The Joy Luck Club By Amy Tan Essay - 2289 Words

This article was written by Amy Tan, who is an English major and an author. Tan originally spoke about this topic at a group discussion about her book, The Joy Luck Club and later turned it into an essay for The Threepenny Review. She wrote this article to explain to writers everywhere that there are many different styles of English and that even someone who has majored in English and has published works can speak unconventional English. In â€Å"Mother Tongue† from The WakeTech Reader, Amy Tan (1989) examines the different versions of English that she finds herself using in different situations as well as the English her mother uses and how her mother’s version of English has a major impact on the way her mother is treated by strangers. Tan begins by emphasizing her lack of expertise in the English language, offering her opinions instead. She proceeds by telling the reader about her love interest for language in addition to the way language has become a basic function of everyday life. She then distinguishes the different types of English she uses by introducing us to her first version of English, which she uses when speaking to a group about her book. This particular version of English consists of lengthy speeches. She then focuses on her second version of English, which she uses with her mother and husband. She describes the English that she will use with loved ones as a â€Å"language of intimacy† (Tan 257). Tan then provides examples of what type of things may be said in theShow MoreRelatedThe Joy Luck Club By Amy Tan1192 Words   |  5 Pages(H) The life of women has drastically changed throughout the ages. (CIS) The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan portrays life in America and in China in the 1930’s for women. (GS1) When stories are true, there is more power behind them. (GS2) Novels need accuracy for the book to have feeling. (GS3) A rave-worthy novel needs truth to really draw the reader in. (thesis) Author Amy Tan accurately port rays life for Chinese women in the 1930’s and it enhances the power of the novel because the stories have trueRead MoreThe Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan963 Words   |  4 PagesThe novel The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan shows the past and present experiences of several women including An-mei Hsu, the mother of Rose Hsu Jordan. Beginning at a young age, An-mei has to endure many situations. Her grandmother tells her that her mother is a ghost but she comes back to take care of her grandmother when she is ill. Due to the absence of her mother during her childhood years, she tries to be there for Rose as much as possible but is pushed away. An-mei believes she has nengkin, theRead MoreThe Joy Luck Club By Amy Tan Essay913 Words   |  4 PagesThe Joy Luck Club is the first novel by Amy Tan, published in 1989. The Joy Luck Club is about a group of Chinese women that share family stories while they play Mahjong. When the founder of the club, Suyuan Woo, died, her daughter June replaced h er place in the meetings. In her first meeting, she finds out that her lost twin sisters were alive in China. Before the death of Suyuan, the other members of the club located the address of June’s half-sisters. After that, they send June to tell her half-sistersRead MoreThe Joy Luck Club By Amy Tan2055 Words   |  9 Pagesopinion. This is the case within the novel The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, as the American daughters of the China-born mothers grow up in perpetual disconnect because of their cultural differences. Consequently, the daughters’ view of their mother’s love is distorted. Without a clear comprehension of their mother’s love, which is shown in forms of her words and actions, the daughters are constantly haunted by life’s difficulties. Thus, The Joy Luck Club emphasizes that a bond between a mother and daughterRead MoreThe Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan841 Words   |  3 PagesIn the Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, tells stories of four Chinese m others and four Chinese-American daughters and their mother-daughter relationship. The four mothers met in a San Francisco church in 1949. Suyuan Woo, founder of the Joy Luck Club, convinced the other mothers An-Mei Hsu, Lindo Jong, and Yingying St. Clair to join the club. The club would meet every week at one of the mother’s house where they eat food, play mahjong, and brag about their daughters. The Chinese-American daughters tellRead MoreThe Joy Luck Club By Amy Tan930 Words   |  4 PagesMerriam Webster’s dictionary defines sacrifice as â€Å"the act of giving up something that you want to keep especially in order to get or do something else or to help someone†. In Amy Tan’s novel, The Joy Luck Club, a central theme present throughout is sacrifice. This novel depicts the sacrifices made by a group of immigrant mothers in order for their daughters to have a better life in America. Although the daughters do not realize the reasons behind their mother s motives until their stories and personalRead MoreThe Joy Luck Club By Amy Tan Essay1377 Words   |  6 PagesThe Joy Luck Club is a novel by Amy Tan which tells the individual, cohesive stories of Chinese American daughters and their Chinese mothers. In each story, the cultural differences between mother and daughter acts as a wedge between them. The conflicting cultures of descent and consent causes a conflict between mother and daughter; although they ultimately want to have a relationship with each other, the differences in values make coming together harder. For the mothers, their expectations for theirRead MoreThe Joy Luck Club By Amy Tan1459 Words   |  6 Pages 12/1/15 JLC FLE First Draft English 8-6 Clear Reflection, of Personality The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan follows multiple Chinese-American women who struggle with their self-identity and creating a balance between American and Chinese culture. Because of their immigration and many hardships in life, many of the women feel like they cannot trulyRead MoreThe Joy Luck Club By Amy Tan1164 Words   |  5 PagesThe Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan is about four Chinese immigrant mothers and their four daughters, who were born and raised in America. The mothers, through their experiences in China, have attained vast knowledge that they now wish to pass on to their daughters. One mother, An-mei Hsu, wants to pass on her knowledge to her daughter, Rose Hsu Jordan. Rose is worried about her inevitable divorce with her husband, which was caused by her indecisiveness. An-mei hopes that by giving Rose advice, she canRead MoreAmy Tan s The Joy Luck Club1097 Words   |  5 PagesCulture defines humanity. Culture makes humans different than any other living organism ever kno wn. Culture is what makes humans unique, and yet culture is easily the most misunderstood characteristic of individuals. In Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan develops the theme of incomplete cultural understanding leads to an inability to communicate one’s true intentions through juxtaposition and conflict between mothers and daughters and their cultures. The conflicting Chinese culture of the mothers’