1. Gloria anzaldua’s: how to tame a wild tongue
Ashley Allen

2. Gloria Anzaldua september 26 1942-may 15 2004
Mexican-American
BA in art & secondary education
MA in English & education
Awarded honorary Doctorate’s in Literature from UC Santa Cruz
Taught pre-school and special education
Wrote children’s books
Uses a blend of 8 dialects
Influential in many different studies
SSGA legacy

3. Summary Discusses social & cultural difficulties
Expresses theories on marginal in between & mixed cultures that develop along borders
Struggled finding a sense of self
Often times made silent
Undermined as a female
Alienated

4. Masculinity
“They are all words that are derogatory if applied to women– I’ve never heard them applied to men” referring to “hocicona, repelona, chismosa”
“Chicanos use nosotros whether we’re male or female by being the masculine plural. Language is a male discourse.”

5. silencing “Flies don’t enter a closed mouth”
“Well-bred girls don’t answer back”
“You’re speaking the oppressor's language by speaking English, you’re ruining the Spanish language.”
“In childhood we are told that our language is wrong.”

6. Alienation
“Chicanos from the Valley of South Texas were cut off linguistically from other Spanish speakers.”
“Chicanas who grew up speaking Chicano Spanish have internalized the belief that we speak poor Spanish. It is illegitimate […] our language has been used against us by the dominant culture”

7. Identity
“Repeated attacks on our native tongue diminish our sense of self .”
“A monolingual Chicana whose first language is English or Spanish is just as much a Chicana as one who speaks several variants of Spanish.”
“I am my language. Until I can take pride in my language, I cannot take pride in myself.”
“As long as I have to accommodate the English speakers rather than having them accommodate me, my tongue will be illegitimate.”

8. Thoughts/discussion
Use of terms that can be subjected to one owns interpretations to be able to relate (not defining identity)
Extremely difficult for me to relate as I am not bilingual or multi-cultural
Expresses every culture she encompasses as a way to not lose her sense of self (identifying as Raza: race)
The reality of struggles with identities & borders (true integration)
America= Melting pot