Drew Andersen
8/30/15
Prof. Young
ENGL 1100 3C
"How to Tame a Wild Tongue"
1) The opening scene of when Anzaldua is in the dentist's chair connects to the general message of how people try to control your language or try to influence it.
2) Throughout the story Anzaldua also wrote in Spanish to show how her dialect is diverse and doesn't consist of only one language. Since it was in Spanish it was hard to understand.
3) English cannot be defined as Standard Spanish, if you speak English you are known as a cultural traitor. Chicano Spanish should not be described as nonstandard, it is a naturally developed language known as a border language which some people speak.
4) Speaking and writing in Academic English is not necessarily a necessity. As shown by Anzaldua she is able to speak and write in several types of dialects creating her own identity, Chicano.
5) Anzaldua describes several different types of Spanish identities, to me they are there own type of slang. Different English identities are either standard or nonstandard, formal or non formal, I use these types of identities with different types of people.
6) Pachuco is a type of Spanish that can be described as a secret language. I can relate to this secret language, for example my friends and I use certain gestures and terms to communicate with each others.
7) I use different standards of English when speaking to different types of people. When speaking with my friends I always speak in nonstandard tone. Speaking with my mother or a professor can change from standard to nonstandard depending on the seriousness of the conversation.
8) The term "I am my language" means that your language should be unique to yourself. This connects to someones identity because your language or slang is one of the main factors to shaping your identity.
9) The introduction and conclusion do have a connection talking about the same message. The introduction talks how Anzaldua is rejecting the dentist's influence, and the conclusion shows how Los Chicanos never gave up their native tongue.
10) The language you speak can be part of your identity because your language can be a factor that differentiates yourself from other groups.
11) I believe identity is very important, you should not try to shape yourself exactly like another person. Anzaldua also believes it is important to have your own identity, for example when she was at the dentist's office her tongue kept "pushing out the wads of cotton". This showed how she didn't let someone change her identity.
