Anzaldua clearly disagrees with this statement after describing how there is another language she speaks called Pachuco. She describes it as a “language of rebellion, both against Standard Spanish and Standard English” (Page 72). This language consists of different slang terms and phrases from both English and Spanish, combining the two worlds together. As a result, this language eliminates the “firm line” described as a border between English and Spanish. Other examples like Pachuco is the common hybrid language Spanglish where a person would mix the two languages.
A style of writing I have noticed by Anzaldua was her constant use of Spanish phrases every now and then to support her idea of using both languages as a bridge to a greater understanding of language. She uses Chicano Spanish terms to explain how it is different from a standard Spanish that is taught in most schools. “We leave out initial syllables, saying tar for estar, toy for estoy, hora for ahora” (Page 72). By doing this, she is able to give the reader a better understanding of how not every person of Spanish origin speaks the same type of Spanish.
One of the conventions for a literacy narrative Liao describes is how they begin with a moment the writer experiences whether it is a cultural tradition or a particular discourse community that the narrator joined. In this case, Sedaris recounts how his first day of French class was and the diverse community he is surrounded by. However, Sedaris didn’t provide any takeaways for the reader that is clear. It almost seems like he intentionally did this for the reader to draw their own conclusion.
I believe that Manson can still relate to this quote towards the end of the essay however, only to a certain extent. While she did start to improve her vocabulary by working on herself as she states on page 86, she later added that when she lost her grandmother she became silent again. She states, “I feel something, but I don’t know what it is,” thus implying that even though she improved on her communication skills, she still couldn’t address her emotions which were a completely different problem.
I agree with you on your answer to question number four about Manson’s sadness. I got a similar answer in I believed she still had some unresolved feelings. Do you think that her talking about her late grandmother at the end added to your thoughts of her being sad?