A quick biography on Amy Tan. Relates writing to her life.

Essay by desaparecidoA, April 2002

download word file, 5 pages 3.0 1 reviews

Downloaded 104 times

Who would have thought that during Amy Tan's childhood her parentsstrongly encouraged her to pursue a career as a surgeon or concert pianist("The Joy...")? Certainly, the criticsand fans of Amy Tan would find that hard to believe after she's led such a successfullife as a writer. Tan grew up in afamily of Chinese immigrants with strong cultural beliefs. Amy Tan had a rough relationship with hermother as she was growing up, and those difficulties have led her to thebestseller's she's written up to date (Achievement).

Born in February of1952 in Oakland, California, Tan grew up as a minority in the UnitedStates. These experiences andrelationships led to Amy Tan's success as a twentieth-century writer inAmerican Literature. This paper willexplore the influences and techniques of Tan's writing.

Amy's family immigratedto America from China in the late 1940's. Her father, John Yuehhan Tan was educated in Beijing and was employed asan electrical engineer.

John Tan cameto America in 1947 and became a Baptist minister. Amy Tan's mother, Daisy (Tu Ching) Tan, a vocational nurse, leftin 1949, the year of the Communist takeover in China. Daisy came to the United States after divorcing an abusivehusband and losing custody of her three daughters. (Tung)

Amy Tan was one of threechildren born to John and Daisy Tan. Tan spent her childhood and adolescent days growing up in Fresno,Oakland, Berkeley and the suburbs of San Francisco, California. Amy strongly disliked her Chinesebackground and resented her parents for it during her youth. She hated growing up as the "minority" inAmerica. Tan even went as far to sleepwith a clothespin on her nose hoping to narrow its Asian shape ("The Joy...").

Tan's parents had very highexpectations of her and her brothers. From the time she was five years old, she can remember the importanceand stress her parents placed...