Gloria Anzaldúa's How To Tame A Wild Tongue

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In Gloria Anzaldúa’s How to Tame a Wild Tongue she describes the struggle of growing up in America where she cannot speak one language without receiving ridicule from opposing groups. Though Anzaldúa identifies mainly as a Chicano, she also lists seven other languages in which she engages with Anzaldúa 473). The diversity and history behind each native tongue emphasizes the internal conflict Anzaldúa faces when choosing what language to speak. Throughout Anzaldúa’s work she switches between English and variations of Spanish which are at times not translated. The use of incorporating her “home” tongues throughout the reading helps emphasize the love for her background and her unwillingness to let her native history die (473). This style of writing allows for bilingual readers to identify with the Spanish culture they know while letting English-only readers get a slight understanding of what it feels like to be an outsider. Seen in nearly every paragraph is the use of a word or phrase written in Spanish. For many students reading this is seen as a block, or hindrance from being able to full appreciate the work. This however is completely contrary for those who understand what Anzaldúa is saying. Those able to interpret what …show more content…
Those who find themselves having to skip sentence after sentence for lack of being able to interpret or understand the foreign language have a far different response. Some may feel as if they are being cheated while others could feel ostracized. Either way Anzaldúa is able to execute a small dose of what many Spanish speaking people faces every day in America. This is not saying that those who doesn’t know Spanish can’t appreciate Anzaldúa’s piece as much as someone who does understand, but rather the final interpretation of the work is dissimilar in which those who only understand the English writings cannot relate to the author the same way than those who fully
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