How to Tame a Wild Tongue

Gloria Anzaldua was handed birth to in 1942 within the Rio Grande Valley ofSouth Texas. At age eleven.she began working inside fields like a migrant worker and then for my child family's land following a death ofher father. Working her way through school, she eventually became a schoolteacher then an academic, speaking and covering feminist, lesbian, and Chi- cana issues resulting in autobiography. She is most commonly known for This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color (1981), which she edited with Cherrie Moraga, and BorderlandsfLa Frontera: The New Mestiza (1987). Anzaldua died in 2004.

How to Tame a Wild Tongue


"How to Tame a Wild Tongue" is produced by BorderlandsfLa Frontera. In it, Anzaldua is worried with plenty of types of borders - between nations, cultures, classes, genders, languages. When she writes, "So, if you wish to really hurt me, talk badly about my language" (par. 27), Anzaldua is arguing to the ways in which identity is intertwined using the way we speak as well as for your ways that people can be achieved to feel ashamed of their own tongues. Keeping hers wild - ignoring the closing oflinguistic borders- is Anzaldua's way ofasserting her identity.

How to Tame a Wild Tongue Summary and Analysis: Gloria Anzaldua
Read our complete notes around the essay “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” by Gloria Anzaldua. Our notes cover How to Tame a Wild Tongue summary and analysis.

How to Tame a Wild Tongue Summary:

The essay “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” by Gloria Anzaldua efforts to focus on the undesirable social outlook and attitude from the community toward the easiest way Chicano people speaks along with the resulting harmful effects affecting the self-identity from the Chicano people dwelling round the borders. Anzaldua begins her essay while using the hidden comparison of the way she speaks together with her accent. She mentions her holiday to a dentist who complaints that Anzaldua’s tongue is fairly strong and tenacious. She seems frustrated while using the words of doctor and starts thinking of the best strategy to tame a wild tongue and involves a conclusion that “wild tongue can't be tamed, it could simply be cut down”. The dentist, though, won't mention her accent or mean to, yet her respond to dentist words shows that she gets complexes regarding her accents which, undoubtedly, makes her unconsciously mindful of people’s thinking about her when she speaks.



Anzaldua moves ahead maintaining that her accent or even the way she speaks can be a significant area of her identity. She regards accent as you within the alternatives for identity for all those. She elucidates the accent “Chicano Spanish” that they can speaks naturally develops like a language in the border because using the border on the she lives. This Chicano Spanish accent causes a great deal of difficulties for her as she's not regarded as the native speaker of both Spanish language and English Language. However, she considers herself socially isolated from either within the linguistic groups making her own language unique and right for those folks who, too, speak it. Anzaldua believes until this accent Chicano Spanish arose because in the people via diverse complex background wished to recognize themselves like a distinctive and unique group.

Anzaldua mentions the problems, difficulties, and stereotypes she required to overcome in their own childhood because in the Chicano Spanish accent. The language plus the accent she spoke in her own childhood might be a 1st step toward uncertainty consequently causing her angry and frustrated mood after a few years. Moreover, this also led her to have difficulty with self-esteem.



The issues that Anzaldua encountered in their lives as a result of her language and accent has negative impacts to be with her personality and identity. She realizes herself to have unhappy with herself, however, soon, she recognizes, understands and accepts the “illegitimacy” of her accent and language.

Many people believe the way the language they speak in addition to their cultural identities is certainly one along with the same. However, it is not true. There is diversity in an exceedingly language and discrimination about the basis of language may cause personality disorders. Gloria Anzaldua is an excellent instance of somebody who can be a self-validated disregard using the undesirable reactions through the people who cannot tolerate individual’s diversity.



Language is really a method to get identity along with a language that each speaks is essential to identity. This a main proven fact that Anzaldua communicated in their own essay “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”. Language is usually a source of keeping people united and helps guests to distinguish one other, to resemble using the body else. It is ethical responsibility associated with an individual to value other’s diversity especially the text through which they communicate. It shouldn’t function as superiority from the language that will make you speak it however, you comfortably to make a decision which language you should speak. You don’t need nor once you allow one to direct you ways you can speak. Anzaldua, within their essay, encourages the minority 't be disheartened and discouraged from your way they speak. Moreover, she encourages these to accept their diversity, to simply accept that they're different and need to take the contest to become polyglot or bilingual in America.



