In this paper, two summaries “Tan- Mother Tongue and Alexie- Superman and me” are used to make a deeper connection between them. In ‘Superman and Me’, Alexie details how he learned to read despite having very limited resources on the Native American reservation where he grew up. Alexie starts his story by introducing how he learned how to read using a ‘Superman’ comic book. He had to use whatever he could find to obtain an education. Alexie details the fact that growing up on a Native American reservation meant that you were destined to fail. Alexie also writes about some of the issues he faced for being an Indian and that he always faced stereotypic comments such as “Indian children were expected to be stupid”.
Alexie mentions that because he was knowledgeable about this stereotype it motivated him to become an exception to this rule. He knew that a key to success was reading and an education. Later in the story, after becoming a successful writer, Alexie went to a Native American reservation to speak to a class about reading and writing. In Amy Tan’s essay, Mother Tongue she talks about how she learns to accept her background, while dealing with criticism. Tan talks about how “broken English” is belittled as opposed to Standard English. Amy’s mother is from a Chinese background but learns English. Tan mentions some issues her mother has with speaking English. She mentions that society expects Asian Americans to blunder on English and focus on science and math. Tan shows that she refuses to let society define her. Tan then begins writing non-fiction books.
In the essays, it is used to describe and systematically analyze personal experience to understand cultural experience. The culture of a country or of a group of people is a generalization of how they behave but it shouldn’t be used as a standard for everybody because everyone individual is different and behaviors differently. In this paper it is not so, the authors are being defined by their way of life, where they came from and what was expected of them. Is society at fault? In this paper it shows that if they do not do the norm that is expected of them like, speak or succeed in whatever areas of their life they were supposed to, society judged them. They are not only judged but they have no one to motivate them to succeed in other aspects of their life that they are passionate about apart from family members.
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In school where it is supposed to have the greatest impact on them, they are not only ridiculed and laughed at by children in their school but teachers who are meant to be the ones who motivates them and guides them on the path they want to be on, they are the ones that don’t help them to do what they want but tell them to do what is expected of them. Because of their nationality they had to prove themselves by showing that where you are from doesn’t define you and this shows what society is like and it makes us aware of the issues facing society. This paper is to show that if you are passionate about something don’t let because of others, you don’t achieve your greatest goals. In the summaries used, it was seen that their greatest moment which is over coming what everyone around them had to say was merely based one the fact that because they had been criticized and laughed at, they used that to their advantage and did something that every thought they couldn’t. They did it to show society that what a person can achieve should not be based on their nationality.
How used language to reveal who they are. They both motivate us because they show us that they are faced with stereotypes every day and in the end, they overcame it. They didn’t make what was said or happening around stop them from getting to where they wanted to go. Success comes through hard work and determination. There is always something in the way trying to stop you from achieving what you want, you should use that to benefit you keep going forward. You should not sit complacent and make because someone says you couldn’t, why you didn’t. They both shared their knowledge and they both used their experience to help others understand that even though they had many obstacles in their way, they overcame them and so anyone facing issues that they think they can’t overcome, they can by remaining focus and doing their best to achieve what they want.
In this paper it shows how much the authors valued themselves. They both contemplate whether they should agree with what society has to say or be something better. Amy questions whether or not to conform to the traditional so-called ‘good’ writing style and Alexie questions whether or not he should abide by the firm perceptions of native Americans in the fear of not being looked down upon. Compliance facilitates the creation of society that values similarity. It is important to acknowledge our understanding of equality and acceptance of differences. The essay shows Alexie’s strong determination to break the societal dogma that was restricting him from following his dreams. Society is based on numerous written and unwritten rules. Not all the existing rules are fair to everyone.
Conformity to a rule that restricts you, and others who are similar to you, cripples the society to improve and innovate. It is misleading to consider that the rules of the society are motionless. To affect a change in such rules requires you to be a person determined to achieve your goals. Tan claims that she went on to take up English Majors in her college contrary to the popular stereotypes about the Chinese Americans. Further during her successful career as a writer, she confronts the rules of a traditionally accepted ‘excellent’ writing style and simplifies her works to suit the target readers. Alexie, in his essay, spoke of how American society stereotyped individuals based on the physical attributes, caste and groups they belong to. He describes the difficulty of the ‘Spokane Reservation Indian families’ and evocates the invisible walls that shut away individual preferences, aspirations and dreams. Tan also explains how her mother was discriminated extensively by the ‘fluent’ English speakers.
