Parents defining the destiny of their children Numerous factors help to shape how the life of a child unfolds. The level of education that the child receives and the environment in which they grow up all play a role. However, parents play the most important role in defining the destiny of their children. They either hinder their children from achieving their purpose or provide the foundation that their child relies on to attain their goals. This becomes obvious when I read Cisneros’ “Only Daughter” and Tan’s “Mother Tongue”. While the writer in Tan’s story had the full support of her mother, the parent of the writer in Only Daughter initially held her back. Eventually, the parents fully supported the dreams and work of their children. The two …show more content…
Despite his initial objections to his daughter becoming a writer, Cisneros’s father eventually offered his support. After reading one of the writing that Cisneros wrote, he asks “Where can we get more copies of this for the relatives?” (Cisneros, 1995) This is a big agreement of the path that his daughter took. Cisneros states that “Of all the wonderful things that happened to me last year, that was the most wonderful” (Cisneros, 1995). The approval and support that she received from her father had a huge impact. She had longed for it and she finally received it. This means that parents determine the level of pride, and self-confidence that their children have. “Mother Tongue” also makes this clear. In this story, Tan describes her mother’s reception of a writing that she had authored: “I knew I had succeeded where it counted when my mother finished reading my book and gave me her verdict: “So easy to read.” (Tan, 1990). Her mother must have been impressed and this created a feeling of fulfillment in Tan. In both stories, it is evident that the parents of the narrators provided them with the support and endorsement to realize how remarkable their creations
The mother and daughter are both proud to be in America and succeeding, while the father is loyal to his homeland of the Dominican Republic. The daughter becomes stronger and confident with her new language right along with the mother. The relationships in the writing re-invent just as the people are re-inventing themselves. Being in an abusive relationship or immigrating to a new country are a few extreme cases of how relationships can re-invent a person. A more subtle, and less obvious, cause of re-invention is through a person’s ancestors.
The author starts the story by telling a story of one of her children’s days in school which is way of validating her statements on child gender. Her starting the story
“Two Kinds” a short story out of Amy Tan’s book “The Joy Luck Club” is a representation of the pressures immigrant children face from their parents. In the story, we follow a young girl named Jing-Mei as she embarks down the road to becoming a Prodigy. Her mother believed that “you could be anything you wanted to be in America” (Tan). For Jing-Mei that meant her mother believed she could become instantly famous. “Of course, you can be a prodigy, too”, her mother told her (Tan).
Cisneros also goes into detail about how her father viewed her when she says,” Being a only daughter for my father meant my destiny would lead me to become someone’s wife.” Cisneros highlights how her father felt about her as a
She struggles occasionally from day to day tasks. Since Tan’s mother English was poor, she tends to ask Tan for help “...she used to have me call people and the phone and pretend I was she” (300). Tan’s mother would tell Tan to pretend to be her to complain, ask for more information, and even
Unlike “From Childhood,” set within the home of the mother and son, this mother-son-duo is at a party. This mother is persistent in taking her son away from his surroundings and reeling him in to her—keeping an eye on him is simply not enough. Nowlan writes, “The touch of her hand embarrasses him” (Nowlan, 390). Taking the term overbearing to new extremes, the mother is not content unless her hands are physically on her son. While it is completely normal for a mother to have protective instincts and to watch over their children, the level of overbearing the mother in the poem reaches is radical.
Nevertheless, as the story unfolds, Tan explains in more detail of the relationship of the mother and her daughter. In which the mother fully believed her daughter would become this great prodigy. Therefore, pressuring her daughter
By applying anecdotes she was able to allow the audience in her shoes. By doing so ,Tan was able to connect with the audience and explain her stories of her struggles due to her mother's English. "I think my mother's English almost had an effect on limiting my possibilities in life was well." (399) By engaging the reader in her personal experiences, she was able to allow the reader to experience how she felt and by doing so she was able to make people who spoke broken English more
From the time humans are born to today their parents have a great impact on the way they act and think. They teach
We live in a complex, unpredictable world, filled with an array of family styles and personalities. Whether or not we recognize it, the family in which one is raised or currently resides plays a pivotal role in their development and opportunities. While we should not blame our circumstance on where we came from, it is crucial that we understand how our childhood influences why we are the way we are. One phenomenon that affects several families, particularly ones with low-income, is parentification. Parentification, also known as the role-reversal of a parent and a child, is not inherently harmful for a child, but it is important to look at the situation objectively and consider the risk-factors.
The article 'Mother Tongue ' by author Amy Tan is about the variations in the English language the author uses in her life. She describes her English when giving a speech to a other people, English she uses when speaking to her mother, and English she uses in her writing. She tells of difficulties faced by both her mother and herself from these many differences. Amy 's goal in this article is to show that a person does not have to speak proper English to be seen as smart or intelligent.
Tan was in shame and pain when she would feel that people were giving her mother a negative reaction. As Tan grew older she realized that it wasn’t a big deal that her mother’s English was not that well. She got used to it because she had been talking to her for years using “Broken English” and when her mother was around
Summary of "Mother Tongue" by Amy Tan In "Mother Tongue, Amy Tan writes about how her mother 's broken English affects her life. She begins this narrative essay by talking about the day she became aware of the different forms of English that she was using at home and during formal events. Amy says, "The talk was going along well enough, until I remembered one major difference that made the whole talk sound wrong. My mother was in the room. And it was perhaps the first time she had heard me give a lengthy speech, using the kind of English I have never used with her" (Tan 1).
Her personal experience is socially and theoretically constructed and emotions play an essential role in the process of identity formation. Her identity is not fixed, which is portrayed by inquisitiveness that her own mother and Aunt thought she was possessed, enhanced and made this story an enriching experience. The family is the first agent of socialization, as the story illustrates, even the most basic of human activities are learned and through socialization people
As summarized by William Flexner (2005), parents performed crucial roles in the growth of a teenager. Youngsters need the feeling of confidence that comes from parental faith. Parents laid a foundation for moral and personality development of the child. They provided the emotional security, which is the very source of the child’s trust.