Response To 'How To Tame A Wild Tongue'

Emily Beato
English 110Z
Dr. Mason
October 1, 2017
Response Paper on Anzaldua and Baldwin
In the passage “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” by Gloria Anzaldua, the author exposes her feelings about cultural and social that Mexican immigrants (Chicanos) face when being raised in the United States. She does comparisons among English and Spanish. Also the influences on why people prefer to speak one language rather than the other. In the passage, there is a debate between social problems like sexism, racism, identity and cultural imperialism. She explains how the first amendment is being violated when she uses the term “linguistic terrorism”when a form of expression is being censured. Mexican Americans or Chicanos would be embarrassed by their culture and of speaking Spanish especially outside of their homes. Like the author who was criticized in school for speaking Spanish even though she was teaching them how to say her name.
I believe that the author expressed her feelings throughout the passage she also supported

them with historical facts, For example with the first amendment. She states “until I’m free to write bilingually and switch codes without having always to translate, while I still have to speak English or Spanish when I’d 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” (Anzaldua).
In the passage “If Black English isn’t a language, then tell me, what is?” By James Baldwin, the author defines the development of language as a political act.

He is trying to say that different groups of people, even those who speak the same language would speak differently based on where they come from and I agree with this statement. He shows how slaves came to America and the white people weren’t interested in educating them because they thought they didn’t need an education. That’s why blacks developed their own language to communicate. The author states “merely, the adoption of a foreign tongue, but an alchemy that transformed ancient elements into a new language.” This was used to have a connection among them and to identify who they are their true identity. He even states “[Language] is the most vivid and crucial key to identity: It reveals the private identity, and connects one with, or divorces one from, the larger, public, or communal

identity.”
I agree with Baldwin in that language connects you to your people and identifies who you are. My parents were born in the Dominican Republic so we mainly speak Spanish and our Spanish is different to other peoples and countries. Baldwin seems mad because he believed that whites didn’t accept black English and never will. But I believe that times have changed since this essay was written. I believe that black English is like Spanglish and every other language that is close to English.
Anzaldua and Baldwin both talk about how they feel about language and culture and how you can identify yourself with it. There both main concept is language and how they feel threatened by it because people want to change their way of speaking. I believe that both passages are effective because they both want you to not change and that it is right to speak the way you do without feeling ashamed. Baldwin states that there are different ways to speak a language even though you speak the same language you may say things differently. While Anzaldua wants us to embrace being bilingual and your culture.