One of the two rhetorical strategies I notices that Tan used in her essay is pathos, or emotional
appeals. She gives examples throughout the essay of the unfair treatment that her mother
usually receives because of her "broken English." She tells of her mother's stockbroker losing
her checks and not sending them on time and his boss not taking her seriously when she
complained. She gives the story of a time when her mother was diagnosed with a benign brain
tumor. When she returned for the conference with the doctor to find out the exact result, she
was told that the CAT scan had been lost and she would have to reschedule her appointments
and try again. When she convinced the doctor to call her daughter, Amy, who could speak
perfect English, everything was quickly resolved and they were promised a full apology and that
the CAT scan would be found.
Both of the above examples appeal to our emotions. They make us sympathize with Tan's
mother and feel bad for her. We agree that she was treated unfairly over something that
should not have been that big of a deal. Using pathos was a good way for Tan to convince her
readers of her argument.
The second rhetorical strategy that I noticed Tan uses is ethos, or logical appeals. She says
how people have asked her "why there are not more Asian Americans represented in American
Literature. Why are there few Asian Americans enrolled in creative writing programs? Why do
so many Chinese American students go into engineering?" She claims to not truly know the
answers to these questions, only her personal opinion. She writes that she has noticed in recent
surveys how most Asian American students do tend to do better in Math and science than in
reading and English. She had the same problems when in school and says that maybe since her
home life was surrounded by this "broken" or "limited" English that is why she had more
trouble. This is probably the case for the other Asian American students. Tan writes that the
teachers that see these things tend to steer the students toward math and science degrees and
away from reading and writing, even if that is what they enjoy more.
Tan using facts from her own past experiences and surveys that she has read on the subject
is how she applies logos to her essay. The facts she uses make her readers see and understand
her logic. We agree with her logic because it matches our own. Using logos was also a good way
for Tan to convince her readers of everything she wrote in "Mother Tongue."