How to Tame a Wild Tongue
In this reading, Anzaldua starts out by expressing how the tongue is uncontrollable through a scenario of a dentist cleaning the roots of a tooth with the tongue getting in the way. Throughout the paper, Anzaldua pointed out that her hometown language was not well accepted by society. She lists eight different kinds of languages that Chicanos people speak today and claims to speak the last five listed to her family and friends. Majority of the Spanish languages somehow adapted to the English community. Even though America is a nation of many ethnicities, people who did not speak English were often attacked verbally. This displays the struggles Chicanos people face based on the unacceptance of their culture and language. Denying a person’s language is almost similar to denying a significant part of them. As for the tongue, it is what we use to speak our languages and the persistence of the Chicanos people helped Americans recognize them as a distinct group.
The Meanings of a Word
In this reading, Naylor pointed out the amount of power used in a word. She referred to the word, “nigger” as a bad word when he was still in grade school. She describes how the word can be used in the following paragraphs. First, the word, “nigger” could be used to signifiy himself in a situation that brought approval for his strength, intelligence, or drive. Or it could’ve meant a term of endearment for husband or boyfriend if used by a possessive adjective by a woman. The point is, there are meanings in the words we say, even if it is something derived of prejudice. In our case, we can use the words that we were called in our early life and explain how that shaped us as a person for our papers. They could signify our language or even who we are. In Naylor’s example, it showed that the word “nigger” adapted into a way which it may be okay to say words if used properly, although it can bring shame if used inappropriately.