Rhetorical Situation Worksheet

Your name: 

Mya Evans

Completing this worksheet may take more time than you think. It’s worth the time. The information you gather will help you later when writing up assignments. But more importantly, the process of addressing each of the questions below will slowly work to change how you read texts. Keep in mind that some answers will not be obvious or even observable in the text, and so you may have to do some critical thinking and, at times, even some online research. Use full sentences. Take as much space as you need.

Context & Exigence: What topic/conversation is this text responding to? What year is the text published? What is the exigence–that is, what motivating occasion/issue/concern prompted the writing? The motivating occasion could be a current or historical event, a crisis, pending legislation, a recently published alternative view, or another ongoing problem. 

The topic is about using multiple Englishes. The text was published in 1990. The motivating concern that prompted the writing of this essay was Tan realizing at talk she was giving about her novel, The Joy Luck Club, that her mother, who was in the audience, may not fully comprehend her speech because they never spoke in standard English to each other.

Author: Who is the author of this text?  What are the author’s credentials and what is their investment in the issue? 

Amy Tan is the author. She is an renowned Asian American author and her investment is personal because it a non fiction essay about events in her life and an issue that has appeared ever since she’s could speak.

Text: What can you find out about the publication?  What is the genre of the text (e.g., poem, personal essay, essay, news/academic article, blog, textbook chapter, etc.)? How do the conventions of that genre help determine the depth, complexity, and even appearance of the argument? What information about the publication or source (magazine, newspaper, advocacy Web site) helps explain the writer’s perspective or the structure and style of the argument?

The Threepenny Review is an American literary magazine that is highly respected. The genre of the text is a non fiction personal essay. The non fiction essay helps determine the depth of the issue because the author has had firsthand experience with it. Her style of mostly writing in standard English makes sense for the audience of the magazine being wealthy literature enjoyers.

Audience: Who is the author’s intended audience? What can you infer about the audience (think about beliefs and political association but also age, class, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, profession, education, geographic location, religion, etc.)? Look for clues from the text (especially the original publication) to support your inference.

The intended audience is people in similar situations to Tan, her mother, students, educators, and affluent academics who read The Threepenny Review. The audience doesn’t believe in multiple Englishes. They are most likely wealthy white men who possibly have read The Joy Luck Club and that would peak their interest.

Purpose: What is the author trying to accomplish? To persuade, entertain, inform, educate, call to action, shock? How do you know?

The author is trying to persuade and educate those who disregard people because of their difference speech patterns. She constantly speaks on the way her mother speaks and the repercussions of that.

Argument: What do you believe is the main claim/idea/argument that the author is trying to communicate? What stance does s/he take? 

There are multiple Englishes and they are all valid and professional and should not stop anyone.

Evidence: How is the argument supported? Types of support include reasons and logical explanations as well as evidence. Types of evidence include anecdotes, examples, hypothetical situations, (expert) testimony, quotes, citing sources, statistics, charts/graphs, research the author or another source conducts, scientific or other facts, general knowledge, historical references, metaphors/analogies, etc.

Anecdotes, examples, quotes

Rhetorical Strategies: What aspects of this text stand out for you as a rhetorical reader? In other words, what do you observe about what the author strategically does (consciously or not) in hopes of appealing to their audience? List here as many observations as you can make about what the text does. 

– Downplaying in the introduction            – Using reverse psychology  – Explaining that she is a writer  – Saying she uses all of the Englishes she grew up with  – Quotes from her speech Quotes from her mother – Explaining her mothers intelligence – Growing up ashamed of her mother’s English  – Recounts times of discrimination  – K-12 personal experience  – Envisioning her mother as the reader of her books

Citation: Add the correct MLA or APA bibliographic entry for this text. Use easybib.com if you prefer.

Tan, Amy. Mother Tongue. The Threepenny Review, 1990, Accessed 22 Nov. 2022.

Notes: What do you want to remember about this text?

The moment that Tan’s mother was struggling with the doctor and the fact that there are multiple Englishes and they are all valid to use.

One page response to Mother Tongue 

Tan’s essay truly resonated with me and I appreciated her style of storytelling about a topic I was not well versed in. The beginning paragraph is such an interesting start. She is seen downplaying her talents and when you realize where this essay was published you can see the reason why she went with that technique. The essay was written in a paper that affluent academics read and as Asian American writer speaking on her experiences, what better way to draw in this audience by placing their opinions and knowledge above her own, reaffirming their already solid beliefs. It’s a very intriguing introduction and after reading the entirety it also emulates her previous beliefs of her own ability and talents in writing. It resonated with me when she stated “I spend a great deal of my time thinking about the power of language-the way it can evoke an emotion, a visual image, a complex idea, or a simple truth. Language is the tool of my trade. And I use them all – all the Englishes I grew up with.” As a writer myself, it is refreshing to see the way I feel about reading and writing put on the page so eloquently. Writing is such a powerful tool available and it’s used everywhere to do everything. I also love how she strongly states how she uses all of her Englishes. Tan being proud of this fact and implementing it into her works is very striking and I enjoy her ability to break away from the status quo. I resonated with her explaining how intelligent her mother is, reading the Forbes report, understanding stocks, but all her life she’s been told her mother’s speech is incoherent and the cause of her being discriminated against. As an American, I see how people such as Tan’s mother get harassed and it’s sad to see her explain that her mother’s knowledge should not be diminished. When she explained, when she was younger, she was also part of the problem, feeling ashamed of her mom’s English. It resonated me to hear about the pain on both of them due to simple language differences. One of the strongest parts of essay is the retelling of the unfortunate event of her mother being dismissed when she was trying to get answers of if she had a brain tumor. This constant discrimination happens all the time but it’s striking to hear from a personal level. The change in attitude when Tan got on the phone with the doctor is offensive and disrespectful to her mother, she’s a human being who deserves to get quality care just as much as someone who can speak in standard English. I related to Tan when she spoke about changing her major to English in her first year of college because it’s something I did to after enrolling for a different major because I doubted my ability to be a successful writer so I did not want to try. Her rebellions attitude and want to challenge assumptions was interesting to read about and stuck with me. Lastly, her breaking out of the box that society put around her and writing her book The Joy Luck Club with all of her Englishes was inspired to hear even after she’d been knocked down again and again. Envisioning her mother as the reader for the book and codemeshing was genius and resonated with me greatly.