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• How to Tame a Wild Tongue

Read our complete notes on the essay “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” by Gloria Anzaldua. Our notes cover How to Tame a Wild Tongue summary and analysis.

How to Tame a Wild Tongue by Gloria Anzaldua Summary

The essay “ How to Tame a Wild Tongue”  by Gloria Anzaldua attempts to highlight the undesirable social outlook and attitude of the community toward the way Chicano people speaks and the resulting harmful effects affecting the self-identity of the Chicano people dwelling on the borders. Anzaldua begins her essay with the hidden comparison of the way she speaks with her accent. She mentions her visit to a dentist who complaints that Anzaldua’s tongue is very strong and tenacious. She seems frustrated with the words of doctor and starts thinking of how to tame a wild tongue and comes to a conclusion that “wild tongue cannot be tamed, it can only be cut down”. The dentist, though, does not point out her accent or mean to, yet her reaction to dentist words shows that she has complexes regarding her accents which, no doubt, makes her unconsciously conscious of people’s thinking of her when she speaks.

Anzaldua moves ahead maintaining that her accent or the way she speaks is a significant element of her identity. She regards accent as one of the sources of identity for people. She elucidates that the accent “Chicano Spanish” that she speaks naturally develops as a language of the border because of the border on which she lives. This Chicano Spanish accent causes a lot of problems for her as she is not considered as the native speaker of both Spanish language and English Language. However, she considers herself socially isolated from either of the linguistic groups making her own language unique and appropriate for those people who, too, speak it. Anzaldua believes that the accent Chicano Spanish arose because of the people coming from diverse complex background desired to recognize themselves as a distinctive and unique group.

Anzaldua mentions the problems, difficulties, and stereotypes that she had to overcome in her childhood because of the Chicano Spanish accent. The language and the accent she spoke in her childhood was a foundation of uncertainty consequently causing her angry and frustrated mood over time. Moreover, this also led her to have problems with self-esteem.

The problems that Anzaldua encountered in her life because of her language and accent has negative impacts on her personality and personal identity. She realizes herself to be unhappy with herself, however, soon, she recognizes, understands and accepts the “illegitimacy” of her accent and language.

Many people believe that the language they speak and their cultural identities are one and the same thing. However, this is not the case. There is diversity in a language and discrimination on the basis of language can lead to personality disorders. Gloria Anzaldua is an excellent example of a person that is a self-validated disregard of the undesirable reactions of the people who cannot tolerate individual’s diversity.

Language is a source of identity and a language that individual speaks is crucial to identity. This a main idea that Anzaldua communicated in her essay “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”. Language is a source of keeping people united and helps people to identify one another, to resemble with one another. It is ethical responsibility of an individual to value other’s diversity especially the language through which they communicate. It shouldn’t be the superiority of a language that will make you speak it but you comfortably to decide which language you must speak. You don’t need nor should you allow anyone to direct you how to speak. Anzaldua, in her essay, encourages the minority not be disheartened and discouraged of the way they speak. Moreover, she encourages them to accept their diversity, to accept that they are different and must take the contest of being polyglot or bilingual in America.

Gloria Anzaldua tries to argue with the audience to admit the reality that every person has his or her accent while some people have a totally different accent and speaks differently from the entire community. So, the Americans must have to change their mindset to diversity. We should be tolerant enough to accept each other’s alterations.

How to Tame a Wild Tongue Literary Analysis

Gloria Anzaldua, an important character in Chicano literature, is an American poet, novelist, essayist, and critic. Anzaldua, in her literary work, shows her hard experiences as a woman- a mestiza, who lives on a border and faces many problems due to mix cultures and languages.

Borderland or La Frontera’ is a major work by Gloria Anzaldua that was published in 1987. Her works are mainly based upon people who live on the border between Mexico and USA and describes the socioeconomic, political, and mystical impact of European invasion on the borderland. The essay “How to Tame a Wild Tongue?” is taken from this book, and has played a major role in elevating and highlighting the issue affecting the society particularly people living on borderlands. The Chicano movement, in the 1960s, has greatly influenced Gloria. Being a part of that movement, Gloria devoted most of his work to the movement and events occur during that time. The issues that she highlighted in her essays and other literary works include self-approval, racism, sexism, and construction of identity.

The essay “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” is mostly based on the problems that Chicano people come across in communication. Moreover, she addresses the forceful and violating the process of changing their psychological, social, and cultural arrays. The Chicano people have to confront a lot of undesirable attitudes from other communities due to the Chicano Spanish language and accent they speak. Gloria describes this situation as “Linguistic Terrorism”. She claims that social involvement leads to the formation of the particular identity of an individual.

