ASA-lochblog Rhetorical Reading Response (How to Tame a Wild Tongue)

 

Shevantai Gooden, Amir Arnold and Andreana Clark

Dr. Cantice Greene

English 1101

8 February 2022

Rhetorical Reading Response (How to Tame a Wild Tongue)

            In the essay “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” (1987), written by Gloria Anzaldúa, Anzaldúa argues that she and other Chicano’s have been oppressed because of their language. Anzaldúa portrays this oppression by giving examples of personal experiences when people made situations difficult for her or looked down on her because of the language she spoke. The author includes quotes throughout the essay in order to provoke the thoughts of readers. The intended audience of the essay are Chicanos and people who have caused Chicanos to feel oppressed.

            I felt sympathetic and inspired after reading the essay. I sympathize with the author and other Chicanos because I feel their pain of being rejected. On the other hand, I feel inspired by them because although neither Spanish nor English speaking people accepted them, they pushed past all the negativity and persevered until they were officially recognized as a people. I think the author supported her main idea very effectively with her use of quotes and different works from other authors. I believe that the organization of the essay is a bit confusing. Although the use of different quotes and sayings were helpful, I think that they were a bit excessive and caused the reading to be overbearing.

              The author’s thesis that Chicano people are oppressed is effective because it reveals how the Chicano people have suffered and it encourages them to fight on when the author says, “Stubborn, persevering, impenetrable as stone, yet possessing a malleability that renders us unbreakable, we, the mestizas and mestizos, will remain,” (Anzaldúa). When the author said, “as long as I have to accommodate the English speakers rather than having them accommodate me, my tongue will be illegitimate,” (Anzaldúa) she argues that she has been oppressed by English speakers and until they allow her to freely express herself, without making accommodations for them, she will continue to feel oppressed. The writer feels strongly about her topic and this can be seen where she says, “If a person, Chicano or Latina, has a low estimation of my native tongue, she also has a low estimation of me,” (Anzaldúa). She describes her and her language as one, which shows how important her language is to her. The author uses pathos such as, “Repeated attacks on our native tongue diminish our sense of self,” (Anzaldúa) to get her audience as emotionally involved as she is and to show how attacking their language has impacted their self-esteem. The author uses quotes such as “Who is to say that robbing a people of its language is less violent than war?” (Anzaldúa) to show that language is important to them and that it is seen as a violent act to keep them from speaking their native language. Anzaldúa used repetition to highlight the importance of accepting and taking pride in her language. This repetition is seen where she said, “Until I can take pride in my language,” (Anzaldúa), “Until I can accept as legitimate Chicano Texas Spanish,” (Anzaldúa) and “Until I am free to write bilingually,” (Anzaldúa). Anzaldúa uses definitions such as “pigionear means petting,” (Anzaldúa) to support her point that she has always had to accommodate English speaking individuals. These definitions gave clarity to English speaking readers because they can’t understand the Spanish terms. The author used the metaphor “We’re going to have to control your tongue,” to represent that individuals are trying to control her speech.

Gloria Anzaldúa, “How to Tame a Wild Tongue,” in Borderlands: The New Mestiza - La Frontera, (San Francisco: Aunt Lute Book Company, 1987), 53-64.