Gloria Anzaldua How To Tame A Wild Tongue Summary

Anzaldua’s How to “Tame a Wild tongue” goes to great lengths to discuss her opinions on language, and how her communication with people from various linguistic backgrounds required her to change gears in a way. To “switch codes.” Each of us as we participate in different environments with diverse expectations and duties switch various codes of our own. In my life I most often switch between a normal code, a snarky code, and a business code.

As a reader who lacks knowledge of any Spanish vocabulary, coming into contact with passages written in Spanish is confusing and uncomfortable. Without a Spanish tongue, it is quite difficult to process and truly understand Anzaldúa’s message, as this foreign tongue presents large stumbling blocks within the essay that direct my focus away from the purpose of the piece. Sentences containing long chains of Spanish words, such as “Even our own people, other Spanish speakers nos quieren poner candados en la boca,” and, “In the meantime, tenémos que hacer la lucha,” leave me hog-tied and unable to properly read and understand the text as I find myself lost in the foreign string of Spanish terms. However, when the English translation is presented along with the foreign terms, the passage flows smoothly since I’m able to understand the words and their proper meaning relative to the context of the text.

Reading response to “How to Tame a Wild Tongue,” by Gloria Anzaldua. In Gloria Anzaldua’s 1987 article, “How to Tame a Wild Tongue,” she expresses some of the cultural struggles and lifestyles of the central American culture that Americans do not think about, let alone know about. She starts off illustrating an experience she had at the dentist office which triggered many thoughts and feelings about her culture. The Dentist claimed her tongue was “strong and stubborn,” in other words, “you need to tame your tongue.” She then thought back at a time, in her childhood, where she was punished for not “taming her tongue.” Only, this recollection was of a time she hadn’t tamed her native Spanish speaking tongue, which set off her memory of how her family and culture felt about children speaking at all. Gloria went on to tell about the different dialects of the Spanish language such as, how each differed, how each was generated, what the culture was like behind them, and which ones she closely identified with. Those who speak different dialects, from those in other parts of North America, have developed this feeling of isolation due to the views of those who speak the more formal dialects. Those who speak a more formal dialect may judge someone who speaks an Americanized version of Spanish dialect such as Chicano Spanish because it is seen as improper or culturally incorrect; therefore, many Spanish speakers may resort to speaking English with one another to avoid embarrassment or

the fact that the Americans at the time, believe in the American Dream. A Chicana that goes by the name Gloria Anzaldúa, wrote a short essay called “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”. Anzaldúa discusses the issues of struggling to keep her culture and native language alive, while people kept criticizing her for not acting more like an American, yet Anzaldúa was an American citizen. The way the idea appear to Anzaldúa was her dentist were trying to clean Anzaldúa teeth, and they got frustrated by being unable to tame her tongue. Then dentist had told Anzaldúa they'll need to do something about her tongue, this leads to Anzaldúa thinking about her past. When Anzaldúa was growing up, she felt angry at those who couldn't accept anyone's language and culture but the American Way. At one point, Anzaldúa decides to change her attitude by teaching people the importance of keeping your culture and native language alive.

This paper will be about how in How to Tame a Wild Tongue by Gloria Anzaldua, spoke about how when she was young she struggled with being hispanic in Texas and how she didn’t know english. She also spoke on how people tried to punish her when she spoke in spanish, in a way they tried to tame her wild tongue. This paper will also speak on how I can relate to some of the things she wrote about in her passage. While doing some research on Anzaldua i came across a quote she said. The quote is “Wild tongues can't be tamed, they can only be cut out.” I really like this quote, because in How to Tame a Wild Tongue she spoke on how she once got caught speaking in spanish in recess and she got punished for it. In a way they tried to hold her tongue back because the punished her when she was just speaking in her home language. If you was to asked me if that was a bad idea I would say that punishing somebody for speaking in their foreign language is a bad idea because you stopping them from being diverse in school there for stopping other kids from learning something new that being a new foreign language the school might not teach.

