1. A literacy narrative needs VIVID DETAIL to bring it to life. What main kind of detail does Amy Tan use in her essay? Point to two of her details that strike you as especially interesting and revealing, and
explain why they do.

The living details that Amy uses are: her mother's experiences with language and how the way her mother spoke affected her language and writing.

Explanation:

The most important details of the essay "Mother Tongue" written by Amy Tan, are the experiences that her mother had in relation to language. That's because amy's mother is Chinese and although she understands and reads the English language very well, she doesn't speak the language in the right way. Amy's mother has "broken" English and this has caused her to go through very bad, disrespectful situations, where people devalue her for pretending they don't understand her. These details show a strong linguistic prejudice in the country, where people are insensitive to a language different from theirs, but still valid and effective in conveying a message.

This prejudice affects the writing of many authors and the way in which English, as a science, is taught; because highly refused forms of language are valued, prohibiting people who have access to a simpler English to understand the written works and like them. This prejudice, along with the way that Amy's mother spoke, greatly influenced Amy's writing and her relationship with English, in addition to changing the way she sees language and wants to transmit it.