Mr. Winter
English 1301
February 11, 2015
Engaging with the text
1. The author Tanya Maria Barrientos decided to give her article a Spanish title prepared me for the subject by showing me that it will be about Spanish in some way or form. It led me to also believe that in the use of “Se Habla Espanol” Barrientos was trying to hence that it is used in a variety of places with the same three words. Connecting it to the stereotypical Latino that they are all the same did support my impression as the title conveyed that Barrientos saw that the Latinos were people who “wait[ed] tables and clean[ed] hotel rooms.” It meant to Barrientos that speaking Spanish meant to be poor. To be all the same. Just a poor Latino with a job that is typical. Such as the words of “Se Habla Espanol.”
2. The anecdote at the beginning of the text has the effect of showing the point of view of the conflict that Barrientos has in learning her native language; which caught my attention in wanting to know why she would degrade her own native language.
3. The significance of learning Spanish to Barrientos is that she tried hard for two decades to isolate herself from stereotype but then suddenly a shift in society changed it all. It is important to Barrientos because speaking Spanish is what kept the Latino community together and without knowing Spanish she could not call herself a Latina and have pride in herself.
4. The reason Barrientos added Spanish words to the writing is for the reader to see Barrientos’ perspective of knowing Spanish. Without knowing the language, the feeling of being left out is present. If the words were translated the stance would then change. If the translations are just handed out to the readers then her point would not be proven.
5. Being from Austin and born as the first Mexican American generation my accent is very selective. When I speak English, I speak in a normal non-differentiating accent. My English words are fine and clear, but at times I have a monotone accent and I don’t notice it. Although, when I speak Spanish I have an accent that is immediately distinguishable. The only time I would speak Spanish if I am comfortable speaking it to the person I am with. That someone who I’ve known for a long time and know that they’ll understand me and speak it right back.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
In “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”, Gloria Anzaldua discussed the social and cultural difficulties Mexican immigrants go through when being raise in the USA. In addition, through her anecdotes she shows the strong relationship between language and identity, thanks these she also explains how one’s language must be preserved and celebrated. In the excerpt from “Movimientos de Rebeldía y las Culturas que Traicionan” Anzaldua exposes how culture aims to impose who we should be. In both pieces Gloria Anzaldua describes how culture forms a big part of people’s life and its tendency to cut down any other ways of thinking that does not follow those same beliefs, without realizing how it might affect the happiness and well-being of the people.…
- 549 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Although his parents weren’t directly inhibited by the inability to speak English fluently, Rodriguez recalled a common memory of his childhood where he felt his “clutching trust in [his parents] protection and power weaken” when they began to speak their limited English. Rodriguez didn’t feel like he belonged to public society until he was able to master speaking in English. Making English the national language would unify the entire…
- 569 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
3. Much of Rodriguez’s essay is spent comparing the Spanish his parents spoke at home to the English they spoke outside it, “the language of their Mexican past” to “the English of public society” (par. 9). What is the point of including this material? How do these comparisons support his argument?…
- 374 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
The author talks about the dilemma she faced about her own language and how she represents herself through her language. Gloria Anzaldua who is a Chicano talks about how Chicanas have problems expressing their feelings. Since they lack a native language, instead it is a product of several languages. And their language Chicano Spanish has incorporated bits and pieces of several versions of Spanish. The author speaks about people who are neither Spanish nor live in a country in which Spanish is the first language; for a people who live in a country in which English is the reigning tongue but who are not Anglo; for a people who cannot entirely identify with either standard Spanish no standard English. So she emphasizes the importance to have their…
- 361 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
As a son of Mexican American immigrants, Richard Rodriguez recounts the story of his childhood and his struggle to assimilate into American culture. In Aria: A memoir of a Bilingual Childhood, Rodriguez always felt like an outcast whenever he set foot outside of his house. As a young child, he exclusively spoke Spanish to members of his household and tried his best to learn and speak English in the real world. He “regarded Spanish as a private language. It was a ghetto language that deepened and strengthened [his] feeling of public separateness” (Rodriguez 505) because it identified him as a member of his family and it served as a link to his own Mexican heritage. By speaking Spanish, he communicates a certain level of intimacy with all of his relatives. However, as his narrative progresses, he finds himself slowly breaking away from that intimacy as he begins to speak more English, both by force and social pressure. Teachers scolded him if he spoke anything but English and his peers Americanized his name into Richard (rather than calling him Ricardo.) He began to feel like a traitor by mastering this “public language” when his relatives began treating him differently. His bilingual childhood was an enormous adversity that Rodriguez had to overcome.…
- 510 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
In this essay, Anzaldua reveals her thoughts about the issues of racism, identity, and low self-esteem faced by Mexican immigrants living in the United States. Anzaldua states that a person’s identity is linked to the way they speak. Anzaldua begins her essay with a metaphor demonstrating how immigrants are suppressed in society. She uses ethos to establish her credibility throughout this essay such as in paragraph 35 (“Until I can take pride in my language…”). Today there are still issues where immigrants are judged by the way they speak and made to feel ashamed of their own language and culture.…
- 100 Words
- 1 Page
Satisfactory Essays -