Anzaldua goes into depth about the different languages she speaks in the chapter, “How to Tame a Wild Tongue.” She translates some of the Spanish words and phrases into English such as ruca to girl or women and periquiar to talk (Anzaldua 474). Other phrases she doesn’t translate to English. A phrase she does not translate is where she converses with her mother about wanting Anzaldua to speak in English. Part of the text was in English and then it converts to Spanish (471). She switches between the languages throughout the essay because it demonstrates how the languages are a part of her identity. Anzaldua gives meanings, many metaphoric, for “tongue” and “wild tongue” because it illustrates what she is trying to say about herself and society

Gloria Anzaldua uses extended definition in her essay How to Tame a Wild Tongue in order to express her experience with language. Starting off with a possible fictitious anecdote of a dentist’s office experience, Anzaldua uses function to demonstrate the type situations that her language—in the anecdote, her tongue— has lead her to experience and later defines how these situations have affected her and her dialect. For example, Anzaldua uses exemplifications of actual anecdotes, such as a scolding for speaking spanish during recess or being pushed to speak more ‘American.’ These fictitious and genuine anecdotes express the oppression that Anzaldua felt growing up and even further, the way other Chicanos feel being shamed for their language

The essay “How To Tame A Wild Tongue” by Gloria Anzaldua shows how Mexican American people feel about language. For Gloria Anzaldua, language is the key to learn a new culture in a different country Anzaldua attends classes and her teachers expects for Anzaldua speaks clearly English. Still Anzaldua has grown with her Spanish Chicano culture. In page 173 declares:“ The whole time I was growing up, there was norteño music.. I grew up listening to conjuntos..” Anzaldua feels that the impact of Chicano’s art works much movies, music and books has allow her to connect with this culture that it is forbidden by their teachers.

Anzaldua further proves the capability of non-dominant individuals to possess power and resilience over the dominant language. Even in pursuit of her own higher education, Anzaldua was met with barriers that she was able to persevere through and overcome. She even had to fight to persue a course of study that she was passionate about, Chicano literature. “In graduate school, while working toward a PH.D., I had to ‘argue’ with one advisor after the other, semester after semester, before I was allowed to make Chicano literature an area of focus (40).” Even in the professional setting of graduate school, Anzaldua fought to maintain and pursue her Chicano culture, portraying the capability of a non-dominant individual to establish an identify and

In the essay “How To Tame A Wild Tongue” by Gloria Anzaldua the author touches upon issues like the division within and between languages and how an attack on her language is an attack on her as a human being. Topics that by the time of reading, I had become familiar with.   The author overcomes much adversity as she is not only prosecuted for her language by English speakers but by some people within her own culture. Her own mother had told that without learning to speak English without an accent she would never be able to amount to anything worthwhile in this country.

Recently the use of our language has become a hotly debatable subject that identifies who we are. Many people now routinely use Standard English and have been forced to speak it, because it’s the “American way”. On the one hand people who use their upbringing language are shamed for using it. On the other hand, many people who use their upbringing and Standard English are shame for it even more. Take as an example Chicanos are mestizos who have to live on the very border between different cultures and countries. In “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” by Gloria Anzaldua, she argues the negative social attitude toward Chicano ways of speaking and the harmful effect of this negative attitude on the self-identity of Chicano people who live in borderlands. Despite on how Americans are compelled to disregard their culture and subdue to American culture in order to fit in, using your own native language doesn’t violate any law in the book, therefore everyone should be able to speak freely in whatever language they please to use.

In “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”, the main point that Gloria is trying to say to her audience in her article , her language is her identity , but she is persecuted for speaking her language which called Chicano by both whites and Hispanics. Also, she talked about important social problems such as sexism, reprimand, and identity construction.

In the essay, “Mother Tongue,” Amy Tan includes anecdotes. The anecdotes help add flavor to her essay by giving inside information about things that have occurred to her. The point of her essay would not have been reached without anecdotes as they engage, involve, and interest the reader. People can relate and learn from any of her small stories. Tan’s stories have a point connected to the point she is trying to make in her essay.

How to Tame a Wild Tongue, was a very interesting essay, she combined both the Spanish and the English language into the essay. As a native from Puerto Rico and living in the United States, I have faced some of the problems that the author mentions in this essay. I will discuss how the mix of languages and the fragmented character of the text put a demand on me as the reader, in what sense is my reading experience similar to what Anzaldua calls the “Borderland”, and how my position on the border reveal to you about the nature of encounters across cultures in multicultural America.

A few months ago, in Charlottesville, Virginia, a young women named Heather Heyer, was killed at a protest against a white supremacy rally. She was standing up for others who were different then her. She was making sure her fellow citizens felt welcomed and knew they were loved by others in this country. This happened less than two hours away from Lynchburg, our home. We, as a nation, need to start embracing one another because at the end of the day, we all bleed the same blood. My wish is that one day we can all live together in peace. It starts at home. We have to begin a dialogue with our friends and family about the struggles others go through. Accepting one another is so much deeper than simply saying, “I support you”, although thats