Understanding "How To Tame a Wild Tongue"

Jazzlyn LaNier
English 1100_35
August 31st, 2015
Professor Young

                                        "How To Tame a Wild Tongue"

Question 1: The opening scene connects to the overall point because the dentist is becoming frustrated that he can not get Anzaldua's tongue to obey his command. The overall message is to strip the Spanish culture of their identity to completely control them.

Question 2: Anzaldua use of Spanish throughout the text is her placing her identity, her sense of self on paper. It made a lot of sense for her to put Spanish throughout the text because she was forced to read English and try to figure out what we were trying to say. Her purpose is to make us understand the frustration and struggle she had to go through to obtain her education. 

Question 3:In my opinion Academic English can not be defined as Spanish Standard and neither can Chicano Spanish be described as non standard. I do not know much about the Spanish language to make that assumption , and I don't think anyone does. They are two different languages and deserve to be treated as such.

Question 4: I do not believe it is necessary to speak/write in Academic English as a identity because it just results in us being close minded and hostile towards other languages.

Question 5: Various types of English are Standard English, Working class English and slang English. I use slang English and Standard English.

Question 6: Yes me and my best friend Christian have a secret language. We take references mainly from our favorite youtuber Dashie and have phrases or actions that only me and him know. The difference between us and most close minded people is that we don't poke fun at someone else trying to understand or even learn what we are talking about. We are open and accepting to new people.

Question 7: With my friends I speak non standard English because its a more relaxed atmosphere and I'm not being judged if I pronounce a word wrong or If i use slang. With my mother I speak non standard English because we have a close relationship and even she sometimes messes up words. So since she doesn't judge me I can not judge her.  With my professor, I speak standard/non standard English so I will not come off as disrespectful as though I do not acknowledge their status. I put non standard because some professor allow you to speak freely with them, so it becomes a calm environment in the classroom.

Question 8: " I am my language" How I articulate myself tells people a little bit about myself. You can get sense of my upbringing from how I carry myself and my culture and depending on you depends on whether or not you have a negative connotation about it.

Question 9: When Anzaldua is in the dentist chair being called stubborn relates to her culture. She states " Stubborn, persevering, impenetrable as stone, yet possessing a malleability that renders us unbreakable, we, the mestizas and mestizos, will remain. No matter what you say or try to do to her or her people she will not break, she refuses to accept that shes not normal. From the beginning to end she defended her culture and made us realize that there is nothing wrong with her but the people who are trying to strip her of her identity.

Question 10: Yes, the language I speak is a huge part of my Identity. When you speak freely without any hesitation , you feel comfortable and you slowly become more and more proud of where you are from and the person you are.

Question 11: Identity is very important to me. Its what makes Jazzlyn , Jazzlyn. Yes Anzaldua believe Identity is important. In the text she defends it at every crook and nanny that someone tried to take it from her.