Analysis of "How To Tame A Wild Tongue"

 "How to tame A wild tongue" by Gloria Anzaldúa begins with the story of a visit to the dentist. At the dentist, it is found that the patient has a strong tongue. This tongue is unrestrained and uncontrolled and will introduce the main idea of the writing. How does one control a tongue that can't be restrained? They cut it off. Anzaldúa goes on to use the pervasiveness of rhetorical devices like analogies, pathological appeal, and ethical appeal to support her argument that there needs to be a respect and representation for her people (Chicanos, Tijuanas, etc). Her points are effectively developed through personal experiences and even makes reference to our constitutional amendments. Not only is she familiar with the United states history, she is also familiar with the history of her people. It's easy to feel the emotion Anzaldúa strives to convey in her writing.

The use of analogies help Anzaldúa to express her feelings and draw a closer relationship to the readers. Anzaldúa says, "To be close to another chicana is like looking into the mirror" which reflects self-awareness. When an analogy like this is used its easy to see that she wants to relate an every day thing to a personal experience. The mirror represents something all the readers can relate to while, "to be close to another chicana" emphasizes the point that Anzaldúa is giving her people an equal representation. The reader is quick to establish a connection with this sentence creating a stronger feel for the writing. This technique is repeated different ways through out "How To Tame A Wild Tongue" This leads to our next rhetorical device: pathological appeal.

Pathological appeal addresses to a readers sense of emotions. Strong emotions can be found in abundance when Anzaldúa refers to her earlier college years, and those as a child. A pathological sentence would be one like, "I remember being caught speaking Spanish at recess-that as good for three licks on the knuckles with a sharp ruler " packed with emotional stimuli. The consequences for doing something as natural as speaking your native language can now fully be understood by the reader. A punishment for speaking like Anzaldúa says, "attacks on one's form of expression with intent to censor are a violation of the first amendment". Now the reader can feel the emotion Anzaldúa felt, not only of getting retribution for speaking her native language but her rights as an American citizen being violated. It's easy connect to a person who shares an experience but it's even easy to connect when they share ones natural rights. Her knowledge and background

 help the reader to correct through another one of her strategies.

 Anzaldúa's ethical appeal satisfies the readers need to know get importance. Even when emotionally packed, it's easy to refute an author whom lacks proper credentials. The reader is further persuaded by Anzaldúa when finding out that she went to college and argued for a focus in her heritage's language, "I had to 'argue' with one advisor after the other, semester after semester before I was allowed to make Chicano literature an area of focus" which shows great determination. Anzaldúa was not just a writer of her heritage but a well educated woman who know how to analyze multiple languages. Her education is consistent and allows for her to be a trust worthy source. Once the reader establishes this trust with her, they become more invested in finishing her writing. Now the reader understands that they aren't just reading any average writing, but one that has been well researched by an author who has been greatly invested in her writing.

These rhetorical devices help to interest the reader further in depth with Anzaldúa's work. The analogies, pathos, and ethos are clearly evident in her writing, and successfully capture the readers attention. After capturing the reader's attention the persuasion of the devices works in shifting the reader's views. In her writing Anzaldúa clearly shows that her tongue is unrestrained and she will convince the reader of her well-organized thoughts. Throughout Anzaldúa's trials at American life she shows that she refused to let her tongue be cut off.