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Gloria Anzaldúa's How To Tame A Wild Tongue

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The tongue is a needed part to the body which has many functions. The tongue is used to taste scrumptious foods which we crave, and more importantly, is used to form words. These words however, can be used for good, or for bad. Each and every word that is whispered, uttered, spoken or yelled from a mouth, will either be accepted, or hated. The words that are hated are taught to be put on a leash, but “Wild tongues can’t be tamed, they can only be cut out.”(374) In Gloria Anzaldúa’s “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”, Ms. Anzaldúa states the quote above. Although bold, I agree and disagree with this quote at the same time. I agree that wild tongues cannot be tamed, but I disagree that wild tongues can only be cut out. I believe once a tongue utters it’s first words, there is no way to limit what comes out. Although there are many silent people in this world who fear the popularity of their opinions, it is still impossible to stop a wild tongue. Once a tongue is set loose to run wild, there is no stopping it. Not even death can silence a tongue because the ideas it had proclaimed during it’s lifetime will be echoed for generations to come. People need only to set their tongue …show more content…

It is impossible to quite the ethos that are left behind. Once the tongue is loosed, it never has to be silenced. The will of a person will prevent the tongue from being tamed. The will of a person such as Gloria Anzaldúa, who although punished for speaking in her native tongue and rebuked for it, pursued speaking it in rebellion to all other voices. I myself have experienced this where I used to be cautious with letting my tongue free, but now that I have set it free, nothing can stop me from proclaiming my beliefs. I agree that “Wild tongues can’t be tamed, they can only be cut out.”(374) but I also believed that even when cut out, they will never be silenced. Once a tongue is set wild, it can only grow stronger and become more

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My Rhetorical Analysis Language is a part one’s identity and culture, which allows one to communicate with those of the same group, although when spoken to someone of another group, it can cause a language barrier or miscommunication in many different ways. In Gloria Anzaldua’s article, “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”, which was taken from her book Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza, she is trying to inform her readers that her language is what defines her. She began to mention how she was being criticized by both English and Spanish Speakers, although they both make up who she is as a person. Then, she gave convincing personal experiences about how it was to be a Chicana and their different types of languages. Moreover, despite the fact that her language was considered illegitimate, Anzaldua made it clear that she cannot get rid of it until the day she dies, or as she states (on page 26) “Wild tongues can’t be, they can only be cut out.”

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