Directions: Read the writing prompt below. Then, read the poem beneath it. Afterward, type your essay in the text box of this
assignment and make sure to include an introduction, at least 2 body paragraphs, and a
conclusion. Feel free to
take notes/brainstorm
thoughts/organize your essay on paper before you begin
typing the essay. This is due by the end of the class period.
Writing Prompt: How does the speakers seem to feel about his/her identity in the poem? How is that feeling
conveyed in the poem through the word choices and details that the poet chooses?

Read the excerpt from "mother tongue." those tests were constructed around items like fill-in-the-blank sentence completion, such as “even though tom was mary thought he was ” and the correct answer always seemed to be the most bland combinations of thoughts, for example, “even though tom was foolish, mary thought he was ridiculous.” well, according to my mother, there were very few limitations as to what tom could have been and what mary might have thought of him. so i never did well on tests like that. how does tan build a central idea of her story in the excerpt? tan discusses the types of questions on achievement tests to support the idea that the tests limit students’ ability to write well. tan explains a question on a language achievement test to support the idea that the tests should include more interesting content. tan gives an example of her experience with achievement tests to support the idea that they are not always accurate measures of language ability. tan considers how her mother might answer a question on a test to support the idea that nonstandard english limits a person’s ability to communicate.