PART 1 –“Mother Tongue”
“I have been thinking about all this lately, about my mother’s English, about achievement tests. Because lately I’ve been asked, as a writer, 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 students go into engineering? Well, these are broad sociological questions I can’t begin to answer. But I have noticed in surveys — in fact, just last week — that Asian students, as a whole, always do significantly better on math achievement tests than in English. And this makes me think that there are other Asian-American students whose English spoken in the home might also be described as “broken” or “limited.” And perhaps they also have teachers who are steering them away from writing and into math and science, which is what happened to me.” (Paragraph 18)
This quote is important because it contains some factors that could have hindered Amy from being a writer. Amy could have easily thought that she did not have what it takes because of the way other Asian Americans lived and generalized assumptions but she still decided to move forward. Amy did not let the careers other Asian Americans chose to determine her career. Amy did not care about the assumptions made about her; she did not care about her teacher’s judgment; she went ahead to make a difference. This shows that Amy was resilient.
3 New Vocabulary Words
Analogies
Sentence: The same was true with word analogies, pairs of words in which you were supposed to find some sort of logical, semantic relationship — for example, “Sunset is to nightfall as is to.”
Meaning: noun– a comparison of two otherwise unlike things based on the resemblance of a particular aspect.
Critic
Sentence: Apart from what any critic had to say about my writing, I knew I had succeeded where it counted when my mother finished reading my book and gave me her verdict: “So easy to read.”
Meaning: noun– a person who expresses opinions about the good and bad qualities of books.
Nascent
Sentence: Here’s an example from the first draft of a story that later made its way into The Joy Luck Club, but without this line: “That was my mental quandary in its nascent state.” A terrible line, which I can barely pronounce.
Meaning: adjective– just coming into existence.
PART 2 — “When I was Puerto Rican.”
“All of a sudden, I was afraid that I was about to make a fool of myself and end up in seventh grade in the middle of the school year. Having to fall back would be worse than just accepting my fate now and hopping forward if I proved to be as good a student as I had convinced Mr. Grant I was. “What have I done?” I kicked myself with the back of my right shoe, much to the surprise of the fellow walking behind me, who laughed uproariously as if I had meant it as a joke.” (Paragraph 22)
This quote is important because it shows us how afraid Esmeralda was, she thought she would still end up in seventh grade in the middle of the school year. Even though Esmeralda knew she did not belong there and was afraid that she would not make it she decided to work hard. She became committed and tried out different strategies. This shows that even if Esmeralda had some doubts and did not believe in herself at some point, she still persevered.
3 New Vocabulary Words
Uproariously
Sentence: “What have I done?” I kicked myself with the back of my right shoe, much to the surprise of the fellow walking behind me, who laughed uproariously as if I had meant it as a joke.
Meaning: adverb—in a noisy way.
Pinhead
Sentence: If your class was in the low double digits (8–10 for instance), you were smart, but not a pinhead.
Meaning: noun– a very dull or stupid person.
Stunned
Sentence: By my fourth month in Brooklyn, I could read and write English much better than I could speak it, and at midterms, I stunned the teachers by scoring high in English, History, and Social Studies.
Meaning: adjective– surprised or shocked.
Valid vocab words