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How To Tame a Wild Tongue

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How to Tame a Wild Tongue Summary and Key Themes

In her profoundly insightful essay “How to Tame a Wild Tongue,” Gloria Anzaldúa, a Hispanic-American writer, delves into the intimate relationship between language and identity. 

This autobiographical piece, a gem from her 1987 collection “Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza,” also reflects her rich legacy as the co-editor of “A Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color.”

Full Summary

Anzaldúa’s journey starts in an unlikely place: a dentist’s chair. 

As a young girl, her unruly tongue, both literally and metaphorically, becomes a symbol of her struggle. The dentist’s irritation with her tongue mirrors society’s discomfort with her linguistic identity. 

From schoolteachers chastising her for speaking Spanish to authority figures demanding an “accent-free” English, Anzaldúa highlights a broader cultural attempt to suppress her linguistic heritage.

Silence and Patriarchy: The Gendered Language

Anzaldúa shines a light on the intersection of language and gender. She recalls being told as a child that “well-behaved girls are quiet.” This gendered language, she argues, is steeped in patriarchy, even in the nuances of Spanish where the masculine form often prevails. Her revelation comes when she hears women using ‘nosotras’, an empowering discovery of a linguistic space for women.

Chicano Spanish: A Language of the Borderlands

Chicano Spanish, a language born on the fringes of Mexico and the United States, becomes a central theme. Anzaldúa passionately defends this dialect, often criticized by both English and Spanish speakers. She sees it as a reflection of the Chicano identity, a linguistic tapestry weaving together elements from various languages and dialects, enriched by code-switching.

The Linguistic Evolution of Chicano Spanish

Tracing over 250 years of history , Anzaldúa unveils the evolution of Chicano Spanish. From vowel collapsing to the adoption of archaic Spanish words, she shows how geography and history have sculpted this unique dialect. Chicano Spanish stands as a testament to a resilient culture, absorbing influences yet retaining its distinct essence.

Linguistic Terrorism: The Shame and Struggle

Anzaldúa boldly addresses the internalized shame many Chicanos feel about their language, a phenomenon she terms “linguistic terrorism.” She portrays the Chicano’s dilemma, caught between not speaking “proper” Spanish or English, leading to a sense of linguistic inadequacy. Yet, Anzaldúa advocates for embracing this diversity, seeing it as a cornerstone of the Chicano identity.

Cultural Immersion: Literature, Music, and Food

Anzaldúa’s awakening to her Chicano identity intensifies through literature. She recounts her experiences teaching Chicano literature clandestinely, defying the norms set by authorities. This cultural journey isn’t limited to literature alone; it encompasses the rich tapestry of borderland music, cinema, and cuisine, all of which deeply influence her sense of self.

Identity Beyond Borders: The Chicano Soul

The essay delves into the complex identities of Chicanos living on the borderlands. Anzaldúa explores

how this identity is not just about citizenship or geography, but a “state of soul.” The Chicano experience transcends simple categories like Mexican American or Spanish, weaving in Indigenous heritage and creating a unique cultural mosaic. This dual identity often places Chicanos at a cultural crossroads, neither fully American nor Mexican, yet distinctively both.

The Chicano Movement: A Cultural Renaissance

The 1960s marked a pivotal moment for the Chicano identity. Influenced by figures like Cesar Chavez, Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzalez, and events like the formation of the Raza Unida party, Chicanos began to recognize their unique cultural and linguistic heritage. This era of awakening saw Chicanos embracing their distinct language and culture, even amidst the struggle of existing between two worlds.

Surviving and Thriving: The Future of Chicano Culture

Anzaldúa closes her essay with a hopeful vision. Despite the challenges and the “violent and oppressive American culture,” she believes in the resilience of the mestizas and mestizos. She sees a future where they not only survive but thrive, outliving and reshaping the culture that once sought to suppress them.

1. The Inextricable Link Between Language and Identity

At the heart of Anzaldúa’s essay is the profound exploration of how language shapes and defines identity. 

She delves deep into the idea that language is not merely a tool for communication but a vital component of cultural and personal identity. Anzaldúa’s experiences, from being chastised for speaking Spanish to being criticized for her accent in English, highlight the struggles and triumphs of living in a linguistically diverse world. 

The essay underscores the way linguistic nuances and dialects, particularly Chicano Spanish, embody the history, struggles, and resilience of a community. 

Anzaldúa’s narrative illustrates how language can act as a symbol of resistance against cultural assimilation and a means of preserving heritage, making a compelling case for the power of language in forging and affirming one’s identity.

2. Cultural Hybridity and the Chicano Experience

Anzaldúa’s work is quite vibrant, depicting the life of Chicanos, people living on the borderlands between the United States and Mexico. 