Gloria Anzaldua attempts to argue with all the audience to admit the reality that many person has their accent however some all of us have a fully different accent and speaks differently about the same community. So, the Americans should have to boost their mindset to diversity. We should be tolerant enough to take the other person’s alterations.

How to Tame a Wild Tongue Analysis:

Gloria Anzaldua, a necessary character in Chicano literature, is definitely an American poet, novelist, essayist, and critic. Anzaldua, in her literary work, shows her hard experiences to be a woman- a mestiza, who thrives on a border and faces many problems as a result of mix cultures and languages.

Borderland or La Frontera’ can be a major work by Gloria Anzaldua which was published in 1987. Her works are often determined by people who live about the border between Mexico and USA and describes the socioeconomic, political, and mystical impact of European invasion round the borderland. The essay “How to Tame a Wild Tongue?” is obtained from this book, and possesses played an important role in elevating and highlighting the problem affecting the society particularly people living on borderlands. The Chicano movement, inside 1960s, has greatly influenced Gloria. Being a portion of that movement, Gloria devoted the vast majority of his work towards the movement and events occur during that time. The issues she highlighted of their essays and also other literary works include self-approval, racism, sexism, and construction of identity.



The essay “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” is normally based about the difficulties that Chicano people come upon in communication. Moreover, she addresses the forceful and violating the operation of changing their psychological, social, and cultural arrays. The Chicano people have to confront a substantial amount undesirable attitudes off their communities due to the Chicano Spanish language and accent they speak. Gloria describes it as “Linguistic Terrorism”. She claims that social involvement results in occurance through the particular identity of your respective individual.

The Chicano American or even the Mexican American were isolated from your common American citizens for a long time length of time. They were not given their due rights and were with no good thing about basic facilities of life. They have zero excess around the quality educations. The vocational centers where they receive low standard education developed no or low self-validation since they were ridiculed for their origin and language they spoke. The children were scorned for speaking their native language inside the class. This cause personality disorders and disinterest of students in studies increased leading to huge dropouts. Stigmatization resulted due to cultural domination.

In society, every human has diverse responsibilities. Society determines these roles. Moreover, identity formation is strongly linked and affiliated towards social contribution. Ethnic, political and economic backgrounds will be the various variables that form these social affiliations. Similarly, these factors also members of cultures; while culture is directly associated with language; language differences cause cultural uncertainty.

How to Tame a Wild Tongue Summary and Response

Gloria Anzaldua is usually an American novelist, poet, essayist, and critic and he or she may be known as a substantial determine modern Chicano literature. In her works, she presents her experience as being a mestiza meaning women who thrives on abdominal muscles border between different cultures and countries.  Anzaldua’s major work is ‘Borderlands/La Frontera’ that has been published in 1987. It describes people that live about the border relating towards the United States and Mexico and explains the political, socioeconomic, and spiritual influence in the European conquest of native peoples for that borderland. The book includes two sections: within the first part, you will discover seven essays, and inside the second part, there are several poems. In this essay, I am likely to provide a ‘How to Tame a Wild Tongue’ summary and analysis. In ‘How to Tame a Wild Tongue,’ Gloria Anzaldua tries to investigate the negative social attitude toward Chicano strategies to speaking and also the harmful influence on this negative attitude around the self-identity of Chicano people who live inside borderlands. She starts her article using a metaphor, recollecting a dentist who complained that Gloria’s tongue was strong and stubborn. So she was frustrated and started contemplating the easiest way to tame a wild tongue. Although the dentist didn't mean her accent, her reaction proves she's got experienced difficulties with exactly how she speaks knowning that makes her stay conscious of the other people think of her when she speaks. Gloria considers her accent just jointly essential feature that identifies her. She explains that Chicano Spanish she speaks is promoting naturally like a border language. That causes problems because jane isn't accepted as being a native speaker by both English speakers and Spanish speakers. But Gloria doesn't identify herself socially with either from the groups so her language works for folks that speak it too. These people are based on diverse, complex backgrounds. She thinks that Chicano Spanish emerged since these people planned to recognize themselves as being a unique group.

