English, Aquinas College, Edacochin.           4