How to Tame a Wild Tongue

“How to Tame a Wild Tongue”

          In this piece of writing, Gloria Anzaldua argues and expresses her point of view on the different nations, cultures, classes, genders, and languages. As a Chicana, the identity of a Mexican-American living in the United States, Gloria encounters hard moments in her life while living in Texas when she would express her Chicano culture. Throughout this text, Anzaldua subtly conveys, in her own manner, the destruction of her Chicano culture and having to defend and take pride through the use of rhetorical strategies such as syntax, narrative flashbacks, and the incorporation of her native tongue using diction.

            The use of syntax by Anzaldua helps evaluate and convey her argument to the reader. Through this device, she applies it to herself, strongly defends her language, and has to be willing to take a deep pride in it. She conveys it through deep emotions about her lingual identity using balanced and declarative sentences. “Ethnic identity is twin skin to linguistic identity- I am my language. Until I can take pride in my language, I cannot take pride in myself. Until I can accept as legitimate Chicano Texas Spanish, Tex-Mex, and all other languages I speak I cannot accept the legitimacy of myself” (Paragraph 27). Throughout these complex sentences, she further describes the acceptance of her languages and remove the feeling of shame by stating, “I will have my voice: Indian, Spanish, white” (Paragraph 29). By using these types of sentences, she tells the reader that only if her languages are accepted she will find acceptance for herself.

            Anzaldua also incorporates the use of flashbacks and past experiences to show a kindhearted emotion to the reader. When reading her first Chicano novel, “City of Night,” by John Rechy who was also a Texan, she was stunned with astonishment that a Chicano was able to write and get their book published. She also read “I Am Joaquin,” and was surprised to see that it was bilingual, also written by a Chicano and a feeling of pure joy illuminated her when she saw a piece of poetry written in Tex-Mex, a language in which she spoke. Anzaldua then stated, “I felt like we really existed as people.” She felt an act of delight shine through her because she felt proud of her chicano people and culture that some were able to get their names out and represent the chicano culture, as she wanted to do the same. Anzaldua also incorporates her experiences as child going to school and being punished for speaking Spanish instead of English. “I remember being caught speaking Spanish at recess- that was good for three licks on the knuckles with a sharp ruler. If you want to be American speak American. If you don’t like it, go back to Mexico where you belong” (Paragraph 4).  This represents how unjust and cruel schools were in the United States regarding  people's culture and race other than American. 

            Gloria Anzaldua also incorporates words used in her native tongue to provide the reader with examples of her Chicano culture. “Chicanos, after 250 years of Spanish/Anglo colonization, have developed significant differences in the Spanish we speak. We collapse two adjacent vowels into a single syllable in certain words such as maíz/maiz, cohete/cuete. We leave out consonants appearing between vowels such as lado/lao and mojado/mojao (Paragraph 18). In their native tongue, they also borrowed words from the English language that almost sound the same so Spanish speakers adapt to English words. They are words like bola from ball, carpeta for carpet and maquina de lavar (instead of using lavadora­) for washing machine. Anzaldua uses this to show how chicanos use their form of language and their typical culture of a Mexican-American to emphasize her native tongue and way of speaking as well as communicating with their own racial group.