STELLA OBAH

ENGLISH 1010
07/10/2015
PROFESSOR BERRET
RHETORICAL ANALYSIS OF HOW TO TAME A WILD TONGUE
INTRODUCTION
Born in 1942 and for search of identity Gloria Anzaldua who is a Spanish Chicano
wrote Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza, a semi-autobiographical book
inspired by her childhood in search of identifying her language as a culture first
published in 1987, Texas. From Borderlands Chapter 5 titled How to Tame a Wild
Tongue, the author Anzaldua uses poetry, history, equality, and autobiographical
language in order to persuade her purpose and readers. I believe her book is aimed
at inspiring immigrants who struggle to identify with their language to speak it
freely without shame or fear..
Her audience are Americans, Native Americans, Mexican Americans (Chicanos) and
to immigrants all over the world who struggle to identify with their native tongue as
a result as a result of the environment they find their selves in.
THESIS STATEMENT
The writer of How to tame a wild tongue Anzaldua, used the rhetorical triangle to
effectively communicate the importance of preserving and taking pride in ones
native tongue.

ETHOS
The writer Anzaldua appealed to ethos here by living through this period of
oppression, hence we are borrowing credibility from her life experience, personal
anecdotes, historical details and Spanish interjections to communicate to her
audience the presence of a very strong relationship between ones identity and
language. Using her Mexican American (chicano) life experience, she explained the
immigration controversies that existed between the Hispanics/Latinos and
Americans. She explained how she was affected by the dominating language and
culture which prompted her to make something of her own which was a mixture of
both languages (English and Spanish) hence Spanglish.
Anzaldua asks herself the question, How do you tame a wild tongue? which she
answers in a later paragraph my saying, Wild tongues cant be tamed, they can
only be cut out, (325). With this, Anzaldua means that a language or tongue
cannot be controlled because any attempt to control it would lead to its annihilation.
Without a unique tongue, true self-expression would be impossible, which signifies
the connection between language and identity.

LOGOS
Anzaldua discussed the cultural and gendered impact of the language itself. Most
Latinos criticized people living in this part of the world because they speak English
(the oppressors language) hence, they were been treated like traitors by their own
people. She also writes about how she came and realization that the women was
excluded from her vocabulary . In Northern parts of Mexico and Southern most parts

of the United States, the female plural in Spanish is excluded from the language,
leaving women fall under the masculine plural.
She further explains the changes that has evolved in this part of the world as a
result of the combination of different languages, Spanish, English and native
American words which had developed into chicano Spanish, although this language
was considered that of poor quality by some Hispanics as it had neither the
standard Spanish nor English, hence are left to feel uncomfortable in expressing
themselves. She further expresses herself by saying that the attack on the
Chicanos language needs to stop because if a person, Chicana or Latina has a low
estimation of my native tongue, she also has a low estimation of me. (59) She
states that language is a part of ethnic identity and should be something one should
take pride in if they hope to improve their self-estimation. Ethnic identity is twin
skin to linguistic identity- I am my language. Until I can take pride in my language, I
cannot take pride in myself. (59)
PATHOS
Anzaldua, here appeals to pathos by putting Spanish out there just to show how
proud of her language (English and Spanish) she was. Anzaldua made no effort to
accommodate the English speakers, rather made them take all the effort to get a
full understanding of her text. This was a little annoying and frustrating as well, one
had to read the passage over and over and over again in order to relate to what she
was saying. This was certainly engaging in a way as she was totally unapologetic
about the difficulties she may have put non Spanish speakers through in order to
understand her text. She stated that As long as I have to accommodate the
English speakers rather than accommodate me , my tongue will be illegitimate, she

legitimizes a part of her identity (Spanglish) which is one of her languages thereby
showing great pride in herself and her people by showing defiance and not wanting
to let go of her maternal language, I bet this will be very elating to her fellow
Chicanos.
Later on to the end of the chapter, novels, music, book examples and description is
given to emphasize the Chicano culture throughout years. Chicanos felt a sense of
belonging as these works expressed their language, reinforced their heritage and
culture. Gloria describes that been Mexican as a state of Soul and not of mind. Due
to her realization and enduring of two different cultures discovering a pride in her
culture has made her successful in her teaching and writing career.

CONCLUSION
Anzaldua Is a very proud advocate of the Chicano people. She has used all three
appeals of the rhetorical triangle (ethos pathos and logos) to effectively
communicate to her audience the importance of preserving and taking pride in
ones native tongue, as there is a great relationship between our language and our
identity. Although all three appeals where present in this essay, I do think that the
ethos appeal was lacking a little because the credibility of the story was mostly
based on Anzalduas life experience, hence it may be biased.
Anzaldua, Gloria. Borderlands - La Frontera. San Francisco :

Aunt Lute Books, 1987

Read more: http://www.ukessays.com/essays/english-language/how-to-tame-a-wildtongue-english-language-essay.php#ixzz3fq2yS3Wp
http://www.ukessays.com/essays/english-language/how-to-tame-a-wild-tongueenglish-language-essay.php#ixzz3fQzqITAD
http://www.bubblews.com/