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.
"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.
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