When analyzing Gloria Anzaldua’s writing “How to Tame a Wild Tongue,” it is important to look at her background. She comes from a very diverse background; her parents were immigrants, she was born in south Texas, and she identifies herself as a Chicana feminist. The different discourse communities seen through her writing is the struggle she has between the different languages she has to adapt to around different people in her life. Writing from the borderlands between American, Mexican, Spanish, Indian, Chicano, and Mestiza culture, Anzaldua creates a representation of the wide range of forces within herself and the culture from which comes.…
- 411 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Se Habla Espanol by Tanya Barrientos was about a Latina girl who struggled with her identity. She was born in Guatemala but has lived in America since she was three years old. In the beginning she was somewhat embarrassed by her Hispanic heritage. Tanya felt inferior to the white people because of how she looked and because of her last name. The tone of the essay was a serious and desperate cry for help. It seemed she was speaking to anyone who could listen and relate to her. Tanya wrote from her point of view and how she felt like a “gringa” trapped in a Latina girl’s body.…
- 331 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
3. What does Rodriguez mean by calling Spanish a “private language” (para.17)? Even if you do not speak more than one language, does your family have what you would characterize as a “private language”?…
- 831 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Gloria Anzaldua, who was an activist and writer that grew up in Texas and endured several forms of oppression, covers several topics in her essay “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” including her feelings on the social and cultural difficulties that Mexican immigrants face when being raised in the United States. Among one of the things Anzaldua describes Mexican immigrants must endure is the judgment from other Mexicans for the way they speak Spanish. Anzaldua describes the situation as:…
- 1932 Words
- 8 Pages
Good Essays -
Rodriguez, at first, seems to have taken the path of least resistance, resigning himself to the inevitable eventuality of embracing the language that would make it possible for him to communicate more fully outside of his home. However, the trek toward a greater understanding and knowledge of English also separated him from the two people he depended on to provide safety, security and the comfort of familiarity when he returned home each day¬-his parents. He came upon his parents speaking Spanish one day, only to have them immediately switch to English when they saw him “Those gringo sounds they uttered startled me. Pushed me away.” (11) His pain, that is palpable in those words, gradually turned to anger. Anzaldua, on the other hand fought every step of the way, making hers a constant uphill climb. Not only was she struggling to find her place in American society as a Chicano, she was also battling for acceptance as a woman equal to men. She states that the first time she heard two Spanish-speaking women use the word nosotras, (feminine “we”) “…I was shocked. I had not known the word existed. Chicanas use nosotros [male “we”] whether we’re male or female. We are robbed of our female being by the masculine plural.” (55) Anzaldua’s anger mounts with every step she takes.…
- 769 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
In this essay Barrientos argues that the language she speaks defines her identity and who she is as a person. As Barrientos was growing up, she realized being Latin-American was not what she wanted to be, she decided to didn’t want to speak Spanish, as Barrientos says, “To me, speaking Spanish translated into being poor.” She also said “It meant waiting tables and cleaning hotel rooms. It meant being poor.” She thought if she stayed away from Spanish stereotypes they would…
- 682 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Helena was depilandose legs in the bathroom when the phone rang and informed him that his mother had just died. She looked at the clock and instinctively sought to retain the time in the head; the six and a half in the afternoon. Although the days had begun to lengthen, it was almost dark by the effect of some clouds that from the middle of the afternoon had been placing in the form of the roof on the city. The best time of the afternoon to leave this world, he thought fuck the phone while I listened to her husband that, from the other side of the line, trying to be effective and loving at the same time.…
- 33252 Words
- 134 Pages
Good Essays -
It’s the feeling I had the day I fainted, it’s the judgmental stares I received from my classmates—the same judgmental stares I get when trying to speak Spanish openly to a fluent Spanish speaking person while the receiving end sees me as “just another gringo destroying our language with his white accent—it isn’t right.” Though I shouldn’t think these things when trying to speak Spanish because it isn’t true, it’s not what the other person is thinking and it is my language too. I have just as much a right as anyone else to speak it because it is a way of connecting with my culture. Although I have always been encouraged by my own father to speak Spanish, I will ensure that my own children have no fear in speaking Spanish to anyone—it will be our language, we will have just as much a right as anyone to speak it. It is a way to connect with our culture and ultimately the rest of the…
- 820 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Born in a Mexican immigrant family and moving to a city in California, Sacramento, Rodriguez had already known from the start that he’s “different” from the rest of the children in the area. He was hispanic. He felt the difference expressively at school and it was not just because of his physical appearance. The difference of is what isolated him the most. They differed socially. He felt a disconnect between Spanish, the language he used at home which offered comfort, versus English, the language used in the public world which to him was foreign. Rodriguez felt the separation from his English-speaking classmates, as he struggled to master this “public” language and hopefully gain acceptance. Since its founding days, U.S. had always been a melting pot of diverse ethnicities. Welcoming newcomers while insisting they learn and embrace its civic culture. It was suggested that those who come here in America should become Americans. Upon entering grade school, it was a massive culture shock for Rodriguez. He was put in an ESL class expected to learn English, to speak English, and communicate in English, but of course in a “English as a Secondary language” setting. It was a challenging transition, however, with practice, Rodriguez began to slowly adopt the English language giving him and his…
- 1207 Words
- 4 Pages
Better Essays