She had no confidence in her mother growing up, and saw her as a “limit” and an “embarrassment”. Later in Tan’s life, she found several surveys which led her to realize that she was not alone; there were other Asian-Americans who may have shared the same struggles as her. Tan creates a symbolic diction through the use of words like “broken”, “limited”, and “fractured”. She is very repetitive with her use of these words, although she explains how she hated when people described her mother’s english that way. Although Tan knows that the way her and her mother converse is not grammatically correct, she has grown to love it.
A Perception of Case Study of “Amanda Jackson” Child, Family & Society (SOC312) Instructor: Sharon Methvin September 14, 2010 Amanda Jackson is new to the teaching field and new to her school which is very “popular for visitors to the district” to visit and maintains their “high academic standards” within the school district. Amanda finds the wit of the principal makes her uneasy because she is unsure whether the principal is serious or joking. She finds herself hiding from the principal like a schoolgirl and wishing she wasn’t around when she needs to visit the main office. Amanda is concerned because the principal is never spoken of in jest or in a negative light. The teachers speak only of her positive contributions to the school and her ability to make sure teachers and students have what they need from the district office “Bartlett Street”.
When Annabelle is in the Head’s office, she seems insensitive towards the Head and the issue. The Head sends a letter to Annabelle’s mother, where she tells about the incident, her mother just laughs – not the reaction Annabelle expected. That clearly shows that she doesn’t care about her daughter’s feelings. Annabelle doesn’t like to admit that her life has changed a lot since her parents got separated. Now she feels unsecure talking to her mother and their conversations have become a routine.
The list of her roles implies the many things expected of her. As well, the three different grading systems seem to show her frustrations with multiple standards. Few people see being a typical mother and wife as a full-time job in itself, and it is not unusual for women who are both of these to feel overworked and unappreciated. In Pass/ Fail Pastan appears to be portraying her fears of ether her or one of her children’s fear of failing or passing an exam. The speaker is having nightmares of failing tests.
My mother spoke in normal Trini dialogue, so I would constantly hear phrases such as “Do not cut you nose to patch you bottom” and “If you see you neighbor house catch fire wet yours”. To some of my friend my mother had no idea what she was talking about and should maybe work on her English, but to me she spoke clear and understandable English. I can relate to Tan in this way, because many people did not understand her mother and assumed her grasp on English was very weak, when it was actually the opposite. Over the years, I have noticed how my mother’s dialogue has rubbed off on me. I constantly find myself speaking in the island dialogue while at home, but the second someone calls or visits, I am able to switch into a more proper English dialogue with my American friends.
Mother-Daughter Relationships A mother-daughter relationship can take many forms. Some women experience closeness with their mothers, and other find distance. In Olsen’s “I stand her ironing.” Emily is not close to her mother; whereas, in walker’s “Everyday Use,” Maggie and her mother are inseparable. Both mothers care about their daughters extensively. It is other factors such as age and location that contribute to the relationship and determine the level of closeness.
Both conflicts are important as they can either act as an insight into a character’s mind, serve as a moral to the story, or even as a way to show relationships between characters. In “Chronicle” there is a love conflict where the ‘labeling’ as to who is ‘evil’ and who is ‘good’ is greatly affected by both the reader’s perception and the character’s perception. This conflict is between Bayardo and Angela – he rejected her when he discovered that she was not actually a virgin. This conflict was revealed when Bayardo brought Angela back to her house, where she was then beaten by her mother. In this case, even when some readers might agree with the character’s perceptions, their reactions are thought of as too exaggerated and unnecessary.
Tan acknowledges her mother’s broken English to be full of grammatical errors, yet it is unique and natural. Because Tan grew up with her mother’s broken English, she was ashamed and didn’t feel like she fit in. It limited her perception of her mother and how she expressed herself. Her thoughts weren’t clear and people never took her seriously whenever she went out in public. Some people would ignore her and not even acknowledge she was there.
Also, Sammy’s parents keep nagged and complained but did not concern about why she had unsatisfactory results on academic aspect. Sammy becomes rebellious because the criticism of the parents, that had produced lots of conflicts in the family relationship. Therefore, there was a conversation problem between them, which make they not understand each other. Lack of self-understanding Sammy did not know her personal identity and what she likes. These were the symptoms that appeared in Erikson’s (1963) eight psychosocial stages, which describes the impact of social experience across the whole lifespan.
In the text we are provided with many feelings, for instance the relationship between the narrator and his mother Kay. The narrator doesn’t like his mother, he think all she says, and has told him is probably bullshit. The conversations between them is awkward, and the narrator think she forces herself, to bright up her voice, and ask about his life, like she forces herself to be a reasonable parent, and the Narrator reply with simple and brief sentences. It’s not only the narrator who hate his mother, it also seems like the mother doesn’t care about him. For instance, she is looking forward to the moment when the narrator can be fending for himself, and when she realize its Saturday she quickly tells him he can’t be in the house because Dan is coming.