Tame Wild Tongue

In the essay “How to Tame a Wild Tongue,” Gloria Anzaldua insists that one’s identity is deeply bonded to the language in which they speak. She explains how the Chicano language has developed and sustained abuse. She insists that Chicano is a whole, complete, and not a bastard language. Gloria warns, “If you really want to hurt me talk bad about my language.” Gloria becomes passionate about her wild tongue and encourages others to embrace theirs.

The article Chicano Manifiesto by Armando B. Rendon is talking about Rendon’s experience living in the United States as a Chicano citizen. He grew up on the West side of San Antonio with his grandmother and mother. Rendon learned Spanish as his first language, but as he started school Rendon had to soon learn English quickly since speaking Spanish was not allowed. At the age of ten, Rendon and his mom moved to the bay area.

Chicano activist had such an issue with the assimialationist approach Mexican Americans took toward life in the U.S because it was forced upon them. When Mexican Americans were trying to assimilate into the United States, they were expected to drop all forms of culture. One of the main problems with how Mexican Americans were trying to be comfortable with was the language barrier. When moving into the country families and parents speaking only spanish, the English language was an intimidating thing. One thing that Rodriguez talks about in the book is that as a kid English was very hard to understand, and it made him very shy and reserved because it was something so unfamiliar to him.

In the essay “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”, Gloria Anazaldúa demonstrates the diversity of the Spanish language. The language is broken into sections, and I agree that when speaking to other Hispanics from different countries it may seem like a completely different language. Being fluent in Spanish, I’ve noticed how this process works. Different accents and words influence the diversity, sometimes making it difficult for two fluent Hispanics to communicate. Countries, such as Argentina, have an accent and a language that differs tremendously from other forms of Spanish.

Anzaldua writes about her Spanish and how it is to others. She explains the major things to her, but breaks it down piece by piece. Some will understand how she tries to explain herself, but it all depends on the person. She describes that her Spanish is different compared to the other Hispanic races. Anzaldua states, “Chicano Spanish is a border tongue which developed naturally” (35).

“How to Tame a Wild Tongue” is a chapter five from the book titled Borderlands La Frontera, written by Gloria Anzaldua. In this chapter, Gloria told us how she struggled about speaking in English and her Chicano immigration life as a Hispanic living in the United States. Firstly, she discussed how the gender and cultural impacted of the language. Next, she also discussed how the Spanish language changed and evolved. At the end, Gloria also told us how the language in terms of learning that is comes together in one.

Nowadays, we are getting increasingly more of different types of culture and languages in our country.. After reviewing Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue” and Carmen Fought’s “Language as a Representation of Mexican American Identity,” Tan and Fought agree that non-standard English speakers frequently engage in code-switching, and they argue that standard English speakers need to be more sensitive to and appreciative

Being a Puerto Rican from Brooklyn, Espada failed to learn Spanish first. Through embracing his identity and fighting for the right to speak Spanish, Espada breaks down the barriers xenophobic people put up. During a protest, Espada meets a hot-headed man threatening him for speaking Spanish. Later, with a microphone, Espada snaps back, “He can rip my tongue out if he wants. But it won’t work, porque yo hablo español con el corazón” (97-99).

Written by Gloria Anzaldua, “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”, is an opinion easy , a retrospection of her past and a story about identity and recognition of a wild tongue. The following is a rhetorical analysis and personal response of this easy . My analysis will be divided into 4 separate parts including intended audience, main claim, purpose and situation. (a) Intended audience : The first thing that anyone who even skims through this easy would notice is Anzaldua’s multi-lingual language use.

In, Why and When We Speak Spanish in Public, Marquez appeals to the ethos aspect when she says, “We haven’t adopted English as our official family language. For me and most of the bilingual people I know, it’s a matter of respect for our parents and comfort in our cultural roots” (Marquez, 1999, p. 507). This shows logos through growing up in a bilingual family and being raised to speak her natural tongue as a sign of respect to her family and culture. Marquez also warms the audience’s hearts knowing she speaks her natural tongue as respect to her family, playing into the pathos appeal.

My Rhetorical Analysis Language is a part one’s identity and culture, which allows one to communicate with those of the same group, although when spoken to someone of another group, it can cause a language barrier or miscommunication in many different ways. In Gloria Anzaldua’s article, “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”, which was taken from her book Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza, she is trying to inform her readers that her language is what defines her. She began to mention how she was being criticized by both English and Spanish Speakers, although they both make up who she is as a person. Then, she gave convincing personal experiences about how it was to be a Chicana and their different types of languages. Moreover, despite the fact that her language was considered illegitimate, Anzaldua made it clear that she cannot get rid of it until the day she dies, or as she states (on page 26) “Wild tongues can’t be, they can only be cut out.”

Rhetorical Analysis on Anzaldua’s How to Tame a Wild Tongue The passage How to Tame a Wild Tongue is a very defensive and straightforward argumentative essay which defends her language and the people who speak it against the discrimination that the author herself has experienced first hand (Ethos). From this text we can infer that the author is most likely from hispanic descent as she is speaking spanish a lot of the time throughout the text. This text mainly speaks about the discrimination many Mexican-Americans suffer because they are spanish speaking.

The power of language We all have some form of language limitations, no matter where we come from and what our background is. “Mother tongue” by Amy Tan and “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” by Gloria Anzaldua both share similar themes in their stories that demonstrate how they both deal with how different forms of the same language are portrayed in society. In both stories they speak about what society declares the right way of speech and having to face prejudgment, the two authors share their personal experiences of how they’ve dealt with it.

However, in order for one to truly understand the arguments made by the authors they must also understand the context behind these arguments; therefore, knowing how the individual authors’ definition of bilingualism lets the reader truly absorb what points they’re trying to make and why. In Espada’s essay, he defines bilingualism as a way for a person to remain in contact with their different cultural identities. There are many areas in the essay where the reader could interpret this definition from. However, the most significant piece of evidence appears at the beginning of the essay where Espada mentions his friend Jack Agueros’ analogy to describe his bilingualism “English and Spanish are like two dogs I love. English is an obedient dog.

“The common denominator all Latinos have is that we want some respect. That 's what we 're all fighting for” - Cristina Saralegui. Judith Ortiz Cofer published the article, “The Myth of the Latin Woman,” where she expresses her anger towards stereotypes, inequality, and degradation of Latin Americans. Cofer explains the origins of these perceived views and proceeds to empower Latin American women to champion over them. Cofer establishes her credibility as a Latin American woman with personal anecdotes that emphasize her frustration of the unfair depiction of Latinos in society.