Critical Analysis of the Gift of Language by Lan Cao

Banu Garayzada

Section V

6 Nov, 2016

Critical Analysis Final paper

“The gift of language” by Lan Cao

               A  colossal  move  in  anybody's  life  will  bring  about  a  man  to  see  the  world  in  a  radically new point  of  view,  particularly  when  moving  to  another  nation. In  the  extract,  "The  Gift  of Language",   the  writer  Lan  Cao  expounds  on  her  experience  of  moving  from  Vietnam  to  America  because  of  the  Vietnam War.

               Monkey Bridge ,  published  in  1997,  is  the  semiautobiographical  novel  of  Vietnamese American  attorney  and  writer  Lan  Cao  from  which  this  passage  comes.  Cao  is  a  professor  of  international  law  at  Chapman  University  School  of  Law.

         Author claims that being an immigrant as a teen is easier than being as an adult , it can form a different behavior , teach new language, Idea of another country and culture from the inside. Cao talks about  her  move  to  America  being  direct  inverse  from  her  mother  depends  on  America's  rural  areas,  markets,  culture  and  dialect.  Moving  to  this  nation  required  Cao  and  her  mother  to  roll  out  improvements,  for  example,  learning  English, adjusting  to  the  American  culture  and  rapidly  conforming  to  their  surroundings  for  survival purposes.  Cao  convinces  her  readers  with  the  expository  procedures  ethos,  logos,  emotion, point  of  view,  tone,  and  counterarguments  that  moving  to  another  nation  involves  an  intense move  and  also  making  the  essential  modification. Having high esteem for America, and appreciating the progression they have to make because of their change period or suffering from homesickness and struggling to adjust to America’s lifestyle are two conceivable results that took after Cao and her mother moved to America.

                One situation in which children have the burden of aiding their parents is at the grocery store. For instance, newcomers might struggle with the ‘American way’ of shopping they are clueless as to which grocery store to choose from and they might preference other means of shopping. The grocery stores in America are in standard buildings and inside there is an abundance of food “meticulously arranged into a pyramid. Columns of canned vegetables and fruits stood among multiple shelves as people well-rehearsed to the demands of modern shopping meandered through the fluorescent aisles” (615).   . Cao’s mother preferred shopping in the outdoor markets in her homeland over shopping in America’s grocery stores because she was accustomed to navigating through “the patternless paths” of food and other various items as well as being familiar with the vendors and knowing exactly how to bargain with them (616).

               It  was  clear  to  see  that  Cao  had  a  less  demanding  time  conforming  to  the adjustments  in  America  in  contrast  with  her  mom. Thus,  Cao  needed  to  come  to  her  mom's safeguard  and  guide  her  through  the  procedure  of  Americanization. Before  all  else, Cao  and her  mom  were  in  a  condition  of  culture  stun  when  they  at  first  touched  base  in  America. In spite  of  the  fact  that  when  Cao  turned  out  to  be  more  usual  to  the  American  culture,  Cao needed  to  help  her  mother  “ through  the  hard  scrutiny  of  ordinary  suburban  life"  (Cao1997,P.617) . The perspective  of  immigrant  parents  who  are  not  accustomed  to  the  suburban  livelihood,  do  not recognize  how  to  live  amongst  the  identical  housing  structures,  nor  comprehend  with  the boredom  that  suburbia  life  entails.

            I   read   this   book   when   I   heard   about   it   and   I   loved   it . The   author  does   some  amazing   things  with   the   language,   and   the   plot   itself   was   clever. The  book  ought  to  be  a  fascinating  and  instructive  read  for  English-talking  readers,  particularly  for  their  comprehension  of  the  Vietnam  war  as  experienced  by Vietnamese-Americans,  and  for  their  initial  about  beginning  attempting  day  by  day lives  of  Vietnamese  displaced  refugees/migrants  in  the U.S. The  writing   style is  lovely. The  language  is  often  simply  beautiful, and  the  Vietnamese  perspective  is  interesting.  It's  not one  we  get  often. I  also  loved  the  way  the  characters  unfolded,  how  perceptions  often  were completely  wrong,  it  is  very  impressive.