Kasir Moton

Professor Young

Engw_1100

10 February 2015

Identity

             In the passage “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” by Gloria Anzaldula, she states that language shapes who you are and how you need to persevere though your own struggles within any given environment. She was told that the language she wanted to speak was wrong for that environment and to be considered proper she would have to adapt to this new setting and language. From this, I came to the realization that your identity isn't a single notion such as language, but it can be anything that you believe shapes who you are and what you aspire to be. Anzadula was oftentimes told that she had to change who she was, which made it difficult for her to be herself since she felt as though she had to hide from who she really was. It was as if she was being stripped of her identity because she was pretending to be someone who she was not. “Wild tongues can’t be tamed; they can only be cut out (Anzaldula 246)”. Anzadula said this quote to mean that people in this world do not accept change very well and that they will not change unless they are willing to. When I think of identity the first thing I think of is my individuality. My individuality can be defined by all the different facets that compose who I am. I am a great listener, I am outgoing, I have a comical side, but the one quality that defines me the most is that I am willing to work hard for the things that I want. I wanted to better myself, and even through all the hardships I told myself I needed to go to college to do so.

            Everyone is different in this world; every individual in this world has their own idea of what identity means to them. And as for me, my meaning of identity is my personality with my outgoing ways. In the passage Anzadula grandmother tells her that “flies don’t enter a closed mouth" (Anzadula246). Which I can relate to because as a child my grandmother said the exact same quote to me before entering church on Sunday. Growing up I was always told, “It’s better to be seen not heard” by my family and peers. This would be said to me due to the fact that my personality was too strong for some people. I was talkative and very outgoing which allowed me to meet a lot of people. I had an opinion about everything and wasn't afraid to speak my mind.

During my eighth grade year, I switched from a performing arts school to a regular public school. When I arrived my first day in class we had to work in groups and finish an assignment. I quickly grabbed the paper and began to start my work. I began to tell the students in my group how to go about the problems. After doing that for some time, a couple of students who were in my group started to look at me funny and saying, “the new kid thinks he's the boss”. I was always questioning things after someone told me something and always felt the necessity to add my point of view to any given discussion. This is just who I am, and I could never change that, for that is my identity.

Just as Anzadula had her language to define her, so too I had my personality to define mine. “My “home” tongues are the languages I speak with my sister and brothers with six-seven being closest to my heart” (Anzadula, 248). Anzadula loves to speak Chicano Spanish and Tex-Mex because it was what she was raised on and so had a personal connection to it. I share the same passion she had with wanting to speak her language by striving to be the best I can be and standing up for what I believe in just as Gloria Anzadula did when she stood up for herself to speak the language she wants to. Anzadula speaks different languages like tex- mex, Chicano Spanish and other sorts of languages. The people around her tried to break her down and break her habit of speaking other languages but they did not succeed.

Those individuals that tried to stop Anzadula from being herself, only aided her to want to be more individualistic. My individuality has set me up in right direction in life. I’m a full time college student and this is what I’ve been striving for since the sixth grade. During my life I’ve met so many people and only few are closed to me. I grew up in a rough neighborhood where not a lot of people make it out. It was scary having to hear gunshots at nights and sirens every day, but that didn’t change me, that only made me stronger and wanted to get away from that.

I had four friends that I grew up with. We would always be outside together after our parents realized they couldn't keep us locked inside forever. We would just hang around the block with the older kids doing whatever it was to do that day. I was around gangs, drugs, and violence around this time but I understood as an athlete I couldn’t take part in any of those things. So I realized that and implemented that into my schedule. At that time, it got me away from all the negative aspects but was able to keep my friends. They had respect for me enough not to bring those things around me, but not enough for themselves. This is why my only real four friends are facing four to seven years in a county prison. I was called out for being “fake” by the other teens in the neighborhood that I know, for not being In the streets, and being so engaged in football, but it wasn't my fault. I am who I am and I know right from wrong. I want a better life for myself and stick to my beliefs, and the way my individuality shapes into my identity is okay with me.

No one in this world has the same identity or the same aspirations in life. You can have your own meaning of identity or what you believe makes you the person you are today, but make sure you stand up for who you are just like Gloria Anzadula did when it came to her native language that she speaks. People around her tried to break her habits of speaking the way she does but she didn't let them because she is her language and her language is her identity. Just as I’m an outgoing person who is charismatic and loves to listen to people. This shapes my individuality and how I believe I am my own person. So if you want to try to steal my identity good luck because my individuality is me and there’s only one me.

Work Cited

Anzaldua, Gloria. “How to Tame a Wild Tongue.” The North Anthology of American

Literature. 7th edition, vol E. Eds. Jerome Klinkowitz and Patricia B. Luallace. 

New York: Norton, 2007.Work cited