Markeith Jones

English 1100

Professor Young

September 2, 2015

What Is Identity To You?

            What makes you who you are? What makes you different from everyone else? Your identity is what sets you apart from other people. We are all unique and one of a kind, all thanks to our identity. But what is your identity. You can be identified for many things. It can be where you are from, the language you speak, your religion, etc.  

           To me identity is the things you are most known for and remembered for. If you are always bitter and angry, that is the identity you created for yourself. Your ethnic background can set you apart from others. For example, I knew two Brians in high school. One was Puerto Rican and the other was Jamaican. During conversations when talking about one, we would say “Spanish Brian” or “Jamaican Brian” to not mix them up.  At my high school that was a general way of identifying people. “Lightskin David”, “Tall Derrick”, I heard a lot. So after those experiences, I knew appearance can also factor into your identity.

            I know for sure that I am unique. People tell me all the time that they’ve never met no one that act the way I do. I’m funny, playful, and I like to have fun. I pull pranks and tell jokes. At the same time I can be serious when I have to be. I’m also identified for being African American, or black. I’m fully confident in myself and some see it as arrogance.    

Markeith Jones
English 1100
Professor Young
August 31, 2015

How to Tame a Wild Tongue

The first quote from the text that caught my attention was when the author was at the dentist in the introduction. The dentist said "I've never seen anything as strong or stubborn, and I think, how do you tame a wild tongue, train it to be quiet, how do you bridle and saddle it? How do you make it lie down?" This quote is significant because it kind of foreshadowed what will take place. Many people was trying to control what the author said and the language she spoke.

The next quote was when the author's teacher punished her saying, "If you want to be American, speak 'American.' If you don't like it, go back to Mexico where you belong." First off I think that is an outrageous thing to say to anyone, let alone a child. All she tried to do was have her name pronounced correctly. Also the teacher was wrong because "American" is not an official language to speak.

"Pocho, cultural traitor, you're speaking the oppressor's language. " Some Latinos and Latinas said that to the author because she was speaking English. She's not a traitor because she's adapting to the culture she's surrounded by. They all she be considered traitor as well. They speak the "oppressors" language as well as live in the "oppressors" country.

Reading Response Questions

Markeith Jones
English 1100
Professor Young
August 30, 2015
How to Tame a Wild Tongue

Reading Response Questions

1. Discuss how the opening scene of Anzaldua in the dentist's chair connects to the overall point/message of the essay and title.
The dentist trying to keep the author's tongue down is like a reference to the author's Spanish throughout the text. She was being controlled by others because of her Spanish speaking.

2. Discuss Anzaldua's use of Spanish throughout her writing. Did it make sense? What was her purpose?

Her reasoning made sense to me. Her purpose was to show non Spanish speaking readers what it is like to read outside of the mainstream language and culture.

3. Can Academic English be defined as Spanish (Standard) and can Chicano Spanish be described as nonstandard? What inferences, conclusions, can be made from one identity (language) as standard versus nonstandard?
Chicano Spanish creates slang because it is uses English and Spanish words, therefore I believe it is nonstandard.

4. Discuss the necessity of speaking and/writing in Academic English as an identity.  Is it necessary?

Using Academic English is the general form of writing. With no slang or shortening of words, it is the way most people right and is widely the correct way of writing. I believe it is necessary, especially in the job world or at school.

5. Anazaldua describes different types of Spanish, identities. Discuss the various types of English identities, you know and use.

I know of academic English, which is more for professionalism, There is also slang, which everyone my age use. For example saying "word" while having a conversation with someone means you agree with them. Or if you say "word?" it means you are asking if they are sure about what they said.

6. Pachuco. Do you use a secret language, secret identity, to communicate to your friends? If so, what?

It is not really a secret language because all teens my age use the same slang.

7. Chicano Spanish can be compared to non-standard English. What form of English (standard or nonstandard) do you speak with your friends (audience)? What form of English do you speak when you talk to your mother (audience), professor (audience)? Why?
My friends and I use slang when we talk. When talking with my mother I use a mixture of academic English and slang. When talking to a professor I try to completely move away from slang. With certain people you need to speak a certain way, and some people are not okay with the use of slang.

8. "I am language." What does this mean? How does this statement connect to a person's identity?

This statement means the individual identifies with whatever their home language is. It connects because it let's you the type of person they are. For example, I know two Brian's. One is American the other is Mexican. Some people would refer to the Mexican Brian as "Spanish Brian", because he speaks Spanish.

9. Talk specifically about how the introduction and conclusion connect.

She stuck to the way she was throughout. In the introduction the dentist was getting frustrated with her wild tongue. She was punished for being herself and not speaking "American". She stayed strong and never changed.

10. Can the language you speak be a part of your identity? Why?
Yes, because the language I speak can be used to figure out who I am. Like the Brian example I previously used.

11. How important is identity to you? Does Anzaldua believe it's important to have identity? Use some examples from "How to Tame a Wild Tongue", to support your answer.

Identity is important, because everyone is unique. You have to do what you can to make sure people remember who you are. Anzaldua believed identity was important. She added her language to hers by writing Spanish and always speaking Spanish.