Introduction Amy Tan's short story "Rules of the Game" is a captivating exploration of the complex relationship between a young girl, Waverly Jong, and her mother, as well as an insight into the immigrant experience in America. The narrative not only delves into themes of...
Introduction Amy Tan’s essay “Mother Tongue” explores the complexities of language and its impact on one’s identity and relationships. Tan reflects on her experiences as a bilingual and bicultural individual, shedding light on the challenges and misunderstandings that arise from her mother’s limited English proficiency....
Amy Tan’s short story “Fish Cheeks” explores the complexities of cultural identity and the challenges of adolescence through the eyes of a young Chinese-American girl. The story is set during a Christmas Eve dinner at the protagonist’s home, where she feels embarrassed by her family’s...
Do you ever stop to think about the power and beauty of language? In her essay “Mother Tongue,” Amy Tan explores the intricate relationship between language and identity, delving into the complexities of communication within families and the wider society. Through personal anecdotes and reflections,...
Introduction Amy Tan’s essay “Mother Tongue” delves into the ways in which language can shape and influence our lives, using personal anecdotes and reflections. Tan begins by recounting instances in which her mother’s limited English proficiency caused misunderstandings and miscommunications. She recalls how her mother’s...
Waverly Jong is a complex and multifaceted character in Amy Tan’s novel, “The Joy Luck Club.” Throughout the story, Waverly’s character undergoes significant growth and development, ultimately revealing her inner struggles and desires. In this essay, I will analyze Waverly Jong’s character, focusing on her...
Amy Tan is a famous Asian American writer who really knows how to capture the feelings and challenges faced by children of Chinese immigrants in the U.S. A lot of her stories focus on the tricky dynamics between mothers and daughters, which comes from her...
Does everyone consider English as a single language? There are inferences that English is a single language, but in reality, people develop diverse versions of English as their mother tongue such that it is very uncommon to discover two people that speak the exact same...
As shown through the experiences of Amy Tan, language plays an enormous role in Day to Day lives. It can influence and give insight into another culture different from our own. In Mother Tongue, Amy Tan discusses the many ways in which the language she...
The Challenge of Language Barriers The inability to communicate in fluent English is sometimes unfairly characterized as an incapacitation. When individuals can’t express their thoughts in fluent English, those listening often fail to address them with the seriousness required. In some cases, it is seen...
Mother Tongue by Amy Tan is a must read because the author gives a depiction of the types of English dialects adjusted by various people during their relocation to the US of America and their change in accordance with the American culture. The article has...
Cultural divides are difficult to overcome in storytelling, because readers must both re-orient their largest cultural assumptions and understand the ideas of specific, unique characters. However, in The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan effectively makes much of Chinese culture comprehensible to American readers. In describing...
Thousands of immigrants arrive in America every year with the hope that a new life, a better life, awaits them. The come in search of “the American Dream,” the hope that there are higher paying jobs, quality public schools to send their children to, and...
Introduction Intergenerational relations between mothers and daughters are further complicated in The Joy Luck Club as cultural differences come into play for the first-generation Chinese immigrant mother and her Americanized daughter. This is clearly brought out when Lindo Jong shows off her daughter at the...
The essay, “Mother Tongue,” by Amy Tan, is about how language can be spoken in different ways, all depending were an individual is from, where or whom the person grew up with, and if or not education was withdrawn. Tan was an Asian-American writer and...
Very often children argue and demand about what they want to be when they grow up; while parents require them to be what they want them to be. The short story “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan shows the life of a Chinese girl who is...
‘Broken English,’ is what’s spoken in many homes throughout America. People that come from a different country and settle in a new one are categorized as immigrants. With that being said, once you settle into a different country then you have to get accustomed to...
Differentiation between appearance and reality has always been an underestimated struggle in regard to the human experience. Our understanding of many mental, social, and physical phenomena, hinge on the very basis of appearances that are presented to us. Unfortunately, situations that present misleading appearances are...