The Chicano American or the Mexican American were isolated from the common American citizens for a long span of time. They were not given their due rights and were deprived of basic facilities of life. They have zero excess to the quality educations. The vocational centers in which they receive low standard education developed no or low self-validation as they were ridiculed for their origin and language they spoke. The children were scorned for speaking their native language in the class. This lead to personality disorders and disinterest of students in studies increased leading to huge dropouts. Stigmatization resulted due to cultural domination.

In society, every human has diverse responsibilities. Society determines these roles. Moreover, identity formation is strongly linked and affiliated to the social contribution. Ethnic, political and economic backgrounds are the various variables that form these social affiliations. Similarly, these factors also contributing factors of cultures; while culture is directly linked to language; language differences cause cultural uncertainty.

More From Gloria Anzaldua

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.

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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. 

Gloria Anzaldua was an American theorist of Chicana origin who advocated for a non-biased linguistic identity for her community through her seminal work  Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza  published in 1987. 

  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. 

For Anzaldua, Chicano is a “border tongue” which is a natural development suiting the community. However, criticism from society compels the Chicanas to internalize the social construction of an inferiority complex and lose confidence in their identity. The author thus strives to abandon the rigid molds of identity formation pertaining to English and Spanish speakers too, on the contrary, form her own complex yet distinct identity. 

  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

  Anzaldua’s essay is a stark commentary on the claustrophobic existence of the Chicana community which occupies a  liminal position  when it comes to their linguistic as well as national identity. Living on the border prevents her and her fellows from assimilating completely either into the American or Mexican culture. Writing from her own perspective, the author draws attention to the specific Mexican-American identity of the Chicana community which resides in the South-western United States and North-western Mexico. They have been subjected to  accusations of infiltrating Spanish  as a language through their  distinct dialects  by Latinas and Hispanics. The author hence not only portrays the  language barriers  as a conflict between two different languages i.e. English and Spanish but an  internal conflict within Spanish-speaking  communities due to the multiplicity of accents. Such a claim connects the readers to her point as each human employs a different style of conversing with different people. Through this, she implicitly calls out to the deciding authorities for degrading Chicana speakers in educational institutions by coercing them to study two speech classes while her American counterparts from Texas who also differ in accent are exempted from imbibing the Standard American English. Coupling this with her teacher’s mispronunciation of her name and subsequent punishment of hitting her on the knuckles, Anzaldua projects her  victimization  due to the sociological practice of  microaggression  that involves a lack of basic sensitivity towards others and an urge to humiliate him/her repeatedly. 

  The opening section of the essay plays a pun on the words tongue and roots when the dentist and the author respectively claim— “We’re going to have to control your  tongue ” and “The dentist is cleaning out my  roots .” The play on the words is evidence of Anzaldua’s craft to hit two spots with the same arrow. Through the metaphor of capping the tooth, she emphasizes how her natural identity is covered by a false one like the filing under the natural tooth to be covered with an artificial one on the top. The dentist’s removal of “silver bits” from her teeth connotes the extraction of her treasured cultural identity by the mindless institutions of the day. 

  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. 

  The style of writing in the essay is impressive. It is unlike lengthy prose delivering multiple arguments one after the other. Rather, it employs diverse forms of writing such as anecdotes, end notes, famous sayings, poetry, and a blend of English and Spanish. She not only code-switches with her peers and family but also with her audience as the work is catered to everyone who is in the trap of identity and linguistic politics. The act of writing the essay thus itself resembles an act of integration and assimilation which she is craving. By reclaiming her language, she writes back to the people who tried to impose another identity by redefining what it actually means to be an American: 

  “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” 

Chicano Spanish is embedded in history and employs vocabulary from medieval European speakers. It is thus not a new or invented phenomenon but a culturally existing reality. Chicanas are the closest people to the soil of America as they are the native ones. But white Americans have overshadowed their identity and culture despite their own status as European settlers who invaded America as a project of colonialism. Colonization was a success because the colonizers colonized the language first and then the humans.

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

Tongue-   To connote the essence of linguistic identity and its “control” by oppressive “doctors” representing the dominating white Americans, the author uses the metaphor of tongue and its rigidity to give in to linguistic terrorism. 

 The opening section of the essay discusses the author’s visit to a dentist who is frustrated with her “wild tongue” as it causes a hindrance in her treatment. 