How to Tame a Wild Tongue is usually a chapter through the book titled Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza authored by the writer, Gloria E. Anzaldua. In this chapter mcdougal covers her Chicana life these days packed with immigration controversies where Latinos getting into the United States struggled to learn their national identity and also a language to convey in freely without shame and fear. Hispanic immigrants or Hispanics born inside the United States are mentally tortured from your dominant English language and culture into changing into something is neither English nor Spanish but a mixture of both. Anzaldúa targets Chicano readers who share her experience with locating a clear identity and American readers also as a strategy to better understand Chicano life.



In the title Gloria Anzaldúa chose with this chapter in her own book, is often a title will not make much sense inside the beginning sight but because reader beings to learn the initial few paragraphs, he realises until this concept with the title is the place it is possible to change somebody’s language and strategy for speaking, as an example accent, with an immigrant population. In this case it will be mcdougal’s own experiences and her maternal language Spanish too as to get more precise, Chicano Spanish. As the reader continues reading, he discovers that forcing anyone to only speak another language is hard. Anzaldúa showed strong opposition by talking in Spanish together together with her friends: “My ‘home’ tongues are the languages I speak to my sister and brothers, with my pals. They will function as the last five listed, with 6 and 7 being nearest to my heart.” (56) She loved speaking Spanish and wanted at the least her name to acquire spoken and heard in Spanish but alternatively she “remembers being provided for the corner from your classroom “for talking back” on the Anglo teacher when all I was attempting to do was tell her how you'll be able to pronounce my name. “If you want to get American, speak American.’ If you don’t as it, get back to Mexico by which you belong.”(53).

Anzaldúa is showing defiance by unwilling to ignore her maternal language. She is proving the futility in changing one’s language and speaking patterns by switching backward and forward between Spanish and English. When a school teacher would catch her speak Spanish at school she would be punished by that teacher. “I remember being caught speaking Spanish at recess - that was great for three licks in regards to the knuckles utilizing a sharp ruler.” (53). She was accused of talking time for a coach when all she did was giving get more info. “I remember being delivered to the corner through the classroom for ‘talking back’ on the Anglo teacher when all I was trying to do was tell her how to pronounce my name.” (53). A society such since the one described in Gloria Anzaldúa’s “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” can't be easily influenced or changed if it society remains to become residing of their territory or close to it. It is with this particular form of settings that futility manifests the best. On the other hand, when a society or group of most people are recinded off their territory they'll, unknowingly, become heavily influenced or even entirely changed with regards to their language, culture and history regardless how proud these are.

In her book, mcdougal discusses the cultural and gendered impacts inside language itself. From a young age girls are taught not to talk excessive, to not talk back and not to ask questions. In Northern parts of Mexico and Southern most parts from your United States, the female plural in Spanish is excluded out of your language, leaving women belong to the masculine plural. Many Latinos and Latinas think people entering into these parts while using world are ruining the Spanish language allowing yourself influenced from the English language. You are being criticised for learning or speaking English, the phrase what in the oppressors, thus receiving care like a traitor from your own people. “‘Pocho, cultural traitor, you’re speaking the oppressor’s language by speaking English, you’re ruining the Spanish language,’ I have been accused by various Latinos and Latinas. Chicano Spanish is known as through the purist and also by most Latinos deficient, a mutilation of Spanish.” (55).

In this chapter, Anzaldúa discusses some situations of what sort of Spanish language changed and evolved in this part from your world considering that the first Spanish colonisations began in your community. A combination of different languages, Spanish, English and native American sounds and words were combined to build up into the modern Chicano Spanish. But as a result of these combinations, the text was viewed as a “bastard” form which is often neither Standard Spanish nor Standard English. It was considered by other Hispanics the language was of poorer quality thereby caused “Chicanas” and Chicanos to feel uncomfortable in expressing themselves. Anzaldúa sees this as something needs to become changed. The attack regarding the Chicano’s native language needs being stopped because “If someone, Chicana or Latina includes a low estimation of my native tongue, she also has a low estimation of me.” (58). The author states that language is definitely an portion of ethnic identity and should be something you can find pride in if women want to enhance their self-estimation. “Ethnic identity is twin skin to linguistic identity - I am my language. Until I can are happy with my language, I cannot are proud of myself.” (59).

