"RIght to use your own language in an academic setting." response

David Son
ENGW 1100
September 17, 2015
Professor Young

The right to language in your class.

     Yes, I think that student's should have the right to use their own language in class. Even if others

do not understand the specific language that the person wrote in their essay or something else, it is a

part of their own style and identity. It's what makes them feel the most comfortable in their

environment, it helps express what they can't say on paper. The reason that Gloria Anzaldula had

written some of her book, "How to Tame a Wild Tongue" in Spanish, was to express her identity and

show that she wasn't going to be suppressed or changed in her way of writing. Sure, some students

can still write very well without their personal language attached to the story, but if they need their

language to help express who they are and how they write, then they will have problems with how

they do things in general. In extreme cases, their could be students who begin to have doubt about

their own identity, if they re blatantly told they are only aloud to use "American" language in their

essay, and begin to shape themselves into the supposed "perfect" image of American society.

Essay response to "How to Tame a Wild Tongue"

David Son
ENGW 1100
September 2, 2015
Professor Young

                              What is identity?

     Identity is what makes up who we are, it is what defines our entire being. 

For example, if Gloria Anzaldua had given up her language and instead 

embraced the american way, this story would have never been written, and 

she wouldn't be known as the person who stood up against every challenge  

put up against her, she stood up against sexism, racism, and even withstood and did not get a low self 

esteem, to make people understand that they shouldn't give up and give into the ways that others 

force you to become. If she never did any of this, she would have just looked like an other Spanish-

American that lives with us today. She became a symbol to others who were struggling with the 

same problems that she had to live though, and led them to follow her path. Identity to me though, it 

symbolizes me. What I mean is that it is what defines and shapes me to my own unique stature. If I 

were to like different things or if I were to take different paths throughout my life, I would not be the 

same person I am today. I am unique to my own form, some may have similarities, or even have 

nearly all the same likes and dislikes as me, but they will never be me. As Gloria Anzaldua had said 

in her story, "I am my language." Meaning that what had molded her throughout her life, can never 

be taken away from her, she will not be broken, even if you criticize her language, she will remain 

strong, she will always have the will to fight back because her language is a part of her that she grew 

up with, and she will never let someone take a part of her away.

Works Cited

1. Anzalduá, Gloria. "How to Tame a Wild Tongue" Teaching Developmental Writing. Ed. Susan Naomi Bernstein fourth ed. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2013. 245-255. Print.