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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Gloria Anzaldua: How to Tame a Wild Tongue Essay (Article Review)

Introduction, passage discussion.

Authors aim to emphasize the problems relevant to them in their works to enhance the reader’s understanding. Anzaldua discusses the connection between the language a person speaks and his or her identity. The author provides an example of her visit to a dentist as a child, which inspired Anzaldua to think about culture and its connection to the mother tongue (33). Forbidding an individual to speak their language is an oppression of the ability to express feelings and thoughts.

Due to Anzaldua’s origins, she was forced to learn a second language – English: and work on not having an accent. The author was taught that it was the only way to become American, which inevitably would lead to losing connection with her culture. An interesting consideration is that inhabitants of Anzaldua’s hometown developed Chicano Spanish in an attempt to adapt to the pressure of becoming Americans. Another aspect that Anzaldua considers is the difference between attitudes towards men and women in her culture (35). The significance of the text is in the firsthand experience that the author shares.

Anzaldua’s work provides an understanding of the connection that language has with one’s culture and identity. In addition, the difference of attitudes towards men’s and women’s speaking is highlighted to show unfair treatment of the latter. The author’s life journey and challenges described in this passage illustrate the pressure she experienced as a Mexican growing up in the US and her viewpoint of language as a way to express one’s personality.

Anzaldua, Gloria. “How to Tame a Wild Tongue.” Fifty Great Essays , edited by Robert DiYanni, 4th ed., Pearson, 2013, pp. 33-45.

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IvyPanda. (2021, June 14). Gloria Anzaldua: How to Tame a Wild Tongue. https://ivypanda.com/essays/how-to-tame-a-wild-tongue-the-article-by-gloria-anzaldua/

"Gloria Anzaldua: How to Tame a Wild Tongue." IvyPanda , 14 June 2021, ivypanda.com/essays/how-to-tame-a-wild-tongue-the-article-by-gloria-anzaldua/.

IvyPanda . (2021) 'Gloria Anzaldua: How to Tame a Wild Tongue'. 14 June.

IvyPanda . 2021. "Gloria Anzaldua: How to Tame a Wild Tongue." June 14, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/how-to-tame-a-wild-tongue-the-article-by-gloria-anzaldua/.

1. IvyPanda . "Gloria Anzaldua: How to Tame a Wild Tongue." June 14, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/how-to-tame-a-wild-tongue-the-article-by-gloria-anzaldua/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Gloria Anzaldua: How to Tame a Wild Tongue." June 14, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/how-to-tame-a-wild-tongue-the-article-by-gloria-anzaldua/.

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How to Tame a Wild Tongue

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Gloria Anzaldúa, 2023. "How to Tame a Wild Tongue", The Border Reader, Gilberto Rosas, Mireya Loza

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Gloria Anzaldúa explores the complexities of identity in a poetic rendition of the borderlands. Combining creative writing and cultural analysis, Anzaldúa explores the shifting politics of identity and subjectivity in the borderlands of Texas and offers a new imaginary horizon of revolutionary potentiality.

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Gilberto Rosas is Associate Professor of Anthropology and Latina/o Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and author of Barrio Libre: Criminalizing States and Delinquent Refusals of the New Frontier and Unsettling: The El Paso Massacre, Resurgent White Nationalism, and the US-Mexico Border .

Mireya Loza is Associate Professor of History at Georgetown University and author of Defiant Braceros: How Migrant Workers Fought for Racial, Sexual, and Political Freedom .

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Borderlands / La Frontera

Gloria anzaldúa, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

Summary and Analysis: “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” by Gloria Anzaldua

How to Tame a Wild Tongue summary and analysis, reveals the experiences of the American poet, critic, novelist and essayist Gloria Anzaldua. How to Tame a Wild Tongue, is a chapter in her book published in 1987 ‘Borderlands/La Frontera’. This is one of the major works that contributed to her being considered an important figure in the Chicano Literature. The book has been divided into two main parts: the first section consists of seven essays while the second section has a number of poems. Our focus will be How to Tame a Wild Tongue. In general, in the book Borderlands/La Frontera, she highlights her experiences as a woman living at the border, of different countries and cultures. Such women as herself, are referred to as mestiza as she describes in the book.

An Overview of “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”

The essay starts with Gloria Anzaldua describing a moment at the dentist’s office. Instead of her teeth being the issue it is her tongue. It poses a challenge for the dentists as he works on her teeth. The way she refers to the whole experience is considered a metaphor that denotes her tongue or language. She refers to other different memories all the way from her childhood that have had a significant impact on her identity with some memories leaving deep scars.

