Discussion Board Questions
1.The title of Tan’s piece is “Mother Tongue” while Anzaldua’sis “How to Tame a Wild Tongue.” Both titles use the word ‘tongue’- why do you think that is? Take a moment to analyze both titles and then compare them. There are double and even triple meanings in these titles- try to tease some of them out with your own analysis.
2. Tan brings up how other people often tried to treat her mother because of her language issues.How does this section make you feel?Have you encountered something like this in your own life? In what ways are people’s attitudes about language reflected in the way they treat others?
3. Towards the end of Tan’s piece, she mentions mentions a sentence that didn’t make it into her book: “That was my mental quandary in its nascent state” (80). Try to explain what this sentence means. Why did she opt out of including this sentence? Why do you think she tried to originally include it? What about her own language attitude might have influenced her to think this was necessary?
