Anzaldua Blog response #2: The Anti-Essay.

In "How To Tame a Wild Tongue" Gloria Anzuldua writes about the spanish language and how it has transformed. Like for example as pointed out by Anzuldua castilian spanish (proper spanish) you would say "maíz, cohete, lado, or mojado" but in the newly used spanish or Tex-Mex you'd say "maiz, cuete, lao, or mojao". She also writes about how our language has influenced our identity in an non-traditional way. All these points she writes about in this article is written in an academic format. In other words, it allows you or the reader to "enter" that conversation and contribute to those ideas. She wrote it this way so it can people can relate to what she is writing about. Not just one culture can relate to this topic, although it is aimed mostly to the latino community. Also, she tries to report in a way what is occurring with the Mexican culture, Anglos are trying to get rid of the Spanish language in the United States. You can see this throughout the whole essay but this is where it caught my attention the most,

“’we’re going to have to control your tongue’ the dentist says… My mouth is the motherlode. The dentist is cleaning out my roots. I get a whiff of the stench when I gasp… ‘We’re going to have to do something about that tongue,’ I hear anger rising in his voice. My tongue keeps pushing out the wads of cotton, pushing back the drills, the long thin needles. ‘I’ve never seen anything as strong or as stubborn,’ he says. And I think, how do you tame a wild tongue, train it to be quiet, how do you brindle and saddle it?...” (para # 1-2.

Even though you it’s not facts or anything you see where she is going with it. It’s the attention grabber, you have to think and compare what similarities it has with the Spanish language. Basically her question is how are you going to control a language that is so strong and so present throughout the world? When she says the dentist, an American, is cleaning out her roots, she means her culture and language, and he starts getting angry because her tongue keeps interfering with the cleaning of her “roots”. Her tongue is fighting it, because you can’t control Spanish in the US like the Americans tried to do. Spanish has evolved, and is getting harder and harder to get rid of. I feel that soon it’s going to take over.

VARK activity

READ/WRITE: During this process of finding out what my preferred learning style helps. this is because i already knew that i learned better by visual and by doing things myself but knowing what my weaknesses are i can prepare myself for when i have other professors with that type of teaching style. if i just stick to one learning style i might just fustrate myself and will give up on what i am doing.

Liturature circle blog response#3

Q: How is Juan Salvador's faith Changing?
A: When Juan was a child he believed without a doubt about God, and what his mother had taught him about God. But after being on his own for awhile when he was missed the train he begged god for wings, he was in the sand storm, and when was sent to jail(and prison) and defend for himself. Having to go through numerous attacks, almost getting rapped he began losing faith but did not admit it still. But after he had broken out of prison he met Duel, a half Greek and half Turk man,

"it was the first time Juan had ever come close to a man that wasn’t Catholic, but readily admitted that he didn’t believe in God.”

(page 218). Duel was the first friend Juan had that was not Catholic and did not believe in God but did believe in the devil. Duel took Juan under his wing and taught him how to play poker and taught him how to “The art of taking money from the greedy workmen who drank too much”. Also by hanging around Duel and making business in the basement of a whorehouse by then Juan realized he had lost his faith by completely and seems as if he gave up on God.

What is the value of bravery when your actions are foolish?

Q: What is the value of bravery when your actions are foolish? :
A: Bravery is not worth much when those actions make it foolish, an example from the book is when Juan was playing games with those boys and betted he could hold on the longest while the train road away. But he knew what he was doing was ridiculous but because he was trying to prove to boys that he had just met only weeks before that he was brave. Which was useless and wasted his time and made him go through something he didn’t need to go through. This is because he ended up running after the train and tripping and falling… making him miss the train. Now he is forced to run on the tracks instead of waiting for the train for another 2 weeks. His bravery got him is this predicament which made him run after the train for miles while he suffered with thurst.

Q: How does sacrifice influence/impact the family? :
A: Many people live for their families, many would give up their happiness to make their family happy. For example, say you mom wants you to be a nurse but what makes you happy is play soccer, and you want to be a professional, but becuase your mom really wants you to be a nurse your going to do it because it will make your mother happy. Also many people will sacrifice for their family without thinking twice. Like in Rain Of Gold. After Juan makes the foolish choice of playing with those boys and misses the train. Later he finds his mother begging in the streets; he overhears what people say about her calling her basically "an old ugly begger". This is significant because Juan's mother a proud, strong woman. He never imagined seeing him mother this way. How would you feel seeing your mother, the person who has taken care of you your whole life being disrespected and on the streets putting her pride and honor aside just so your family can survive? People do crazy things for their family especially so they can survive.

*tiPS t0 SUCCEED iN C0LLEGE.

literature circle new ROG.

On the first page i drew from the pages 95-97. My drawing is about the section in the book when Don Pio is looking for land for his family and he is very sad because he hasnt found any good lsnd for him to use. He is sitting on a knoll and begins to pray to God and pulls out his roasory and begins pleading to god. Then haz if God is comeing to him he  realices he doesnt have to look for land anymore because he had found it. They were alrwady on it. He realizes this becuase he knew that if they were to become rich that his family.. Generations from then would become the power crazy savages like the ones he had faught before. This is important becuase of the beliefs Don Pio were for good,and with faith he found what he was looking for. And all he wanted was his family to be a decent and honest family.

on the second paragraph i drew when Don Pio went to see Don Porfirio to speak to him because "the president" was being unjust and cruel. For the littlest reason he would kill someone. Like for instance a man cut a piece of alfalfa for his horse and got shot for it. But it took until one of his  good friends grandson got killed for that very reason. But when he got to the outskirts of the capital he was stopped by Don Porifirio's men and told to wait till hefinished withis festivities. When he got to the river he saw they rest if the colones the soldier had referred to. It took 10 days for the party to end. And Don Pio's grandson had been shot  becuase he wanted justice for what had happened to don pio. I think this was important becuase if don pio hadn't handled don porifirio's outrageous acts maybe it wouldn't have gon that far.

what is the value of your name when it is being vilified?

if my name were to be vilified i would be proud of my name more then ever. But if i needed a job badly and had no other choice but to change it a little to get the job i would do it. Especially if i was supporting more than myself. But if i had more uncommon name i might fight for it more.