Page 70 - The Language of Composition 4e Teacher Edition Sample.indd

limited my perception of her. I was ashamed of And my mother was standing in the back
4
her English. I believed that her English reflected whispering loudly, “Why he don’t send me
DIFFERENTIATION Identity the quality of what she had to say. That is, check, already two weeks late. So mad he lie to
because she expressed them imperfectly her me, losing me money.”
Scaffolding thoughts were imperfect. And I had plenty of And then I said in perfect English, “Yes, I’m
Tan’s reference to “empirical evidence” in empirical evidence to support me: the fact that getting rather concerned. You had agreed to
paragraph 9 provides an opportunity for people in department stores, at banks, and at send the check two weeks ago, but it hasn’t
you to reinforce how different types of restaurants did not take her seriously, did not arrived.”
evidence support claims in an argument. give her good service, pretended not to under- Then she began to talk more loudly. “What
Copyright (c) 2023 Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. Uncorrected proofs have been used for this sample chapter.
You may refer back to the discussion of stand her, or even acted as if they did not hear he want, I come to New York tell him front of his
personal observation and personal her. boss, you cheating me.” And I was trying to calm
experience as evidence in Chapter 2 (p. 68). My mother has long realized the limitations 10 her down, make her be quiet, while telling the
experience as evidence in Chapter 2 (p. 68).
of her English as well. When I was fifteen, she stockbroker, “I can’t tolerate any more excuses.
used to have me call people on the phone to pre- If I don’t receive the check immediately, I am
tend I was she. In this guise, I was forced to ask going to have to speak to your manager when
Distributed by Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. Strictly for use with its products. Not for redistribution.
for information or even to complain and yell at I’m in New York next week.” And sure enough,
people who had been rude to her. One time it the following week there we were in front of this
was a call to her stockbroker in New York. She astonished stockbroker, and I was sitting there
had cashed out her small portfolio and it just so red-faced and quiet, and my mother, the real
happened we were going to go to New York the Mrs. Tan, was shouting at his boss in her impec-
next week, our very first trip outside California. cable broken English.
I had to get on the phone and say in an adoles - We used a similar routine just five days ago,
cent voice that was not very convincing, “This is for a situation that was far less humorous. My
Mrs. Tan.” mother had gone to the hospital for an

The work shown here,
created by British artist
Anya Gallaccio in 1997, is
a color screenprint on
white paper depicting
portraits of figures in the
art world. Its title is Broken
English. Notice that some
portraits overlap or are
upside down, with the glue All rights reserved, DACS 2018/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Courtesy of the artist © Anya Gallaccio, and Lehmann Maupin Gallery, New York and Hong
showing at the back.
What does this work
suggest about the
relationship between
identity and language?
Would Amy Tan agree
with the message it Kong. © Tate, London 2017.
conveys? Explain why or
why not.

176

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DIFFERENTIATION
Connections to World
To extend a discussion of Gallaccio’s image,
you might have students do some quick
research into the context of Broken English.
It was part of a larger exhibit of the same title,
and the rhetorical situation broadens the sub-
ject of “English” from language to British
identity. Students could discuss how the rhe-
torical situation impacts the meaning of the
piece if it is displayed in a British art gallery
as opposed to embedded within Tan’s essay,
in an American textbook.

176 chapter 4 / Identity

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