Mother Tongue by Tan and Learning to Read and Write by Douglass

Table of Contents

Introduction
Body
Conclusion
Works Cited

Introduction

Mother Tongue by Amy Tan, and Learning to Read and Write by Frederick Douglass are examples of the genre of literacy narrative. In the articles, both authors describe their relations with reading and writing, and their role of them, as well as education in general, in their lives. The two authors differ in ethnicity, social background, and their life circumstances are different as well. Yet, they have similarities in their experience regarding their literacy education and the impact of the knowledge they acquired on their worldviews. In this essay, it will be argued that both authors, exploring the genre of literacy narrative, encounter challenges in the process of literacy education, accepted and were able to overcome the difficulties, turning them into benefits.

Body

The similarity in the positions of Tan and Douglass was in their ethnic difference from the majority of people around them. However, while Tan was a daughter of Chinese migrants to the US, being personally free, Douglass was a black slave living in the South and facing all the tortures of being treated nearly to a mere chattel (Douglass 71). Tan attended the school, although, having her mothers limited English as an example, never could be successful in her English class, as she was in math (Tan 80). Douglass, on the other hand, was obliged to gain his knowledge without any help; moreover, despite the objection of his mistress, when nothing seemed to make her angrier than to see me with a newspaper (Douglass 72). However, both of them were facing extraordinary circumstances and needed to be strong enough to withstand them.

However, they not only could withstand but were able to overcome their drawbacks and achieve power by acquiring literacy knowledge. As Tan writes, she happened to be rebellious in nature and enjoy the challenge of disproving assumptions made about her (Tan 81). She decided to take English as her major in her college, later making English writing her profession. The limitations of the language due to her family background later became her advantage as, knowing all the Englishes she grew up with, she could explore thoughts of her readers that belonged to the different ethnicities (Tan 81-82). Douglass, having learned to read, knew about freedom and abolitionists; as it is known from his biography, later he became a social leader fighting against racial inequality, and an exceptionally successful one. Thus, both authors could achieve success through literacy education.

In their writing style, Tan and Douglass demonstrate their deep knowledge of the language and the talent of engaging writing, and the art of persuasion. Tan describes her mothers speech in detail and with humor, making the readers follow her with compassion (Tan 78-79). Douglasss language is genuinely engaging and colorful, using parallel constructions, metaphors, and epithets like lamblike disposition, and tiger-like fierceness, bread of knowledge (71). In this way, they additionally prove their arguments about the success in gaining extreme literacy professionalism.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it may be argued that Mother Tongue and Learning to Read and Write are truly persuasive and engaging examples of the literacy narrative genre. They describe the journey of the authors through the difficulties of learning the skill of literacy. Both of them took the challenges of the circumstances the life and turned them into their power, giving the perfect example for the readers.