Liam Kelleher

9/5/16

Professor Young

English Skills Workshop 1100

Reading Response Questions to “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”

1. The opening scene of the writing piece depicts Anzaldua being told to control her tongue by the dentist which foretells the rest of the story. Theme was continuous throughout her childhood schooling and young adulthood.

2. Anzaldua intergraded Spanish throughout her writing to demonstrate her natural tongue. I thought that it was an affective way to show the reader who she was.

3. I do not believe that Academic English can be defined as Spanish Standard because the cultures are very different and words or phrases may be interpreted very differently. I do think that Chicano Spanish can be described as nonstandard because it is a cultural variation of Spanish.

4. I do not believe that speaking and writing in Academic English is necessary for ones identity. Everyone speaks differently and that helps make someones identity. 

5. Various types of English identities that I know are Working Class and slang English. Average teenagers speaking slang while adults generally speak Working Class English.

6. I do not use a secret language or identity to communicate with my friends or family.

7. With my friends I speak a nonstandard form of English and with my parents and professors I speak a standard form of English. I do this because I treat teachers and parents with respect and slang English lacks respect.

8. Language represents and identity, it is what one uses to communicate and describe themselves.

9. The introduction and conclusion connected because at first she was continuously told to control her tongue by her dentist and in the end she was able to express herself and show her true identity.

10. Yes it is part of my identity, it represents who I am and what my culture is.

11. Identity is very important to me, it shows who I am and what my heritage is. Anzaldua believes it is important to have an identity. It shows your culture and the type of person you are. Anzaldua said “ Now that we had a name. some of the fragmented pieces began to fall 

together — who we were, what we were, how we had evolved”. This quote demonstrates how she was happy that her culture was finally recognized and she could learn about her heritage.