This theme of cultural hybridity runs deep, exploring the complexities of having a dual identity in a world that often demands singular allegiances. Through her reflections, Anzaldúa portrays how Chicanos navigate the nuances of two distinct cultures, blending and shifting between them. She brings attention to the challenges of this dual existence, from the struggle to fit into either culture fully to the richness that such a unique perspective brings. 

This theme is especially applicable in her discussions of “linguistic terrorism” and the internalized shame associated with not conforming to linguistic norms of either the Spanish or English language. 

The essay becomes a celebration of this hybridity, advocating for the acceptance and recognition of the rich, diverse cultural landscape it creates.

3. Gender, Language, and Power

Anzaldúa’s essay is also a critical examination of the intersections between gender, language, and power. 

She illuminates how language can be a tool of patriarchal control, particularly in the way women are socialized to use (or not use) their voices. Anzaldúa’s personal anecdotes, such as being told that “well-behaved girls are quiet,” reveal the broader societal pressures on women to conform to submissive roles. 

Additionally, she touches upon the gendered aspects of language itself, using the example of the masculine and feminine forms in Spanish to discuss how language can reflect and perpetuate gender biases. 

This exploration goes beyond mere critique, transforming into a call for empowerment, where Anzaldúa champions the use of language as a form of resistance against patriarchal norms, urging women, especially those from marginalized communities, to reclaim their voices and narratives.

Final Thoughts

In “How to Tame a Wild Tongue,” Gloria Anzaldúa doesn’t just tell her story; she weaves a narrative of resilience, cultural identity, and linguistic pride. Her essay is a powerful reminder of the inextricable link between language and self, a call to embrace our diverse tongues as integral parts of our identity.

How to Tame a Wild Tongue

How to tame a wild tongue by gloria anzaldua summary, how to tame a wild tongue literary analysis, more from gloria anzaldua.

How to Tame a Wild Tongue Summary

Analysis of how to tame a wild tongue by gloria anzaldua.

How to Tame a Wild Tongue , a chapter in Gloria Anzaldua’s book   Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza  reflects on the in-betweenness that Chicanas like her experienced as an outcome of living on the Mexico-Texas border and hence also a subject of consequential repression and marginalization. The essay primarily focuses on the reconstruction of the American identity through debarring the existing linguistic barriers in order to achieve freedom from Eurocentric ideals and an ascription to the rootedness of that identity in the lived experiences of the people. 

  How to Tame a Wild Tongue | Summary

  Beginning with a recall of a dentist visit in the past, Anzaldua exhibits her consciousness and anger over people who attempt to monitor her tongue or her accent. The dentist expresses his concern over the author’s teeth and his inability to successfully carry on with the treatment due to the interfering “wild tongue.” Anzaldua perceives it as an offensive remark over her linguistic identity and also a stab at her freedom. The dentist’s literal statement metaphorically comments on the long-standing practice of suppression that Chicanas like the author have been enduring. 

The essay is unlike any traditional piece of critical writing which articulates and substantiates certain arguments. Instead, its autobiographical nature allows for the incorporation of various anecdotes as well as a free flow of languages to naturally establish the author’s point of view. 

  The work discusses Anzaldua’s struggle during her childhood when the school administration prohibits her from conversing in Spanish and even punishes her for her polite attempt to correct her teacher’s pronunciation of her name. Further, she sheds light on her origins and her identity as a Chicana woman. Chicanas are accused of infiltrating Spanish as a language by inventing their own dialect but the author provides an insight into the prevalence of various dialects of a particular language, in this case, both English and Spanish, and how it is only the Chicano Spanish which is “othered” by more recognized Spanish speakers like Latinas and Hispanics. 

  According to her, it is the accent and hence the dialect that creates hurdles in the assimilation of Chicanas into the macro-American identity. She subtly interrogates the superiority of American Standard English over her Chicano Spanish when the former is a colonial and hence imposed language while the latter is native and closer to American soil. One should be proud of their bilingual identity and should avoid prioritizing one language over the other. Speak the language that gives you comfort and a sense of closeness to the idea of home. Anzaldua concludes her essay by encouraging all the oppressed communities to stand up for themselves and reclaim their linguistic identities as a step toward a more diverse way of living.  

How to Tame a Wild Tongue | Analysis

  Standardization of a language is a  social construct  and a person has to learn it during the course of life. Nobody is born with it and thus the white majority’s expectation from the minority communities to communicate in their American English is insensitive but also baseless. It is just another way of marginalizing the Chicanas, especially the working-class Mexican population who refused to be assimilated and were thus addressed by the said title as a racial slur before the 1960s. A person should adopt the language with whom he/she feels closer and is a reflection of his/her experiences in life. With this line of thought, Anzaldua ventures to take pride in her distinctness as a Chicana woman and thus Chicano Spanish, accepting her hybrid identity. 

