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  • Essay / Rhetorical Analysis of “How to Tame a Wild Language”​ by Gloria Anzaldúa

    In “​How to Tame a Wild Language​,” Gloria Anzaldúa recounts her childhood experience as a Chicana, a Mexican-American living in the UNITED STATES. Growing up in Texas, people around her made her feel that speaking Chicano Spanish or English with a Chicano accent was wrong, even shameful. In her essay, she expresses her feeling that the only way for Chicanos to persuade English-speaking Americans to accept them as equals in their society is to demonstrate their ability to speak English with an American accent. Chicanos then feel like they are expected to abandon their heritage and culture to fit in. Anzaldúa relies on various rhetorical strategies to allow her audience to understand their experiences and struggles living in the United States and not being fluent in English. She explains situations in which she is ridiculed for speaking her native language, talks about events that happened that readers from different backgrounds can relate to, and uses other strategies, all to elicit feelings of compassion and sympathy among his audience. She attempts to bring attention to social issues in the United States through her writing and does so using various rhetorical devices. This can allow readers whose native language is English to understand the alienation faced by those with a different native language. She also brings comfort to other Chicanos and people whose first language is not English, showing them that not only are they not alone, but that it is also completely acceptable to speak English with an accent and to be proud of their mother tongue. Say no. to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essayAnzaldúa uses a passionate and critical tone in his writing. She mixes Spanish in her English writings, showing her pride in her native language. She also uses italics when writing in Spanish, probably to add more emphasis to the text and her pride in her Spanish heritage. These are all examples of diction, which is a rhetorical device that refers to the author's choice of words as well as the style of expression. Diction, as a rhetorical device, sets the tone of a piece of writing. Mixing Spanish into her English writing is a clever way of allowing the reader to feel what it was like for her to not understand every English sentence she read (Rhetorical Device). Anzaldúa's use of diction makes fluent English-speaking readers feel confused and somewhat embarrassed, feeling like they are supposed to understand Spanish and should be able, but cannot, to put them in his place as a Chicano trying to read English. She also shows a great sense of pride in the native language, which is significant to her Chicano listeners who notice that the Spanish is mixed. His goal in his writing is to show people that they should not be ashamed of their native language and the accent that comes with it. with him when she speaks English.Anzaldúa uses first-hand experiences in her essay to show the reader her various struggles. Beginning your essay with an anecdote about your visit to the dentist helps set the tone of the story for all readers, whether or not they can relate to your experience, because the dentist brings fear and discomfort to almost everyone. world. She describes the anger and frustration in the dentist's tone when he says he has to control his tongue and that he has never seen anything/.