Mother Tongue

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the below bulleted outlines. Cite details from the text throughout your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Tan’s essay reflects on the similarities and differences between Perfect and Broken English.

• In the end, what descriptor might Tan choose to describe her English? (topic sentence)
• Explain the purposes for which Tan uses English. In what ways does she use English to accomplish each purpose?
• In the closing sentences, discuss whether English deserves a narrow or a broad usage and why?

2. Tan discusses how her mother’s “broken” English and Tan’s thinking about English have limited them socially. Others perceive Tan’s mother as unsophisticated and stereotype Tan as a STEM student.

• How do the Sociological Limitations of Language affect Tan’s choice to become a writer and how she uses English in her writing? (topic sentence)
• Based on Paragraph 21, discuss each of the languages Tan uses and how each usage challenges the Sociological Limitations of Language.