Abstract This paper introduces, summarizes and analyzes Gloria Anzaldua's book, "Borderlands". The paper explains that Anzaldua's book is about the identities of the people who live on the borderlands and, in particular, of those who are immersed in contradictory cultures.
From the Paper "Individuals derive their sense of identity from their culture. In Borderlands/La Frontera, Anzaldua crafts a collage of lyric and prose, myth and autobiography, Spanish and English, past and present, inviting her readers to experience the clash of cultures. Through literary experimentation with the autobiography genre, Anzaldua was able to express her Chicana Mestiza identity as a site of multiple and often over-lapping and contradictory subjectivities."
Abstract The paper shows how Gloria Anzaldua's essay, "How to Tame a Wild Tongue," illustrates her refusal to reject her own heritage simply for the sake of belonging. The paper focuses on Anzaldua's anecdote of a traumatizing experience in a dentist's office and explains how it illustrates the myriad social injustices she and her fellow Hispanics endure in an intolerant society. The paper examines her fiery, confrontational language that shows how she fights against her people's feelings of self-loathing and acquiescence to American culture.
From the Paper "Anzaldua sets the first half of the introductory passage in a dentist's office. Her choice of setting amplifies the passage's rhetorical potency. The dentist's office is a place where people generally feel uncomfortable and tense because of the pain many endure there. Likewise, Anzaldua felt uncomfortable and tense in America because of the emotional pain from cultural rejection. She begins her essay with a command, "We're going to have to control your tongue," to emphasize the intense level of force and vigor being exerted upon her so suddenly (Anzaldua 128). The fact that the dentist does not give her any pleasant greetings, such as "hi, how are you doing" accelerates the pace and urgency of the passage. Instead of saying, "I'm going to have to control your tongue" to represent the dentist's actions, the passage instead states, "We're going to have to control your tongue" (128). The decision to use a plural first person, instead of a singular first person point of view, reveals Anzaldua's belief that the dentist was not the only one attempting to control her tongue."
Abstract This paper explores the issue of writing in the contact zone, where the writer incorporates the individual's culture. To illustrate these points, "How to Tame a Wild Tongue" by Gloria Anzaldua is discussed as an example of writing in the contact zone. The paper begins by discussing the problems seen in Anzaluda's piece, followed by a discussion of the benefits of the piece and why they are so important. The writer believes that the benefits of writing in the contact zone far outweighs the risks involved.
From the Paper "The first risk of writing in the contact zone is that the writing style will alienate readers, creating the situation where the only individuals that find meaning in the piece are those with the same culture. Anzaldua does take this risk with "How to Tame a Wild Tongue" by writing in a style that does make it a challenge to understand. One of the most noticeable factors is the mixing of English and Spanish. The following two sentences are an example of how she mixes the two languages, "Even our own people, other Spanish speakers nos quieren poner candados en la boca."
Abstract This paper examines the lives of the authors James Baldwin, Edward Said, and Gloria Anzaldua. It attempts to find commonality between authors, noting that that none is a white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant living in America, and none of them ever was. It shows how, despite the fact that Said is the only immigrant from foreign shores, all can be said to view their own native culture in relation to American culture, at least to some extent, and how each is a stranger to American mainstream culture in his or her own way. It also looks at how the common thread between them is being an outsider and an observer of the mainstream culture and how all three are eloquent in describing their disenfranchisement.
From the Paper "Said is a stranger of a different sort. Of the three writers, only he was not born in the U.S.A., but rather chose to come here as an adult. And Said's homeland is not a multicultural hodgepodge as is the United States; in fact, at this point it might fairly be said that his homeland doesn"t exist, except in the hearts and minds of the various Muslims, Jews and Christians who at one time"in this generation or the last?might have called themselves Palestinians, referring both to a culture and to a set of national boundaries. Of the three, Said can most easily be seen as a stranger in a strange land, no matter where he is. This is a difference from the status of the late James Baldwin and Gloria Anzaldua. Both Baldwin and Anzaldua claim estrangement only from one native land."
