Gloria Anzaldúa

Words: 316
Pages: 2

Gloria Anzaldúa's piece “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” focuses on what it is like to grow up constantly reprimanded to speak English instead of Spanish. Throughout this excerpt, Anzaldúa stresses the importance of retaining your native language as this heritage shapes your identity and she conveys this message through incorporating components of a definition essay. According to Anzaldúa, language is one’s native tongue that ties together where someone originates and who this person is. Anzaldúa also adds a quote from Gershen Kaufman that states that identity is the essential core of who we are as individuals. Anzaldúa uses this quote to formally define what identity is while tying it back to her overall message. Secondly, Anzaldúa provides an