How to Tame a Wild Tongue

Kayla Leone

September 3, 2014

Professor Young

Engl 1100

How to Tame a Wild Tongue

1)   The opening scene of Anzadula in the dentist’s chair connects to the overall point/message of the essay. In the scene, the dentist says that her tongue is wild because it will not stay still in her mouth. The rest of the reading talks about a tongue being wild based on speaking. This connects because it shows that there can be different meanings to a wild tongue.

2)   Anzadula uses Spanish throughout her writing. I think she does this to demonstrate her wild tongue. She speaks English, but once in awhile her Spanish side lashes out and she cannot tame her tongue.

3)    

4)   Speaking or writing in Academic English as an identity is necessary because how you speak academically and help show who you are. People have different identities academically and nonacademically, and this is one way to help see the difference.

5)   There are multiple different types of English identities. In the more southern states there are Southern accents. They also have different words for objects. For example, they call soda “pop”. There are also Boston accents, Jersey accents, and British accents.

6)   A secret language I use to communicate is Pig Latin. I use this language with my mom and we do not want people to catch on to what we are saying. We also used to have code words when I was younger and needed help in a situation.

7)   When I am with my friends I tend to talk more nonstandard English. When I am talking to my parents or professors, I speak more Standard English. I think this is because Standard English is more proper and portrays someone as more mature.

8)   “I am my language” basically means that how you talk is who you really are. This connects to a persons identity because someone’s identity may change based on who they are around.

9)   The intro and conclusion are connected because they both refer to cutting tongues out. However, in the beginning it says that in order to tame a tongue you must cut it out, but at the end it says you cannot cut out a tongue, you must tame it.

10)          The language you speak can most definitely be a port of your identity because it helps wrap up your character and who you truly are.

11)         To me, identity is important. Identity does not seem to be important to Anzadula. It seems this way because when talking about herself, she does not always tell her real heritage. Depending on the audience, she says Mexican, Latin-American, Spanish-American, etc.