Thanks to the COM352 students for contributing a bunch of new pages! I'll be moving these pages into the main area of the wiki soon.

From UMassWiki

How to Tame a Wild Tongue

People from different parts of the world have different ways of doing things. Certain cultures and individuals can not accept this and feel that it’s their way or the highway. “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” written by Gloria Anzaldua, is a Chicano-American woman’s struggle to be accepted by the cultures around her. Gloria is pressured to live as an American in Texas, accepting all of the American customs including the English language. Gloria also strives to stay true to her roots as a Chicano-American woman. Gloria wants to be accepted for who she is as a Chicano-American in both Mexico and America. Gloria feels that her language is her basic right. The U.S. standard English has been shoved down her throat since she was a child. “I remember being caught speaking Spanish at recess–that was good for three licks on the knuckles with a sharp ruler. I remember being sent to the corner of the classroom for “talking back” to the Anglo teacher when all I was trying to do was tell her how to pronounce my name.” This is an example of how Gloria was discriminated against by her white surroundings. Gloria because She was different, was not even listened to by this racist and ignorant teacher. The fact that a child caught speaking Spanish would be punished physically shows how much Gloria was tread on, even as a young child. The one way school system is an indication of how certain cultures can not accept differences. “Pocho, cultural traitor, you’re speaking the oppressor’s language by speaking English, you’re ruining the Spanish language,” This quote exposes us to how many Latinos feel regarding forced language. Gloria is scolded by both of her cultures for the language she speaks and the way that she looks. Forced into something like a game of tug-of-war, Gloria is the rope being pulled by each side do it their way. I have experienced a situation similar to this on a far smaller scale. I had one group of friends in high school who drank on the weekends. Another group of friends didn’t use alcohol. I drank occasionally and when I did the anti group would always say something like “ your hanging out with those booze bag low life’s again this weekend?” The group that did drink saw my other friends as prudes who thought of themselves as better. I could see that these two groups were actually very similar in judging the other for petty differences. This article is directed at any person who has an issue with language or languages. Any person who feels pressured by the culture in which they live in to change or adapt to what that culture wants it to can identify with this article and make connections to themselves. On the flip side, close-minded individuals should read this essay and experience what it is like to be discriminated against for being different. People get used to living in a certain way. Language could have much to do with it. Not specifically Mexican or Chicano people, but any person who is living somewhere with conflicting languages, and new customs. “I will no longer be made to feel ashamed of existing. I will have my voice: Indian, Spanish, white. I will have my serpent’s tongue- my woman’s voice, my poet’s voice. I will overcome the tradition of silence”Gloria is expressing what it means to be herself, and a strong woman with choices. I can trust that she feels the same way that many of the people in her culture also feel. Gloria is just one Chicano person out of thousands, who has told her story. She is saying that her language is not just a way to communicate with others. Her language is who she is, and everything she stands for. Every individual is different and each one has a right to be themselves. With a majority bearing down on a minority, individuals are made to feel that what they are is wrong. This is an ever present problem in out country and world today. “For a 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 can not entirely identify with either standard (formal, Castilian) Spanish nor standard English, what recourse is left to them but to create their own language?” This shows Gloria’s revolutionary ideals and encourages that her specific cultural community form their own language. Gloria is reaching out to her people conveying a message to stand up to the segregation Gloria feels she is different because of the situations she went through, such as with the white teacher and with the angry Latinos. We can see what it is like to be an immigrant or someone who is struggling with cross-culturism through Gloria’s experiences. Since I am a white person living in Massachusetts, I cannot say that I have been through anything as extreme as this. Although I have experienced something akin when traveling to other countries. When I visited Mexico, all I heard was Spanish. I was the minority and for that fact did not say much. I felt that I was different and could not carry a conversation with most of people around me. To imagine what it would be like to move to Mexico is very hard to do. I would most definitely have to learn Spanish. I know that I would have a hard time adapting to the language, customs, and possibly racism toward white people. Gloria respects her own background and wants to show others why she feels so strongly about it. Gloria is identified as a Chicano person. This word means that she is Spanish, Anglo, and Indian. Gloria grew up trying to just be “herself”, which encompassed all of her cultural beliefs. Gloria wants to speak the language that her family has spoken for generations, but is forced in this new era to speak variations of the language or another language entirely if she expects to be accepted. Gloria as a writer is putting all of her experience as a Chicano person culturally struggling between being one or the other into this essay. Gloria is a voice for thousands of others in her situation. “So, if you want to really hurt me, talk badly about my language. Ethnic identity is twin skin to linguistic identity–I am my language.” So much energy comes from Gloria that furthers her point that She feels strongly that something needs to change. Gloria is very emotional telling us about what is it is like to be a Chicano. “Flies don’t open a closed mouth.” This quote is perhaps the strongest in the essay. It shows us how Gloria was encouraged to keep her mouth shut if she wanted to keep flies out of her mouth. This is clearly a hit on her character, getting basically told to “shut up”. Gloria stressed this phrase because it implies that she should stop speaking her language due to someone else’s ideals. This encompasses the truth that particular people cannot accept differences in individuals as themselves or their cultures. This article has a strong message, and gets this message across by shoving the reader right into Gloria’s world. Everything She has experienced was brought to the forefront. Gloria was speaking for her culture and of course making a strong statement. Who knows perhaps Gloria Anzeldua could be the Chicano woman who never gave her seat up on the bus. A Rosa Parks type figure to The Chicano community. She is striving to be accepted in both of her cultures. Cultures which have trouble accepting dissidents or new customs.