Gloria Anzaldua recalls of the time when the teacher sent her to the corner for attempting to spell her name for her. It was a sad experience for her. She further highlights her experiences as a Chicano. She reveals that for one to know who Gloria Anzaldua is, they have to see through the different layers of language, proof of her struggle with identity. Her gender too plays a significant role. Her culture has imposed a variety of rules and sayings of how women are expected to act or speak.

She is a Chicano and she is proud of it. Being a Chicano in a society where they are looked down upon is a struggle. Chicano’s cannot identify with the English or Hispanic speaking people as they are somewhere in between. In fact, through the book, we know that the best was to insult one is to make fun of how they speak, basically undermining them. Chicanos are Mexican Americans, a mix of both cultures that is basic Spanish to Southern Texas Spanish. They have a variety of dialects, therefore speak differently. We know Gloria is proud to be a Chicano, a look at the story where she goes off the curriculum while teaching Chicano students English is clear evidence.

How to Tame a Wild Tongue Summary and Analysis

How to tame a wild tongue summary and analysis will focus on Gloria Anzaldua’s take on language and identity. The essay describes the Chicano people, residing at the border of the USA and Mexico. It further reveals how the European conquest had a political, spiritual and socioeconomic influence on the natives at the borderland.

Are language and identity synonymous with each other as most people assume? How to tame a wild tongue analysis reveals to us that, that may not be the case. Ethnic identity should be your basis for self-validation. Regardless of other people’s negative reactions to ones’ diversity, any individual can be self-validated. For a long time, Gloria Anzaldua let other people’s negative reaction to her identity as a Chicano influence her self-esteem.

The term “language” has been defined in the dictionary as a system or method of communication within a country or society, while another definition refers to it as the use of words spoken or written to communicate with another person. Gloria Anzaldua How to Tame a Wild Tongue summary argues out her point of view of language. Language has a lot to do with her identity and believes she has been judged by it. She speaks different dialects of Spanish and English. She considers the majority of people to be heterogeneous because they speak different languages just as she does. The differences I see are more in the dialect rather than the language. Should we consider that speaking a different dialect implies speaking a different language or not?

“You” and “yo”

In a phrase:

• “ Yo! Over here !” or “ Yo, that ain’t cool ”
• And: “You, come here”

Note that both phrases are in English, however different dialects have been used. Chicanos speak different dialects of Spanish and English. They are more of an identity, a culture rather than a language.

In the essay How to Tame a Wild Tongue, Anzaldua has formed a relationship between her identity and the different languages. We as individuals speak a variety of languages, and she attributes it to the fact that we are complex. She further describes us as being heterogeneous people. Examples of languages as per the essay on page 166 include:

English – Slang, working class, and standard English

• North Mexican
• Standard Spanish
• Standard Mexican

According to her expression of heterogeneous people, we can conclude that she is referring to individuals with a variety of traits that makes it challenging for people from other cultures from understanding them. Differences not from language but rather identity and background.

The Chicano people, according to the essay, have suffered greatly from the negative attitudes they receive from other cultures specifically the Mexican and English speaking people. She investigates their social attitudes towards the Chicano. The majority suffer from an identity crisis and low self-esteem as result. From her experience at the Dentists, her tongue is somewhat stubborn and is a problem for the dentist. It’s a metaphor that denotes to her accent and how it makes her keen on what other people think of her specifically when she speaks. Note that the dentist was not referring to how she speaks but her tongue. As thinks of the stubborn tongue a thought crosses her mind, How to Tame a Wild Tongue The fact that she is conscious of other peoples opinion of her, is an example of just how Chicano people struggle with communicating to individuals from other cultures.

Gloria Anzaldua How to Tame a Wild Tongue summary, shows us that an essential feature is her accent which forms her identity. Language is the key to our identity. Although she has self-esteem issues, she has not let that define her identity. The fact that does not identify with native English and Spanish speakers socially is a problem but she identifies with a group like her. A people facing the same crisis as her, The Chicano people. She was not content and further investigated why her language is considered illegitimate and eventually accepts the facts presented to her.

How to tame a wild tongue analysis highlights the authors experience living in a community that struggled with identity for a long time. Language plays a big role in establishing our identity, it unifies and makes it possible for us to relate to others. Only you can value your language, it is a choice that nobody can take away from you. The language you chose to speak is a personal decision. We are a diverse people and should accept and appreciate that fact.

