How To Tame a Wild Tongue

Well known academic and feminist speaker, Gloria Anzaldua, in her book, “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”, describes how many different types of the same language can form from different kinds of people. In her book she talks about the different variations of the same language, Spanish, can be used when communicating with other people. She discusses about how one has to take pride in their language and have their own voice in order to fully take pride in their selves. Anzaldua uses a didactic forthright tone to support and educate her readers. She uses fluent transitioning to structure her book and good choice of diction in her sentences to convey her ideas to the reader.

Anzaldua's didactic and forthright tone informs the readers that there are many kinds of borders between nations, cultures, classes, genders, and language. She informs the reader on how many types of speech can be created from one language. She implies that with Mexicans you can speak standard Mexican Spanish or in a Northern Dialect but with Chicanos, who are a different type of hispanics, she has to speak to them mostly in English. They may be the same race but the way of speech is different. She tells her reader about how the hispanics tend to forget that they have predominately Indian genes. They are forgetting their heritage and who they really are, and one cannot take pride on his or herself until he or she has taken pride and understand their language.

Gloria uses very descriptive words to describe the way she is feeling and to establish to the audience a very descriptive picture. The author not only uses english words but uses spanish words has well to describe her Mexican way of life. She talks about how she was “ambivalent” about their music, meaning that she was confused about her culture and why it came to be. She lists many spanish words with the english meaning right next to it, such as bola (ball), carpenta (carpet), and machina de lavar (washing machine) to support her idea on how the Mexican language is different in a certain and small way that not very many people recognize. There are different ways to incorporate words even in the same language.

Gloria constructed her essay in a simple manner to allow the readers to interpret clearly in what she is is trying to justify. She formulates her writing with subtopics which is an easy way to separate from tradition to the chicanos and from the chicanos to linguistic terrorism. She first talks about her tradition and how there are many ways to communicate, by adding personal anecdotes such as the way she talks with her siblings and the way she interacts with Chicanos and kids her age. Then she talks about the history of Chicano Spanish and how it originate to allow the readers to have a sense of knowledge about its background. It then closes with the fear the Chicanos have on how others view them because they are afraid on what others will think of them because they do not speak Chicano Spanish. So she says “ if you want to really hurt me, talk badly about may language” to tell the readers that she is not ashamed of her language because she is her language. This was said almost to the end of the story to invoke a collective interest.

                Gloria Anzaldua is a feminist speaker and write of “How to Tame a Wild” believed that one has to have pride in his or her language to truly have pride in his or herself. This is done to inform the reader that language has heritage and that we should not forget it.