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The Coat Li Cue Writing Exercise
The Coat Li Cue Writing Exercise
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RIO HONDO COLLEGE - DIVISION OF BEHAVIORAL & SOCIAL SCIENCES
Humanities 125: Introduction to Mexican Culture (3 units) (CRN-50052)
Summer 2015, 6-Week Track / Monday & Wednesday / 06:00pm – 10:15pm / in Administration 205
The Coatlicue State Writing Exercise: Self-reflection, Narrative Inquiry, & Healing
in conjunction with Anzaldúa Borderlands Chapter 4 La herencia de Coatlicue (The Coatlicue State) Rev. 8/7/2015
In Chapter 4, Gloria Anzaldúa breaks down the Coatlicue for us. She describes her iconography, its perceived symbolism,
and what the sculpture of this feminist-Mother Earth-female “goddess” meant to her. Anzaldúa describes her own state,
the Coatlicue state in which she first learned that something was “fundamentally wrong” with her body. She calls her
body abnormal… and dealing with her lesbian sexuality at a very young age, she did everything to hide herself, only to be
devoured by the Earth Monster Coatlicue. Yet, at the same time she writes that our painful disappointments, and
painful experiences, if we can make meaning out of them, they can lead us to more of who we really are.
I want you all to write about your own Coatlicue State, a time when you had to hide your ideas, yourself, your
body, or even your own family, either from shame, ridicule, guilt, oppression, self-fear, or fear of not feeling good
enough. I want you all to go deep, allow yourself time to think, and write about when you felt devoured by the Coatlicue
in your own borderlands experience. This exercise is a self-reflection free writing exercise. There are no correct or
incorrect responses, and using “I” is very much appropriate. Get this done in class! Worth 20 points!
Worksheet developed by Santiago Andres Garcia 8/7/2015, Division of Behavioral & Social Sciences, Rio Hondo College, 3600 Workman Mill Road, Whittier CA, 90601. Free to use for educational purposes only.
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Your own Coatlicue State
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Page 68 and 69 scanned from Gloria Anzaldúa’s Borderlands La Frontera The New Mestiza 25TH Anniversary Fourth Edition