Closing around the end inside the chapter, mcdougal discusses the text regarding learning how it's incorporated within oneself. Through Chicano literature, as an example books and poetry, through Mexican movies, like “Nosotros los pobres, the very first ‘real’ Mexican movie” (60), and music, Chicanos felt a sense of belonging. It is an expression of their language and so an expression of them. With these works, the Mexican people experience an external reinforcement of the heritage and culture.

Anzaldúa discusses that for that border, the language gets forgotten. Living in the lands between America and Mexico seems to acquire an area of confusion, of separation of lacking the knowledge of that side you belong. “Nosotros los Chicanos straddle the borderlands. On one side folks, were constantly exposed for the Spanish with the Mexicans, across the other part we hear the Anglos’ incessant clamouring in order that we forget our language.” (62). However, Anzaldúa states that deep down within their hearts, being Mexican is not with that you live or where had you been born. It just isn't in your mind in your soul. Around the border, conflict and confusion is strong but as Anzaldúa states, her individuals have been patient and hope that one day the conflict and confusion can certainly. In the meantime, the Mexican people survive since they always had.

In coclusion, Gloria E. Anzaldúa’s story of How to Tame a Wild Tongue proved to become a convincing argument because she actually is the voice in the Chicano people living on both sides in the border. She narrates from her demonstration of as being a “Chicana” residing within the United States where each of the pressure of forgetting her language was place on her behalf shoulders for many years. Anzaldúa’s way with words is fairly poetic and moving and chose to utilize a great deal of imagery to impress her readers as well as let Non-Latin American people find out more regarding the life span of Chicanos that is known so little gonna an outsider.

Work Cited

Anzaldua, Gloria. Borderlands - La Frontera. San Francisco :

Aunt Lute Books, 1987

Gloria Anzaldua in their a part of literature How to tame a wild tongue raises problems that have happened to her as she was living nearby the border relating to the USA and Mexico. From this chapter, we discovered that girls who are in that area are called Mestiza. But this text is just not just in regards to the national culture but about sexism, racism along with the too few identity in individuals who have happened growing across the edges of two different cultures. The author pays great awareness of the difficulties of Chicanos, Mexican-Americans who struggle in defining themselves considering national and cultural aspects.

This article is focused about the overview and analysis using this section of literature. We will take particular notice with all the thoughts the writer wants to share and what is the necessity for them.

 Gloria Anzaldua How to tame a wild tongue: Overview
This is much more biopic compared to a regular social story. It starts when Gloria would certainly attend her dentist. She was that great mouth problems a result from the difficulties with your ex wild tongue. This situation brings a reader to her thoughts about developing a tamed tongue inside the specter of her Chicana to distinguish the situation ones is always that she can be regarded as neither fully Mexican nor American.

Gloria knows and speaks 8 different languages and dialects which enables it to freely change them according to who she predicts. But concurrently, she gets like she doesn't have a particular identity to be a human along having a woman as she still notices the insufficient knowledge generally in most languages. She suffered from being ashamed of the simple fact. It makes Gloria think that she does not are part of the Latina community despite this is her origin and as well, she isn't accepted fully inside the US community as well while people expect she shouldn't only continue with the language rules as well as cannot 've got ethnical accent.

Another issue lies inside dialects. Gloria Anzaldua in how you can tame a wild tongue admits that we now have numerous dialects that be based upon through which the person lives inside the US. But Chicanas who speak English should not be detected as ones this may accent. In some way by utilizing a Chicanas dialect for everyday communication means shame. Gloria may be simply hurt by means of a person when he/she starts making fun using the language she speaks.

But the greatest insight involves her seeing a magazine designed in Chicano Spanish by John Rechy this is a Chicano author. At that moment Gloria has remarked that her identity exists too. But still, she had to struggle with people prejudices as her supervisor was against her focusing for your Chicano literature for my child Ph.D. paper. She even faced some threats about being fired because within the need to present the Chicano literature inside classroom that consisted mostly of Chicanos. Gloria begun to find out her identity via music and cinema also. She wasn't a fan in the ethnic music and her tastes were aimed at rock-n-roll and country music. But giving an opportunity to the corridors music she learned that music is interesting to her also. And there are much more discoveries ahead. Gloria states that even food preferences could possibly are the source of identity for an individual.