Amy Tan is a prolific Asian American writer who has been successful in depicting the sentiments of children of Chinese immigrants to the United States. Most of her work focused on the relationship dynamics of mothers and daughters inspired by her own conflicted experiences with...
Amy Tan’s “A Pair of Tickets” and Judith Ortiz Cofer’s “Volar” both use symbolism and distinct settings to portray the lives and feelings of two young girls that originate from a different cultural background. Although these girls are different in the way they lead their...
The letter “E” is the most common one in all English words. However, such a fact would not be an interesting one to people who feel demeaned as a result of their accents while communicating in English. In Amy Tan’s Mother Tongue, she argues that...
Around the world today, there are hundreds of people desperately wanting to leave their homelands and travel to the United States for a variety of reasons such as, to escape war, poverty and famine, believing that they could find relief on American soil. In Two...
“Writing is an extreme privilege but it’s also a gift. It’s a gift to yourself and it’s a gift giving a story to someone “Amy Tan knew she had a gift and perfectly executed it by writing “Two Kinds”. Amy Tan‘s life exceedingly impacted her...
“There are times when even the tiger sleeps.” This Chinese proverb is essential in understanding the character of Lindo Jong, mother of Waverly Jong, in Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club. The book, written as a series of interwoven vignettes, delves into the world of...
Is English truly a singular language? While it may appear so on the surface, the reality is far more complex. People across the world adopt distinct variations of English as their mother tongue, shaping their unique perspectives and interactions with the language. In her essay...
Trials…errors…disappointment. Many adolescents fail to keep up with their parents’ expectations and as a result often distort their own reality. The book The Joy Luck Club, published in 1989 by Amy Tan, takes place around the 1980s. The setting alternates between San Francisco and China....
Music is a prevalent motif in Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club, appearing during times of loss and confusion as a reminder of the past. The vignettes all share a common thread, in that music reveals how one must acknowledge the past and learn from...
Thematic Analysis “Mother tongue” is an essay about the struggles of the author because of her linguistic identity. Her mother is Chinese and so she does not know how to speak English but after coming to America she had to learn English so her English...
The short story “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan provides a thought-provoking literary analysis of the conflicts that arise between parents and children when their goals and aspirations differ. In this first-person narrative, Tan depicts the struggle that Jing-Mei Woo and her mother face in reconciling...
Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club, depicts the lives of four mothers who were born in China but eventually immigrated to America. They hoped to live better lives for themselves and for their daughters. A major portion of the novel focuses on the relationship between...
“If you can't change your fate, change your attitude.”
“Writing what you wished was the most dangerous form of wishful thinking.”
“Chance is the first step you take, luck is what comes afterward.”
Born
February 19, 1952 (age 70)
Activity
Amy Ruth Tan is an American author known for the novel The Joy Luck Club, which was adapted into a film of the same name, as well as multiple other novels, short story collections, and children’s books.
Works
"Two Kinds", "Mother Tongue", “Saving Fish from Drowning”, “The Bonesetter’s Daughter”, “The Hundred Secret Senses”, “The Joy Luck Club”, “The Kitchen God’s Wife”, “The Valley of Amazement”
Themes
Along with common relationships that parallel her own life, Amy Tan also uses common literary themes that are universal in all of her works. Her main themes are sexism, identity, and fate. The sexism in her stories relates to readers as all females and males are aware of the "gender gap" between them.
Legacy
As Amy Tan became a literary celebrity, the success of her debut “The Joy Luck Club” ignited a defining legacy for Asian American representation. To this day, it is the most commercially praised and book-clubbed novel written by an Asian American writer.
Quotes
“If you can't change your fate, change your attitude.”
“Writing what you wished was the most dangerous form of wishful thinking.”
“Chance is the first step you take, luck is what comes afterward.”
“Isn't hate merely the result of wounded love?”
