Question

Read the excerpt from "Mother Tongue." Lately, I’ve been giving more thought to the kind of English my mother speaks. Like others, I have described it to people as “broken” or “fractured” English. But I wince when I say that. It has always bothered me that I can think of no other way to describe it other than “broken,” as if it were damaged and needed to be fixed, as if it lacked a certain wholeness and soundness. How does Tan build a central idea of her story in the excerpt? Tan discusses her thoughts about language to build the idea that the English language does not have words to match some Chinese terms. Tan discusses her relationship with her mother to build the idea that mothers and daughters in all cultures often have misunderstandings. Tan discusses her mother’s use of English to build the idea that a form of language can be purposeful and meaningful even if it is nonstandard. Tan discusses the English language to build the idea that there is a lack of appropriate synonyms for the word “broken.”

Answer 1

Tan builds a central idea of her story in the excerpt as:

Tan discusses her mother’s use of English to build the idea that a form of language can be purposeful and meaningful even if it is nonstandard.

Amy Tan's essay “Mother Tongue” is about the difficulties that a child has to face if it grows in a family in which its parents speak 'limited English.' Amy's mother was among such parent who was unable to speak fluent and proper English. It is through the language that the person is judged by others. Amy was brought up by her mother and because of this, her writing style was much influenced by the language spoken at her home. Her mother taught her that a person's perception of the world is influenced by the language spoken at home.  

Answer 2

Answer:

The correct answer is Tan discusses her mother’s use of English to build the idea that a form of language can be purposeful and meaningful even if it is nonstandard.

Explanation:

This excerpt shows how Tan feels guilty in saying that his mother's English is "broken" or "fractured." The guilt she feels shows us that she really does not want to use those terms, because in any case her mother's language, although it does not meet the grammatical standards of conventional English, still has the same meaning and achieves the same purpose.

You don't need to speak perfectly so that your words are useful and understandable.

With this, Tan builds the central idea of the story.