Defining her identity, Gloria used terms Spanish or Mexican-American terms depending to the person along with the matter to spell it. But with time Gloria realizes that Mexicana and Chicana will function as the proper terms define her spirit. They mean she wasn't born and raised in Mexico but about the same time, she cannot call American values her.

One of the main problems for Chicanos happens because cannot feel at ease in a group that brings about economic difficulties. However, this crowd is bound if they are planning to abide by their language and culture, these are planning to overline any while using Western European institutions and remain strong and actionable.

Summary in the best strategy to tame a wild tongue
This story is short but meaningful aiming at the issue inside identity searches of those that have gained highlights of different cultures and speak several language or perhaps in another way include popular features of different teams of people whether or not it's nationality, race or language. How to tame a wild tongue summary displays this main issue they faced will be the insufficient acceptance in numerous group. And they might be embarrassed with not being “pure” in the surprising perspective. For instance, Gloria’s mother whose tongue is Spanish was upset that her daughter carries with it an accent that will reveal her Mexican origin.

How to tame a wild tongue: sparknotes
Now let’s highlight the notes that the author put inside center of her story. We have already outlined them, however we'll take a look at each separately.

The first main issue could are the language, obviously. So, the article author uses both English and Spanish words in their own individual story without even translation a great deal of them on the English-speaking reader. This trick demonstrates the break with all the languages in the real world.
Feminism may be the an added sparknote as stated by How to tame a wild tongue analysis. Gloria is worried that her female identity is danger too as in the Chicano dialect the Spanish words prevail and in addition they frequently have a very masculine form.
Also she refers towards the representation question. Can the entire process of identity formation exist devoid in the influence in the media and art messages? What will happen if the person will continue using the guidelines presented there? How the representation affects the perception of people who tend not to are part of the Chicano group?
How to tame a wild tongue: main points
What was the point from the story? Anzaldua wanted to mention some thought referring towards the identity along with the acceptance through the people inside the mixed ethnical groups.

Gloria states that jane is defined by her language and she grows to certainly speak Chicanos dialect. But the truth is the fact that jane is not accepted through the whites also as Hispanic people. Since the young years, she was told that her language is not right. But eventually, she realized that they can can't be embarrassed from it.
Looking through How to tame a wild tongue citation you will see they includes Spanish words in their own personal text to become able to show people she won't stop trying her approach to convey. It is her right this means you will not be affected by people even her readers. This approach allows you see and glance at the point of her story.
Anzaldua highlights that identity is inseparably connected for the culture. Cultural characteristics might be determined from the political, geographical and economic conditions along with the language.
It is fine and rightful being different and you need to not betray your inner identity like a way to become accepted. This is due for the reality that in the case you will likely be treated differently for the reason that concern is hardly in you in society.
How to tame a wild tongue book
We should accept the very fact the there are numerous nations inside world and they will consist of one another anyway. The differences in language are inevitable. But the nation including a few cultures may be even stronger than the usual so-called pure one. We recommend that you buy a How to tame a wild tongue pdf and also to go through the author’s emailing buy yourself a deeper idea of these points.

Analysis of How to Tame a Wild Tongue
How to tame a wild tongue is an article by Gloria Anzar Dua. This article targets several varieties of Spanish speaking, if that's the case Anzaldua concentrates on losing an accent to alter on the surroundings she lives in. The problem applied in this posting is that Spanish asserted "Spanish" articles were put into parts and don't fully considered. .

How to tame the summary and analysis in the wild tongue reveals the experience of American poet, critic, novelist and essayist Gloria Anzarduwa. The strategy to tame the wild tongue may function as the book "Borderlands / La Frontera" published in 1987. This is but one of the major works she believes can be an important an affiliate marketer Cicano literature. This book is basically split into two parts. The first part includes seven papers, the second part has several poems. Our focus is regarding how to tame the wild tongue. In general, Borderlands / La Frontera emphasizes her experience as a woman entering into a border with some other countries and cultures. A woman like herself is termed Mixed Blood mainly because it explains it inside a book.

How to regulate the summary and analysis of wild tongue will target the look at Gloria · Anzardua's language and identity. In this information I will explain the folks of Chicano living for your border involving the United States and Mexico. It also can make it clear that the conquest of Europe has political, spiritual and socio-economic impacts on indigenous peoples inside border areas. Most people believe language and identity are synonyms with the other? How to become acquainted with wild tongue analysis reveals to us that may not be true. Ethnic identity should be the 1st step toward self-validation. Regardless inside negative reaction of others to diversity, you are able to now self-verify. For a long time, Gloria Anzaldua caused others to create a negative reaction to her identity, as Chicano influences her self-confidence.

