In the opening line of “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan, the author starts by using the strategy of discrediting herself by saying she is not a scholar and can only give her own opinion. This strategy grabs the audience’s attention, who are usually more wealthy individuals that may be arrogant and think they are superior to others. This strategy of discrediting herself is an effective way to make the audience want to read what she has to say.

Another rhetorical strategy Amy Tan uses throughout the text is providing dialogue of conversations that she had with her mother, while giving a speech, and with others to portray the different types of Englishes that she uses. This strategy allows the reader to better understand what the author means when she says “Englishes”, and better understand what these types of Englishes sound like.

Finally, towards the end of the text, another strategy I noticed was how the author transitioned from saying how she would write in standard English to prove that she had mastered the language, to embracing all of the different types of Englishes she uses. This strategy provided insight into the author’s change of perspective and how she learned to embrace her different Englishes even though they were not publicly accepted as real or official English.