  “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. 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 the other languages I speak, I cannot accept my legitimacy of myself. Until I am free to write bilingually and to switch codes without having always to translate, while I still have to speak English or Spanish when I would rather speak Spanglish, and as long as I have to accommodate the English speakers rather than having them accommodate me, my tongue will be illegitimate” 

Commanding the language ensures commanding the identity of a human. Hence, she fails to understand with what authority white Americans throw away minority groups under the rug. Why do Educational institutions refuse to allow teaching Chicano texts? Why American literature is narrowed down to texts written in English by Americans and not extended to texts written in Spanish by a person living in Texas? These questions blatantly expose the latent hypocrisy in the socio-cultural ideology of her nation which refuses her and everyone like her to peacefully co-exist with other citizens in their differences. She desires to put an end to her patience and openly affirms her willingness to be stubborn and fight for her cultural identity by continuing with her Chicano Spanish as a medium of language. 

How to Tame a Wild Tongue | Literary Devices

Recounting a reprimanding incident from school, the author narrates how her teacher prohibited conversing in Spanish and even gave her a rap on the knuckle as a punishment for arguing.

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How to Tame A Wild Tongue by Gloria Anzaldua Essay

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The thesis statement

The body: anzaldua’s fight for national identity, the conclusion: a soldier in the war, reference list.

First of all, I would like to point out that the basic idea of the novel written by Gloria Anzaldua is the author’s immigrant experience. Generally, the borders the author defines are of particular importance. Thus, she speaks about geographical and cultural differences.

Anzaldua determines the border “as a place for misfits, a place, literal and metaphorical for those who are rejected from dominant society. She considers this to be a very violent and traumatic psychic and physical space” (Allegheny.edu, 2012, p. 1). The author wanted to overcome the difficulties of language contact. Orquidea Morales (2007) is of the opinion that Anzaldua “creates her own language to capture her identity.

Her writing is highly politicized, intensely personal and eloquently honest ” (p. 17). In her book How to Tame A Wild Tongue, she points out the importance of pride. She specifies that the person is to be proud of the language he or she speaks. Thus, Anzaldua speaks about her own experience. She remembers her teacher’s words: “If you want to be American, speak American. If you don’t like it, go back to Mexico where you belong” (Unr.edu, p. 2947).

The author discloses the notion of language identity and the “theory of borderland and mestiza identity as a fuller and richer theory of difference, self, and culture” (Lockhart, 2007, p. 1). Anzaldua discovers the importance of multiple aspects and complexities of people’s identity.

The most important point I want to highlight is that people didn’t recognize bilingual education, and there were a lot of reasons to reject the second language. Morales (2007) states that “Language has always been a tool used to oppress Chicanas” (p. 28). Anzaldua uses all forms of writing.

Tara Lockhart (2007) says that “her particular experience of mestiza identity, her work also shows that the act of writing itself assists individuals in coming to know and express the complexities of identity” (p. 1).

For Anzaldua Chicano Spanish is considered to be “a border tongue which developed naturally” (Unr.edu, p. 2948). In other words, she states that “Un lenguaje que corresponde a un modo de vivir. Chicano Spanish is not incorrect, it

is a living language” (Unr.edu, p. 2948). In my opinion, it is obvious that the author uses Spanish to express different emotions she feels. Anzaldua uses Spanish, Nahuatl, English to disclose the myth of a monocultural country. “By being Chicana, she accepts her entire heritage not just what is deemed acceptable by white America” (Morales, 2007, p. 13).

In other words, Anzaldua wanted to disclose the reality of American nation. The author highlights the fact that Chicanos try to find “a place in American society” (Morales, 2007, p. 19). For this reason, when using Spanish, the author wants the Americans to feel uneasiness and inconvenience. She wants them to understand and accept mestizaje.

Spanish words the author uses in her book appeal to the emotions of the readers. She can’t use regular English to express her emotions, as English is not her native language. In other words, the emotions are described so vividly, because the author feels the language, she speaks.

It is the inherent feeling that this word or sentence is right. The point that Chicanas use of the language is rather restricted can be explained by the following: “This process of linguistic colonization results in the fact that for many U.S. Latinas, English is the language of education and writing, while Spanish proficiency is limited to the private sphere and to spoken language” (Morales, 2007, p. 23).