Abstract An analysis of the article by Gloria Anzaldua, "How to Tame a Wild Tongue". It shows how this article explores the essence of Chicano culture in America through an analysis of language. The author speaks about gender, race, and identity as functions of language. It focuses on Tex-Mex, which is described as a language of rebellion, both against standard Spanish and standard English.
From the Paper "The reason why using more than one language at a time can be so important for immigrants or children of immigrants is that it enables us to preserve our cultural heritage while at the same time fitting into the dominant culture. Anzald"a talks about assimilation as a negative act, but in many ways assimilation can be positive, as long as people make an effort to maintain some of their customs and their language. One of the reasons why Anzald"a is proud of Tex-Mex "Spanglish" is because it reminds her of who she is. She remembers when she first discovered Chicano literature. ?When I saw poetry written in Tex-Mex for the first time, a feeling of pure joy flashed through me. I felt like we really existed as a people,? (29). The formation of Chicano culture happened largely through the use of language. "Something momentous happened to the Chicano soul"we became aware of our reality and acquired a name and a language (Chicano Spanish) that reflected that reality,? (33)."
Looks at identity, which is developed through culturally defined language, as presented in writings by Deborah Tannen, Richard Rodriguez, Gloria Anzaldua and Amy Tan.
1,750 words (approx. 7 pages), 0 sources, 2007, $ 56.95
Abstract This paper explains that linguistic experiences of children in class rooms and of foreign individuals, growing up in the U.S., shape an understanding of the culture and break down barriers. Next, the author analyzes Deborah Tannen's essay "Gender in The Classroom", which examines the problems of students learning in a coed environment. Richard Rodriguez' "A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood" explores a Spaniard growing up in the United States and struggling to choose between his culture and the American dream; whereas, Gloria Anzaldua, in "How to Tame a Wild Tongue", says that the true purpose of language as a form of expression. The paper concludes with Amy Tan in "Mother Tongue", which shows, through Tan's relationship with her mother, that a language is whatever you make it.
From the Paper "In "How to Tame a Wild Tongue" by Gloria Anzaldua, language is the author's pride and she proudly wears it on the outside. The author believes that language is something a person connects with their identity and allows them to communicate with the realities of life while holding values true to themselves. ... This idea is reinforced by the author's comprehensive knowledge of six different "Spanishes": standard Spanish, standard Mexican Spanish, North Mexican Spanish dialect, Chicano Spanish, Tex-Mex, and Pachuco."
From the Paper "This Bridge Called My Back has the subtitle "Writings by Radical Women of Color," and this is precisely what is contained in this volume. The writings include poems, short stories, and various types of nonfiction demonstrating the range of interests in this particular segment of the population and the different modes of expression used by black, Asian, and Chicana women writers in addressing their role in the world, the state of society today, and their relationship to that society.
The book is edited by Cherrie Moraga and Gloria Anzaldua. Anzaldua is a Chicana poet, and Moraga describes herself as "a very tired Chicana/half-breed/feminist/lesbian/writer/teacher/
talker/waitress" (248), born in Los Angeles and productive first in San Francisco and then Boston. The editors brought the writings in this book together first beginning in 1979, and this..."
Abstract This paper examines the Chicano struggle for independence, identity and a unique voice in America.
The paper includes information from Gloria Anzaldua's "Borderlands/Frontera", Ruben Martinez' "Crossing Over" and Sandra Cisneros' "Woman Hollering Creek".
From the Paper "Being Chicano is a state of consciousness. Nevertheless, as a minority population and identity within mainstream US culture, this designation represents a culturally determined role imposed on Hispanic- Americans from the outside. Within the history of the struggle between US and Mexican cultures, the struggle for identity, independence and a unique voice remains as paramount an individual and group issue today as it did more than a century and a half ago. Despite advances across all socio-economic measures, Chicanos continue to be ostracized..."
