Thematic Analysis “Mother Language” is an essay about the author's struggles due to her linguistic identity. Her mother is Chinese so she doesn't know how to speak English, but after coming to America she had to learn English, so her English is broken and very simple. This essay is about her mother's "broken" English and the mother-daughter relationship. This shows how both of them faced prejudice because of their identity. Society thought these people were inferior to them and gave them no respect. Language became a barrier for her mother and she was looked down upon because of it. Say no to plagiarism. Get Custom Essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get Original Essay “Paper Menagerie” is a short story about a boy named Jack and his Chinese mother. This story brings out themes of identity, relationships, culture, language, resentment, struggles, prejudice, and love. Jack has difficulty integrating with other Americans because of his Chinese origin. Jack shares a very special bond with his mother when he is little, but as he grows, this bond is lost only because he is ashamed of who his mother is and the fact that she does not speak English. As a child, Jack loved his mother's art and it brought him so much happiness and any problem Jack had with origami was solved by his mother. But during adolescence, this bond is lost because he wants to integrate into society. In the end, his mother's letter makes him aware of the difficulties his mother faced and he feels connected to his mother for the first time since he was a teenager. The common theme of the essay and the story is the language barrier and language being seen as a problem. classification to test a person's knowledge. Amy Tan's mother was taken seriously by others because of her poor English, as people thought she was uneducated. However, Tan mentions that her mother read the Forbes Report, listened to Wall Street Week, talked daily with her stockbroker, and read all of Shirley MacLaine's books. This proves Tan's point about society's misconception and generalization towards people with different linguistic backgrounds. Similarly, in the story, Ken shows how people disrespected Jack's mother because of her identity, but her origami work was exceptional. She had incredible artistic talent, but others don't recognize it. This shows how people stereotype a person's knowledge and talent based on language and origin. The essay and story describe the relationship between a mother and her child. Amy Tan considers her mother as the very important reason why she became a famous writer, as she tried to capture her mother's passion, her images, the rhythms of her speech and the nature of her thoughts. Growing up, her mother's limited English made her ashamed of herself. She believed that English reflected the quality of what her mother said. Jack lost connection with his mother for the same reason. He never bothered to find out who his mother really was, he formed his own perception of her because she didn't speak English. Meaning of the title Both titles show the child's bond with his mother. “Mother tongue” is about the two different “Englishes” the author speaks, one of which is his mother’s English. This English connects her to her mother. It is therefore his mother tongue and not Chinese. In the story, she explains how this English shaped her personality and identity. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get now.