Tuesday, March 26th, 2019

ENG 461: Studies in Women and Literature

Gloria E. Anzaldúa’s “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”
“Wild tongues can't be tamed, they can only be cut out.”
― Gloria E.Anzaldúa
“A woman who writes has power, and a woman with power is feared.”
― Gloria E. Anzaldúa
“Caminante, no hay puentes, se hace puentes al andar.
(Voyager, there are no bridges, one builds them as one walks.)”
― Gloria E. Anzaldúa
“Do work that matters. Vale la pena”
― Gloria E. Anzaldúa

Discussion Questions:
1. As you were reading “How to Tame a Wild Tongue,” did you translate every part in the text
where the author used Spanish? Why or why not? Do you think people can interpret this text as a
whole and understand the message the author is trying to convey without translating every word?
Explain.

2. What is Anzaldua’s central argument in “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” and how is she
developing it? What rhetorical strategies/literary devices does Anzaldúa use to make her
argument? Was she effective? Refer to specific passages from the text to support your claim.

3. What do you think of Anzaldúa use of anecdote of the dentist and wild tongue? What kind of tone
does this type of imagery set for the rest of the passage? What do you think the wild tongue
represents? Using this metaphor, what message is Anzaldúa trying to convey to her audience?

4. Who is the audience? Is she targeting the Chicano community, non-English speakers, English
speakers, or others and how do you know? In what ways is Anzaldúa appealing to her audience?