Amy Tan (JLC Into) Socratic Seminar
“Mother Tongue” & JLC “Swan Story” Vignette
CA State Standards:
Reading: Comprehension. 3.7 Recognize and understand the significance of various literary devices, including
figurative language, imagery, and symbolism, and explain their appeal.
Reading: Literary Criticism 3.11 Evaluate the aesthetic qualities of style, including the impact of diction and
figurative language on tone, mood, and theme, using the terminology of literary criticism.
Reading: Literary Response & Analysis 3.5 Compare works that express a universal theme and provide evidence to
support the ideas expressed in each work.
Writing: Responses to Literature 2.2 a. Demonstrate a comprehensive grasp of the significant ideas of literary works.
b. Support important ideas and viewpoints through accurate and detailed references to the text or to other works. c.
Demonstrate awareness of the author's use of stylistic devices and an appreciation of the effects created. d. Identify and
assess the impact of perceived ambiguities, nuances, and complexities within text.
Listening & Speaking Strategies 1.1 Formulate judgments about the ideas under discussion and support those
judgments with convincing evidence; 1.9 Analyze the occasion and the interests of the audience and choose effective
verbal and nonverbal techniques (e.g., voice, gestures, eye contact) for presentations.
2.4 Deliver oral responses to literature: a. Advance a judgment demonstrating a comprehensive grasp of the significant
ideas of works. b. Support important ideas and viewpoints through accurate and detailed references to the text or to
other works. c. Demonstrate awareness of the author's use of stylistic devices and an appreciation of the effects created.
d. Identify and assess the impact of perceived ambiguities, nuances, and complexities within the text
1. Analyze the Text: Read & annotate “Mother Tongue” and the “Swan” vignette from
section 1 of The Joy Luck Club. Compare the topics presented and Tan’s tone in relation
to those topics, paying close attention to diction and the author’s use of literary devices.
What messages is Tan trying to communicate to the reader? What can the readers assume
about Tan’s personal identity from reading these selections?
2. Talking Point Questions:
a. Use the selection and your annotations to generate a list of at least TWO original
questions that you would like to ask or discuss with the class. BE SPECIFIC!
i. For every question that you create, you must provide a possible answer.
Cite examples, line numbers, and/or page numbers to support your
answers.
ii. Do not ask questions that can be answered by “yes” or “no”
iii. Be able to ask & answer higher-level questions based on Bloom’s
Taxonomy (level 4 and up)
3. Seminar Discussion Questions: ALL answers to the questions MUST be supported with
evidence from the texts (MLA – direct quotes + parenthetical documentation)!
a. Opening Question: What factors are important influences in forming one’s
identity?
b. Core/ Central Question:
i. Why do you think Tan opens with an explanation of what she is not?
How does this contribute to how she does define herself?
ii. Tan says that experts believe that a person’s “developing language skills
are more influenced by peers,” yet she thinks that family is more
influential, “especially in immigrant families.” Do you think family or
peers exert more influence on a person’s language? Why? How does the
impact on language influence the person’s identity? How is the influence
of language different in immigrant/ non-native families?
iii. Language is an important element in communicating cultural aspects and
parental expectations. Tan touches on the idea of communication (and
lack of communication) when she states, “And she waited, year after
year, for the day she could tell her daughter this in perfect American
English” (Section 1, “Swan” vignette). How can language,
communication, and miscommunication influence the formation of one’s
identity?
c. Closing Question: How can you personally relate to Tan’s ideas about language
& identity? How can Tan’s messages relate to today’s society?