A general argument about tying her wild tongue Gloria Anzardua in their own personal work "How to tame a wild tongue" is barbarous words isn't tamed, but sometimes try to be truncated is. More specifically, she believes that many through the different accents causes serious confusion inside the great culture. In this information, I write as follows. "We squeeze each other, talking to be a tikanos, seeking to meet Chikano looking to become a" real "ticanos. Finally, Anzaldua's idea is the actual fact that separation triggered an inside struggle between Spanish cultures. In our opinion, Anzaldua is correct at the same time. Because one culture is suppressed by another culture. More specifically, each accent in Spanish efforts to transcend other accent to understand control. Some people may resist the point that it is merely a language, but the world thinks that having different accent can lead to understanding problems.

Rhetorical Analysis of "How to Tame a Wild Tongue"

Gloria Anzaldúa code-switches with this particular text on several separate occasions. One of these occasions occurs when she describes how her mother reacted to her speaking English “being a Mexican”. The sentence starts in English, then quickly equals Spanish tongue to the remainder of the sentence. Another instance of her code-switching is completed by Gloria herself when she states how other women of Hispanic heritage connect on the one else. The sentence, mostly in English is unexpectedly interrupted by Spanish, specifically the language “mexicanas y Latinas”. Her using “Spanglish” (many different English and Spanish at the same time) is ironic because she is explaining how “mexicanas y Latinas” speak English and Spanish so that you can communicate, while Gloria does the same exact thing in their writing. Gloria moves between those two languages effortlessly, which demonstrates seems like as second nature to her.

Code-switching between the two languages enriches Gloria’s means of writing with character on the conversation. The text would most likely be dull without her type of Spanish code-switching. Code-switching between one language might also say issues that another language cannot. For instance, merely explaining the premise of code-switching is not as effective as showing or saying them in the different language to help buy a new perspective. The impact of code-switching simply will not translate when they talk monolingually.

 I do not feel that Gloria faces risks from straying from standard English, nor do I believe her code-switching presents challenges for her to obtain heard. If anything it would broaden her audience to Spanish, English, and Spanglish speakers alike, thus doing the contrary of producing challenges. Instead she is being heard by strategy for a larger population group. What Gloria has been doing will be the reverse of restricting her audience. All 3 people in these language groups can correspond with this text on some level, obviously, should they can’t relate for the personal level they're able to still learn from your experiences of others.

Summary: How to Tame a Wild Tongue by Gloria Anzaldua

In “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”, Gloria Anzaldua exposes her feelings about social and cultural difficulties that Mexican immigrants face when being raised within the United States. She establishes comparisons among English, Spanish along with their variations along with the way cultural imperialism affect people’s “preference” to communicate one language instead in the other. She produces in debate important social problems including sexism, cultural imperialism, racism, low self-esteem, reprimand, and identity construction. The author brilliantly starts this short article having a metaphor where she defines the acculturation process as something extremely violent and cruel. In addition, this article is geared towards showing them of the acculturation process: the Anglo side and also the Hispanic side. On the Anglo side, there is a urgency of adaption. In other words, what's available for decide to immigrate towards the United States, he should embrace which and culture for being “accepted”; for your Hispanic side, it is possible to find the Mexican parents who want their children to ensure success and live the American Dream, thus they’d better speak proper American English with minimum or no accent. It seems that each of the author desires is usually to get capable of freely speak Chicano Spanish and still have their own personal language and identity respected. According for the content, some progress has being made. There are books published in Chicano Spanish, and political parties who defend Chicano’s rights. Nonetheless, there is certainly still an interrogation mark with regards to their race, identity, language, culture, an awareness belonging, freedom to imply their thoughts in whatever English/Spanish variation they really want and sexism due on the “macho” popular features of Latinos most of the time. In addition, the writer expresses her feeling of outrage, exposing how Chicano Spanish is belittled by Latinos and Anglo people. To conclude mcdougal suggests that Chicanos are linguistically orphans and how it seriously affects their self-esteem.