The author hates the school system. However, in spite of horrible experience, Anzaldua didn’t give up; of course, her language was changed, but she still speaks both languages. “Anzaldua majored in the oppressor’s tongue to prove her intelligence, but at the same time she lost a part of herself” (Morales, 2007, p. 31).

The author said that it was difficult to express the thoughts and ideas as the language she spoke was disdained. The most important, the primary language was English. Anzaldua points out that it was used for repression. The girl’s identity was worthless.

Morale (2007) says that “Chicanas are ingrained with the idea that their language is unnecessary and inferior” (p. 37). Thus, the girl’s self-esteem meant nothing for those who spoke English. Another important point is related to “language colonization in feminist groups” (Morales, 2007, p. 37). So, Anzaldua fights for her right to express herself freely.

Anzaldua uses poetry in her book to disclose the issue of national identity. She relies on various quotations to show her own feelings, thoughts and emotions: “Identity is the essential core of who we are as individuals, the conscious experience of the self inside. Kaufman ” (Unr.edu, p. 2953). Morale (2007) states that “She feels she is not good enough as a result of years of racism and humiliation against her, her language and her culture” (p. 38).

Anzaldua wants to get freedom; she wants to write about various positive feelings, she wants to feel that she is free; however, now “she is a soldier in this war and cannot escape it until it is over” (Morales, 2007, p. 39).

Allegheny.edu. (2012). Critical Senior Project Guidelines . Web.

Lockhart, T. (2007). Writing the Self: Gloria Anzaldua, Textual Form, and Feminist Epistemology . Web.

Morales, O. (2007). Chicana Self Expression through Language. Web.

Unr.edu. (n.d.). How to Tame A Wild Tongue. Web.

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IvyPanda. (2018, October 31). How to Tame A Wild Tongue by Gloria Anzaldua. https://ivypanda.com/essays/how-to-tame-a-wild-tongue-by-gloria-anzaldua/

"How to Tame A Wild Tongue by Gloria Anzaldua." IvyPanda , 31 Oct. 2018, ivypanda.com/essays/how-to-tame-a-wild-tongue-by-gloria-anzaldua/.

IvyPanda . (2018) 'How to Tame A Wild Tongue by Gloria Anzaldua'. 31 October.

IvyPanda . 2018. "How to Tame A Wild Tongue by Gloria Anzaldua." October 31, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/how-to-tame-a-wild-tongue-by-gloria-anzaldua/.

1. IvyPanda . "How to Tame A Wild Tongue by Gloria Anzaldua." October 31, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/how-to-tame-a-wild-tongue-by-gloria-anzaldua/.

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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — How to Tame a Wild Tongue — Rhetorical Analysis of “How To Tame a Wild Tongue”​ by Gloria Anzaldúa

Rhetorical Analysis of "How to Tame a Wild Tongue"​ by Gloria Anzaldúa

• Categories: How to Tame a Wild Tongue Literary Criticism Rhetoric

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Words: 1041 |

Published: Feb 8, 2022

Words: 1041 | Pages: 2 | 6 min read

Works Cited

• Anzaldúa, Gloria. “How to Tame a Wild Tongue.” ​Everettsd​, Everettsd, www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwifyJubqKvgAhVKdt8KHajKCccQFjAAegQIChAC&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.everettsd.org%2Fcms%2Flib07%2FWA01920133%2FCentricity%2FDomain%2F965%2FAnzaldua-Wild-Tongue.pdf&usg=AOvVaw3BiZ3N9xOK8q8uVonl5OOo.
• “Rhetorical Device – Diction Style Guide.” ​Postcolonial Studies​, Curbside Consult, 27 Apr.2018, scholarblogs.emory.edu/chooseyourownadventure/style-guide/rhetorical-device-diction-style-guide/.

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Refer to themselves as Spanish so people will know the language they are associated with when in reality they are a very little % Spanish.

assimilate or cause to assimilate a different culture, typically the dominant one

Cultural identity became recognized on national scale.

How to Tame a Wild Tongue

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Discussion Questions

Synecdoche is a rhetorical device in which a part stands for a whole or a whole for a part. It is the primary literary device in Anzaldúa’s essay. The tongue is a synecdoche for language. The phrase “wild tongue” refers to the languages that Chicanos speak. The plural use of tongues is important because it represents the languages that Anzaldúa speaks, including different Spanish and English dialects and slang.

In her metaphor saying that the Chicano “walks like a thief in his own house” (44), the home functions as a synecdoche for the homeland. Anzaldúa’s essay provides a blueprint for embracing language as a means of survival. Her conclusion highlights the role Indigenous American heritage plays in Chicano identity. Through acknowledging and celebrating that heritage, including Indigenous people’s resilience and pride that preserved their “tongue” as living languages, mestizas and mestizos will endure.

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