Maya Pringle

ENG101 Honors – MWF 11-11:50am

Professor Kardell

27 August 2018

Process Work 3

1. The author discusses seven different identities in her essay. These identities are directly related

to the language she speaks among that certain group. They did overlap and relate in a few

different ways. She says that she spoke five different "home languages". She describes these as

the languages that she spoke with her siblings and among friends, Chicano Spanish and Tex-

Mex, being the favorites. She also mentions speaking Chicano Texas Spanish with her mom and

siblings. This is one example of a specific overlap in identities.

2. One example of when Anzaldua used vivid detail to show her identity instead of tell it was

when she said food and certain smells were tied to her identity, like when she said "Woodsmoke

perfuming my grandmother's clothes, her skin." She appealed to senses and painted a picture by

saying, "The stench of cow manure and yellow patches on the ground; the crack of a 22 rifle and

the reek of cordite." Anzaldua also mentions "home" when she speaks descriptively about her

sister making "hot, spicy menudo, chile colorado making it deep red, pieces of panza and

hominy floating on top."

3. One example of conflict in this essay is when Anzaldua would go to school and speak

Spanish, or in an accent, and got in trouble because they wanted her to speak English. Another

example of conflict is when the author explains that Chicanas do not speak the language to each
other in fear of their "skills" being judged, so they find a common ground and speak English

instead. A final example of conflict in this essay is when she said that educated Chicanos felt

ashamed for listening to their music instead of a more popular genre, like rock n roll.

4. I feel that the purpose of this essay is to bring awareness to the oppression that Chicanos face

and to explain the language and its' history. The audience of this essay is likely people who also

experience the same oppression from North American culture.

5. The essay did reach some sort of resolution in the end. Anzaldua presented the fact that after

years of oppression, her language culture has lived on. She believes that one day the American

way will basically crash and burn, but the Chicanos will live on.