How to Tame a Wild Tongue

Anzaldúa writes, “Language is a male discourse” (35). Are there passages in the essay that extend this point beyond the context with which it is first introduced? Does Anzaldúa amend this statement by the end of the essay? Are there instances where language becomes a female discourse in the text?

What is the role of Indigenous “Indian” culture and language in the text? How is Indigenous identity significant to Anzaldúa’s sense of Chicano identity and culture? Explore the points Anzaldúa makes about politics and Indigenous ethnicity. How do they contribute to her argument?

How is the 1960s Chicano cultural movement important to Anzaldúa’s essay? How does she contribute to the movement? Write an essay that focuses on how Anzaldúa engages with the movement and how her perspective paves new paths for Chicana studies.

Anzaldúa refers to folk musicians as the “mythmakers” of Chicana culture. What does she mean by this term, and why is it significant? What types of stories do the folk musicians tell? Why is it important to Anzaldúa that she hears these stories?

Although Anzaldúa focuses on the internal struggle of identity in her essay, she also briefly mentions the external, material struggles that Chicanos face. Select one of the material struggles she mentions. How does Anzaldúa engage with the issue you have selected throughout her essay?

Why does Anzaldúa name the essay “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”? Explore how the phrase “wild tongue” functions in the essay. What passages directly engage with the title’s meaning, and how do they inform how you interpret the title?

When Anzaldúa writes that she has a serpent’s split tongue, what does she mean? Why does she use the image of the serpent? How does the serpent function as a metaphor throughout the work, and what does it have to do with her argument about language?

Anzaldúa writes that she lives between Mexican culture on one side and American culture on the other. Does she have a greater allegiance to one over the other? How does she contrast and characterize these two cultures? Are there stylistic or structural differences in the way she represents them in the essay?