Nicolas Siino

9/5/2014

Professor Young

ENGL 1100 Writing Skills Workshop

Response Questions to “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”

 

1.            The opening scene talks about taking control over the tongue so that the dentist can do the work necessary to fix her mouth.  The tongue represents the language that she speaks and the need to control the language that she uses to conform to society.  She was constantly persecuted by teachers for not speaking Academic English or American.  However, to maintain her identify and her individuality, as well as those of her friends and family, she spoke her language as an individual.  She illustrates that identify can be perceived by others based on the language used by the individual.  Language is part of one’s culture and one’s culture is what defines a person.

2.            Anzaldua’s use of Spanish throughout her writing did not make sense and I found it very frustrating. Her purpose was to have the readers feel her frustration with the different treatment she gets when people talk to her and notice that her first language is not English.  I think people’s whose native language is English now have an example of how Anzaldua feels every day of her life.

3.            Academic English can be defined as Spanish (standard) the language that one uses to converse with others in a standard way.  However, nonstandard is the way that most individuals communicate with one another. If someone were to speak to each other in a standard language, then everyone is conforming to that language with no individualism.  If we use nonstandard language, we are able to put our individual into the language and therefore develop an identify that defines us as a person.

4.            I believe that speaking in Academic English provides a basic identity, an identity as a professional.  It is necessary when you are in eclectic groups to speak a common language or dialect which in this case would be Academic English.  However, speaking in non-standard English does provide identify as an individual.

5.            There are various type of English identities based on where you reside in the US.  In the south, there are different dialects and different phraseology then in the north east or other parts of the US which provides a sense of identify and culture.  Even in specific neighborhoods there are different identities such as the slang that is used in the inner city of America.

6.            No I do not use a different language or secret language.  However, I do know some individuals that use different languages or dialects to speak to one another based on where they grew up or what country they came from.

7.            I speak non-standard English with my friends where we have different phrases such as “hey bro” when I talk to my friends.  When I am in a professional and social environment, I do speak or attempt to speak Standard English.  I do this to be seen as a specific type of individual, one that is educated and has some sense of awareness for where I came from.

8.            I am my language means that the language one uses defines their personality and culture from where they originated.  One’s identify is directly related to the language that they use and the culture that this defines.

9.            The introduction talks about controlling the tongue or conforming to others while the conclusion defines the need to be an individual and maintain a sense of identity to survive.  The message of the overall chapter to me is to not conform but maintain some sense of individuality.

 

10.          I believe that the language that we speak or that I speak is part of my identity and who I am as an individual.  The language relates to my cultural heritage which defines my persona or who I am.

11.          Identify is very important to me and it means to me to not conform to society and the boundaries that society creates.  Anzaldua believes in an individual’s identity based on how one talks to others and what dialects that one uses.  She would not have 8 different dialects or “tongues” as she refers to them if she did not believe that one needs to be an individual.  She also talked about how she talks to others and the differences that she uses when speaking to others of the Latin or Spanish background in the chapter and the importance of maintaining some individuality verses conforming to others.