The Comparison/contrast Essay
The works of Amy Tan and Gloria Anzaldua are not only about using language; it is primarily about the experience of someone who is not conveniently American. Amy Tan’s essay focuses on how her mother communicates with the world as a Chinese immigrant, and what impact it had on Tan’s life, language, and writing career, while Gloria Anzaldua shares the variety of language she possesses as a Chicana, and how it is connected with people of the same origin. Even though the essays are essentially different not only in the ethnicities of the authors but also the main ideas, these two essays have a similar purpose of explaining how valuable and variable language is and also share themes of marginalization and assimilation, both linguistic and cultural.
Anzaldua is a Chicana woman, whose language is influenced not only by American culture and environment but also a variety of Latino and Chicana groups. While she mentions that during her time in school, she experienced a negative attitude because she spoke Spanish, her piece primarily concerns the topic of language within the community. Due to the long history of Spanish settles, the language had a lot of opportunities to develop and branch out according to the area, particular social group, and other factors. Anzaldua differentiates eight languages she speaks, describing that each language belongs to a particular group is speaking to. The two most important points she makes considering her language is that Chicana people “ have internalized the belief that (they) speak poor Spanish” (Anzaldua), which developed because of the oppression, and that they experience shame with the language they sometimes speak even around Chicana or Latina people. She makes it clear that a language she speaks at home - Spanglish - makes her feel the most comfortable, even though it is sometimes oppressed not only by non-Chicanas but also within the community.
Tan also has a special kind of language she uses at home in order for her mom to understand her better - she calls it a simple English. While Anzaldua describes not only the experience of oppression outside the community but also discusses the language that Chicana and Latino people use, Tan focuses on her and her mother’s communication with people who are not Chinese. Tan also has different languages she speaks - as mentioned before, the simple English, and the profound English that she uses with native English speakers. There is also a third kind of language mentioned - a broken English, that Tan’s mother uses. Tan’s important idea from the text is that not only she but also people around her believed that because her mother's language was limited and imperfect, her thoughts were too. Tan argues that language shapes one’s perception of the speaker, and people from non-dominant cultures can suffer from it.
The theme of marginalization appears in both of the texts - in Tan’s through her mother's experience, in Anzaldua from her experience in school and views on her language as a poor Spanish. Tan’s mother speaking limited English made people in the hospital, for example, treat her less significant, and on the other hand, made Tan be ashamed of her mother. Anzaldua went through silencing when she was forbidden to use Spanish in school during recess - the act in which the dominant group belittles one’s culture and limits their actions. A language is an essential tool for shaping one’s cultural identity and shifting minds, but it can be used as a weapon of marginalization.
These two works also show how adaptive the language can be, and they both in different ways, support assimilation. Considering that they use language for their jobs - a writer and a teacher - they also adapt their cultures and hybridity in practice. Tan chooses to simplify her language in her stories, and Anzaldua does not limit herself for only English, choosing different languages for different groups, as well as showing her students works of Chicana authors.
Language is used to connect with the world around, and it can have a large influence on one’s life, especially if they use more than one language. It influences the perception of people around, and it shapes one’s cultural identity, as it varies a lot in the shapes and forms it takes. For both Tan and Anzaldua, while language has brought them some negative marginalizing experience, it is in the first place the voice of their home, culture, and comfort.
Works Cited
Anzaldua, Gloria. How To Tame A Wild Tongue. 1987.
Tan, Amy. Mother Tongue. 1990.
DANNYZ
ESSAY2.docx
0
