The story identifies this topic because our society is judgemental and stereotypes people with broken English as not being able to succeed. Tan states, “the fact that people in department stores, at banks, and at restaurants did not take her seriously, did not give her good service, pretended not to understand her, or even acted as if they did not hear her” (180). This demonstrates how poorly our society treats people with broken English. Tan was passionate about writing and she wanted to show that Chinese people could also write. The author states, “I wanted to capture what language ability tests can never reveal: her intent, her passion, her imagery, the rhythms of her speech and the nature of her thoughts” (182). It has been shown that characterizing someone as Chinese or speaking broken cannot define their intellectual