For this week’s journal entry, choose one of the questions/directives below and write your own answer/response in at least 150 words:
In her essay “How to Tame a Wild Tongue,” Anzaldúa includes many Spanish words and phrases, some of which she explains, others which she leaves untranslated. Why? What different responses might bilingual versus English- only readers have to her writing?
The essay begins with an example of Anzaldúa’s “untamed tongue.” What meanings, many metaphoric, does Anzaldúa give for “tongue” or “wild tongue”? How does the essay develop these meanings?
Anzaldúa speaks of Chicano Spanish as a “living language” (paragraph 11). What does she mean? What is her evidence for this point? What other languages do you know that are living, and how do you know they are living?
In the opening paragraph of “The Meanings of a Word,” Naylor writes that she considers “the written word inferior to the spoken.” In what ways does she demonstrate the superiority of the spoken word in this essay?
Naylor claims that “[w]ords themselves are innocuous; it is consensus that gives them true power” (paragraph 2). Brainstorm and discuss a list of words that can have different meanings and connotations, depending on who uses the words.
Think of a word that has several different meanings in your own family or community. Write a journal entry in which you detail those meanings. Like Naylor, use grammatical terms (as well as age and gender- specifics, if applicable) to categorize the different meanings.
In his essay “In Defense of Prejudice,” Rauch advances a controversial argument: that we should allow prejudice to be expressed rather than seek to repress or eradicate it. How, in the opening paragraphs, does he establish himself as a reasonable, even likable person whose views should be heard? Where else in the essay does he create this persona? Why is persona (or ethos) important in ethical argument?
What are some counterarguments to Rauch’s position? How many of these arguments does Rauch himself raise and refute? How effective is he at refuting them?
