In the story “How To Tame A Wild Tongue”, Gloria Anzaldua is a young Chicano girl who felt as though the language she spoke was needed to identify…
In this essay, Anzaldua reveals her thoughts about the issues of racism, identity, and low self-esteem faced by Mexican immigrants living in the United States. Anzaldua states that a person’s identity is linked to the way they speak. Anzaldua begins her essay with a metaphor demonstrating how immigrants are suppressed in society. She uses ethos to establish her credibility throughout this essay such as in paragraph 35 (“Until I can take pride in my language…”). Today there are still issues where immigrants are judged by the way they speak and made to feel ashamed of their own language and culture.…
The author talks about the dilemma she faced about her own language and how she represents herself through her language. Gloria Anzaldua who is a Chicano talks about how Chicanas have problems expressing their feelings. Since they lack a native language, instead it is a product of several languages. And their language Chicano Spanish has incorporated bits and pieces of several versions of Spanish. The author speaks about people who are neither Spanish nor live in a country in which Spanish is the first language; for a people who live in a country in which English is the reigning tongue but who are not Anglo; for a people who cannot entirely identify with either standard Spanish no standard English. So she emphasizes the importance to have their…
American values are frequently forced upon students or workers. There are few times, where people look down on people who do not accept the American Way of Life. In “How to Tame a Wild Tongue,” Anzaldúa wrote, “So if you really want to hurt me, talk badly about my language. Ethnic identity is twin skin to linguistic identity – I am my language” (Anzaldúa 445). Linguistic identity can be difficult for a bilingual person, being somewhere in-between two different culture is confusing and sometimes uncomfortable. A person can’t simply identify with one or the other because each culture has impacted an individual’s life. Being a bilingual also creates boundaries and limitations because the feeling of being disconnected from the language and culture a person is…
"Identity is the essential core of who we are as individuals, the conscious experience of the self inside" - Kaufman (Anzuldύa 62). Coming to America and speaking more than one language, I often face similar situations as Gloria Anzaldύa and Amy Tan. Going to high school where personal image is a big part of a student 's life is very nerve racking. American Values are often forced upon students and a certain way of life is expected of them. Many times, in America, people look down on people who do not accept the American Way of Life. The struggle of "fitting in" and accepting the cultural background is a major point in both essays, _Mother Tongue_ by Amy Tan and _How to Tame a Wild Tongue_ by Gloria Anzaldύa, which the authors argue similarly about. Both essays can be related to my life as I experience them in my life at home and at school.…
Often with mexicanas y latinas we'll speak English as a neutral language. Even among Chicanas we tend to speak English at parties or conferences. Yet, at the same time, we're afraid the other will think we're agringadas because we don't speak Chicano Spanish. We oppress each other trying to out-Chicano each other, vying to be the ‘real’ Chicanas, to speak like Chicanos. (Anzaldua…
Language is the system of words or signs that people use to express thoughts and feelings to each other. Language has an impulse on a person that allows them to make ties with a certain society, thus giving them a cultural identification. When residents of another country come to America and speak a contrasting language to English, immigrants most likely feel uneasy having to adapt to a completely new culture and learn the English language. During this journey, the individuals’ cultural identities might fade away as well as losing their efficient fluency on their native language. In Amy Tan’s, “Mother Tongue” and Richard Rodriguez “Aria: A Memoir of A Bilingual Childhood”, both authors experience the difficulties of language barrier and adjusting to a different lifestyle in order to develop as an individual in the United States.…
Historians have said that the basic concept of individual identity has come from the Renaissance time. The two documents B and D are the most significant to the development of the current worldviews about individual identity. Documents B and D display the topics on literature and anatomy. The Renaissance view of individual identity still affects us today because now our knowledge about certain areas of work are more in depth. We are also able to make more discoveries thanks to early realizations.…
Gloria Anzaldua in How to Tame a Wild Tongue and Amy Tan in Mother Tongue both share a similar message in their essays, they argue that every single culture faces different language obstacles when learning the english language. Both struggle to develop the correct form of english, the one considered acceptable by society. Both Tan and Anzaldua teach us about their ethnic backgrounds, in an effort to better help us learn of their struggles. Amy Tan, is of asian descent, and tells us how growing up with a mother who spoke “broken english” influenced the person she became and how she approached the world. Gloria Anzaldua, considered herself a Mexican American but mainly Chicana, and she tells us of her struggle to accept her roots and to find a place where she belonged. Ultimately, this also influenced who Anzaldua came to be. The…
What’s makes someone an American? Am I more American because my skin is white and I speak perfect English? Or am I more American because my family immigrated here 100 years earlier than most? Our country is a melting pot of different races, backgrounds and beliefs. Two women, who are the children of immigrants, share their stories of growing up in America. The first is Gloria Anzaldua, a Chicana who grew up in South Texas. The first chapter of her book, Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza is titled “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”. She describes life as a young woman who is too Spanish for Americans and too American for Spanish. The second is Amy Tan, a daughter of immigrants who fled China in the 1940s. In her essay “Mother Tongue” she recalls…
Language that we use in our private life may affect our public life. Anzaldua describes her life as a young Spanish woman who is more like Spanish for American and more like American for Spanish. On the other hand, Amy Tan recalls growing up with a mother…
In this paper, I will investigate the "Problem of Personal Identity". The particular scenario I will respond to is: "Suppose that sometime in the future a crazy scientist creates a perfect clone of you. The clone has a qualitatively identical body to yours and has the same memories as you as well as same voice, character, and so on. How would yo convince a court of law that the clone is not really you? What theory of personal identity would help you to make your case" (Rauhut, 2011, p. 125)? First I will clarify key terms, and then I will apply those terms in my analysis of the question. Then I will close out by reflecting on my conclusion and some insights I gained about the Problem of Personal Identity.…
One’s own identity is derived not by circumstances, but rather by his or her experiences, moral values, as well as motivation. Especially in today’s media, people love to read or watch about impossible stories of rags-to-riches, and they try to incorporate those stories’ motivational plots into their quest to become successful. I concur with Thomas Merton in that I believe “identity is much more than the name or features one is born with. True identity is something people must create for themselves.” One’s origin does not fully account for one’s identity, but it is shaped rather by actions and perception of self. Ideals from “People Inside Me”, “Cut”, and “Commencement Speech at Mount Holyoke College” all influence my point of view regarding…
Identity can mean many things. The definition can be as simple as someone’s fingerprint or name. It can be defined as someone's actions and how they affect other people’s lives. It can even be someone’s interests or their career. The question, who am I, can have multiple answers. So, who am I? For a girl that is more concerned about who she wants to be rather than who she is currently that’s a hard question to answer. Identity to her means more than just a fingerprint. Her identity is her persona. She wants to be outgoing. She wants to be the girl that is less concerned about what the world thinks of her. She wants to be the girl that chases after what she wants and gets it. She wants to be more than what society views her to be.…
Identity is something human beings hold dear. Humans are very complex beings and it is difficult to pinpoint exactly what makes up who a person is or can be. Now, the most common generalizations as to what makes up an identity are: personality, likes, dislikes, experience(s), religion, soul, memories and beliefs. A physical form isn’t mentioned; because the body is a temporary thing. A body doesn’t necessarily mean that it is part of the identity since; what will last forever in not the body but the impact left by personality or ideas, for they are everlasting.…