Response:

The article “How to Tame a Wilde Tongue” by Gloria Anzaldua is extremely valuable since it gives discussion important social issues like sexism, cultural imperialism, racism, low self-esteem, reprimand and identity formation.  The article includes a solid argument base that may be corroborated by scholars including Foucault, Goffman, Zizek and Fanon. Although it was publish in 1987 as a part of Anzaldua’s book “Borderland/ La Frontera”, she would be considered a contemporary through the Chicano Movement in the 60s. Culturally, she was influenced from the social turmoil when she wrote the content. In other words, the richness of her writing surpasses knowledge, what's more, it originates from desire.

One with the article’s strengths is clearly stated by the article author when she qualifies the acculturation process as violent.  She uses the definition of “linguistic terrorism” and explains how a First Amendment is violated, when one has his sort of expression attacked with intend of censure. Another interesting point could are the take a look at languages as subjective and passive of changes built beyond new grammatical rules. Those changes incorporate social and cultural factors. In addition, there is certainly an intriguing questioning on whether identity construction is often a social input also to what extent everyone has control upon their own identity formation.  All these thoughts were developed from the author among social turmoil caused with the Chicano Movement and I strongly believe it contributed for the general strength of this informative article. Historically speaking, the Mexican- American society in California and Texas was under-going over two decades of segregation. Among the claimed civil rights was the ability to quality education by which Mexican-Americans would receive equal college opportunities and not merely be pushed into vocational schools. Mexican-American children or Chicanos, will be embarrassed with their origins at the same time as speaking Spanish from after they were physically and psychologically punished at college for speaking Spanish inside classroom. Cultural imperialism promoted a stereotyped and stigmatized Mexican population: passiveness and low intellectual aptitude triggered a huge number of students quitting school.

At now, I strongly believe the writer exposed her feelings and experience supporting these with historical facts really effective way. In a country where First Amendment states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or perhaps the press; or right while using people peaceably to get, and petition the Government for the redress of grievances.” (Find Law); you need to get the authority to live according to their cultural backgrounds up for the point of not overstepping the bounds from the others.  That said, I strongly disagree with the writer, when she states, “[…] until I’m liberal to write bilingually and switch codes not having always to translate, while I still must talk English or Spanish when I’d rather speak Spanglish, if I ought to keep the English speakers instead of getting them to accommodate me, my tongue will likely be illegitimate” (Anzaldua, 1987, p.80).  One have the legal right to freedom of expression which enable it to protest for things he believes may benefit society; however, it is possible to demand virtually all to allow for the word what needs in the minority, when the official spoken language within the country, in such instances the United States is English? At now in this article, I sense how the article author’s outrage oversteps the limit of wise practice and she or he or he basically wish to settle all of the segregation she's faced thus far in their lives. I’d want to produce an example out inside the American context as a way to illustrate better my thoughts. Brazil is often a country that received many Asians and Europeans immigrates during and with the end of World War ll. The official language is Brazilian Portuguese, there are numerous Italian, Japanese and German communities. Those communities are small when compared towards the rest with the Brazilian population. Do Brazilians learn Italian to go to Italians or do Italians learn Portuguese as they're moving into Brazil and require to get qualified to integrate themselves in the Brazilian society? Are they going to get less Italians simply because they learn Portuguese? I don’t think so. The point I’m looking to make is: you will discover many advantages of being multicultural and also you have to make an effort to match the others’ needs on the best of the abilities. To conclude, I strongly feel how the writer comes with a valid point when it comes to cultural imperialism, sexism, identity construction, racism, low self-esteem and reprimand in a very country which include liberty as one of its pillars.

Thesis:

Thesis # 1: Identity construction is indelibly associated with social inputs. It is often a variable that relies upon political, economic and bellicose hegemony.

Thesis # 2: Language and culture are inseparable; with language suffering variations considering that the culture varies or changes. Political, economic and geographical conditions will determine cultural characteristics which will result in language variation.

Thesis # 3: Individuals play different roles in society which is often basically socially determined.



References:

Anzaldua, Gloria. “How to Tame a Wild Tongue?” Borderland/ La Frontera: The New Mestiza. Second Edition. San Francisco: Aunt Lute, 1987. 217. Print.

“First Amendment - U.S Constitution.” Find Law. 12 Jan. 2014. Web. 9 Aug.

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