Discussion Questions for “Mother Tongue” • What point is Tan making with the example of her mother and the hospital? • What point is she making with the example of the stockbroker? • Tan says that experts believe that a person’s “developing language skills are more influenced by peers”; yet she thinks that family is more influential, “especially in immigrant families.” Do you think family or peers exert more influence on a person’s language? • Why does Tan discuss the SAT and her performance on it? • Why does she envision her mother as the reader of her novels?

Cultural Identity Relationship between self and culture, heritage, community, language, and assimilation.

Self Individual’s typical character and behavior

Culture Transmitted through generations Knowledge Beliefs Behavior

Examples of Culture Pop Culture – the music, fashion, and technology of “now” Cultural differences – urban culture versus rural culture How is our sense of self influenced by our American culture? What else influences our “identity”?

Community A group of individuals in a particular area with common interests and sometimes a common background.

Heritage Inherited traditions

Assimilation To become part of a new culture (the dominate culture)

Language Look at: Number of Languages Spoken Accent Dialect Vocabulary/ Word Choice These all can reveal social class, heritage, culture, etc.

Again Cultural Identity is made up of: Self Culture Community Heritage Assimilation Language

What’s the difference between Race, Culture, Heritage, and Ethnicity??

Race The term race or racial group usually refers to the categorization of humans into populations or groups on the basis of various sets of heritable characteristics. The physical features commonly seen as indicating race are visual traits such as skin color, cranial or facial features and hair texture.

Culture the quality in a person or society that arises from a concern for what is regarded as excellent in arts, letters, manners, scholarly pursuits, etc. the behaviors and beliefs characteristic of a particular social, ethnic, or age group

Heritage Heritage is the full range of our inherited traditions, monuments, objects, and culture.  Most important, it is the range of contemporary activities, meanings, and behaviors that we draw from them. Heritage includes displaying or restoring a collection of old things.  It is both tangible and intangible, in the sense that ideas and memories--of songs, recipes, language, dances, and many other elements of who we are and how we identify ourselves--are as important as historical buildings and archaeological sites.

Ethnicity An ethnic group is a group of humans whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage that is real or assumed. This shared heritage may be based upon putative common ancestry, history, kinship, religion, language, shared territory, nationality or physical appearance. Members of an ethnic group are conscious of belonging to an ethnic group; moreover ethnic identity is further marked by the recognition from others of a group's distinctiveness.

Common Themes and Topics Associated with Cultural Identity Sense of Loss Roots, Community, and Identity Ancestors Extreme Situations Freedom and "Bad" Men Responsibility Good and Evil Loss of Innocence