Question

Refer to Explorations in Literature for a complete version of this narrative.

Read this excerpt from "Mother Tongue" by Amy Tan.

But it wasn’t until 1985 that I finally began to write fiction. And at first I wrote using what I thought to be wittily crafted sentences, sentences that would finally prove I had mastery over the English language. Here’s an example from the first draft of a story that later made its way into The Joy Luck Club, but without this line: “That was my mental quandary in its nascent state.” A terrible line, which I can barely pronounce.
How does this paragraph from "Mother Tongue" by Amy Tan help to develop one of the author’s key ideas about language?

It shows that even accomplished authors never truly master language .

It shows that using complex words does not necessarily make one's lanuage clearer or more understandable.

Answer 1

it shows that using complex words does not necessarily make one's language clearer or more understandable.

Answer 2

The paragraph from "Mother Tongue" by Amy Tan helps to develop the author's idea that using complex words does not necessarily make one's lanuage clearer or more understandable. (Option 2).

In the paragraph the author mentions she wanted to prove her mastery of the language and how well she wrote. She exemplifies this with a line from her first draft of The Joy Luck Club: “That was my mental quandary in its nascent state.” She then states the line is terrible and she can barely pronounce it herself. The use of complex words like "quandary" and "nascent" may show her mastery of the language but it certainly does not make it clearer or more understandable for readers.