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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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Craig Foster helps us appreciate and exist in the 'wild world'

When was the last time youthought about the nature around you? When was the last time you were evenin nature? Maybeyouwent toaparkorhiked anearbytrail.Ifyoulive ina rural area,maybeyouseenature outside yourwindowall the time.

What did you notice? Did you see an animal, or evidence of an animal? Did you notice a change in your mood afterspendingtime in nature? 

Craig Foster has a new book all about engaging with the wild world, called“ Amphibious Soul: Finding the Wild in a Tame World. ” Foster is a documentary filmmaker, known for his Oscar-winning documentary “My Octopus Teacher” . In this new book, he brings us into his world on the southern coast of South Africa. Heinvites us to learn what he’s learned in exploring “the wild world.” That’s what he calls the parts of nature that exist outside our modern civilization.

Fosteroutlines a method for how we can explore our own “wild world,” even if that’s the wildness that exists in the city or suburb where we live. Not as an escape, but as a habit we should build. And he explains the benefits of re-engaging with nature, for the sake of the world and ourselves.

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How to Tame a Wild Tongue

26 pages • 52 minutes read

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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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When These Snakes Play Dead, Soiling Themselves Is Part of the Act

Dice snakes found on an island in southeastern Europe fully commit themselves to the role of ex-reptile.

By Asher Elbein

Most snakes flee or fight when attacked. Then there are the dice snakes of Golem Grad, an island on a lake in North Macedonia. Grabbed by a predator, they writhe theatrically, soiling themselves with a pungent cocktail of musk and feces. Eventually they go limp, mouth gaping, tongue protruding. To really sell the part of playing dead, some even bleed from their mouths.

Just as buckets of stage blood can help sell an unconvincing fight onstage or onscreen, the snakes’ use of disgusting fluids may be the key to putting on a convincing death performance, according to research published Wednesday in the journal Biology Letters .

Various species across the animal kingdom feign death when bothered by a predator, including insects , fish and amphibians . Even mammals do it — the most famous of which has lent its name to the technique: “playing possum.”

Such a performance can be a “high risk, high reward scenario,” said Vukasin Bjelica, a doctoral student at the University of Belgrade and an author on the study. Some predators are confused — or disgusted — by animals that abruptly go limp, especially while those animals are stinking and bleeding. Others may stop paying close attention and loosen their hold, giving prey time to escape. But it requires the performer to lie unmoving around an animal that is interested in eating it. The prey therefore has a strong incentive to try to lessen the amount of time spent playing dead.

Mr. Bjelica’s research is focused on dice snakes, a nonvenomous, fish-loving species found from Western Europe all the way to western China. The species as a whole has a variety of defensive techniques, including biting, puffing up and flattening their heads to look like a venomous snake. But the snakes of Golem Grad island — whose main predators are birds — often play dead.

The research team led by Mr. Bjelica captured and tested 263 snakes, lunging after them and grabbing them around the middle to provoke the widest range of defensive behaviors. While careful not to hurt the snakes, they held them, gently squeezed them and stretched them out on the ground. “We acted like a predator that’s hesitant to eat the prey and then recorded to see what they’d do,” Mr. Bjelica said.

They noted when the snakes smeared themselves in feces and musk (just under half the snakes), when they allowed blood to bubble from their mouths (only 10 percent), and how long the snakes played dead. Some snakes were quite tense while playing dead, making them difficult to move. Others went so limp that younger students arranged them in heart shapes.

“They really commit to the role, depending on the individual,” Mr. Bjelica said. The strategy seemed to work best for adult snakes, Bjelica said, which are somewhat less vulnerable to predators. Juvenile dice snakes — which are often snatched by birds — were significantly less likely to take the risk, and played dead for far less time. And as the team had guessed, snakes that bled from the mouth and doused themselves in musk and feces tended to play dead for two seconds less than others on average.

In predator-prey interactions, each second counts, Mr. Bjelica said. “Two seconds might not be much when you’re reading the paper, but it could be enough for a snake to make a successful escape,” he said. The strategy also seems to work best when there are a lot of other prey animals around, allowing predators to be distracted and taking their attention off the snake that is playing dead.

Mr. Bjelica sounded a note of caution on the research, however. Because most of the data comes from one rather unusual population — island snakes entirely hunted by birds and graduate students — more research, ideally including real-world observation, is necessary in other populations and among other snake species make the same calculations.

And some variables will be impossible to test, Mr. Bjelica conceded.

“We’re not trying to hurt the snake, so you’re not going to grasp and handle them like a predator would do,” he said. “But the predator is not thinking in terms of ethical restrictions or methodology sections in a research paper.”

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