English Language and Literature Blog

In the story “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan, Amy feels strongly about the inequality shown towards her mother just because the level of her English is not the same as the native English speakers outside of her family. Throughout the story, Tan gives examples of how her mother is perceived differently out in public because of the way she expressed her thoughts imperfectly, for example Tan writes, “people in department stores, at banks, and at restaurants did not take her seriously, did not her good service, pretend not to understand her, or even acted as if they did not hear her.” It’s one thing to be disrespected when you are out in public, but it’s different when your health is at risk and you are wrongly treated just because you can’t express yourself efficiently. Tan’s mother is a very smart woman who “reads the Forbes report, listens to Wall Street week, converses daily with her stockbroker, reads all the Shirley MacLaine’s books with ease.” These examples show that her “internal la...

My name is Alyxander Cynan Bihuniak, but people often call me Alyx. The first thing you should know if you are considering Alyx for your baby's name is that in most countries all over the world the name Alyx is a girl name. The name Alyx is originally from Greece, and is often used in English speaking countries. The meaning behind Alyx is “Defending men or Protector of Mankind .” The name Alyx has been used and recorded since 1880, both for boys and girls. Between 2001 and 2004 was the most popular time for the name Alyx, as it was used 10 times to name boys, and for girls the name Alyx was mostly used in 1993, when it was used 78 times that year. Although Alyx is a feminine form of Alexander, with a slight letter change as this is what I mother wanted. In the past many member of royalty has been given the name Alexandra. Within Greek mythology, Alexandra was the name of the goddess Hera. The name was popularized by Alexander the Great....