Essay 1

Jodie Crutchley

English Writing Skills Workshop

Professor Rasheda Young

9/11/14

Something that Defines Me

“Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armour yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you.” George R.R Martin. Preservation of your identity is crucial. In “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” by Gloria Anzaldua, she would do anything to protect her identity. I feel my own identity can be described through items I own. To Gloria her language is what defines her, and to myself my field hockey stick and blanket define me. Having your own identity is important because it molds us to be who we are, identity acts as a constant, Gloria can learn a new language but she will always be hispanic and I will always be an athlete who grew up attached to a blanket, and we choose to embrace what we are and what defines us.

When I was a little girl, there was only one thing that would never leave my side. It may sound a little out of the ordinary, but I used to be drawn to a blanket. The thing that made this blanket special was that it had already been used. I didn’t like having a blanket that was brand new, fresh from Bed, Bath, and Beyond. Do not compare me to Linus from the Peanuts. The fact that someone had already “broken it in”, meant that it was worn out and comfortable to me. My blanket defines me in a way that not many people can understand. It is a sign of my affection, not only toward my blanket, but to everyone that have been “broken into” my life and heart. It is the side to me that makes feel vulnerable. A blanket cannot push others away it invites them. When I feel sad or lonely, I go to it with open arms to keep me warm and safe. Unlike my blanket, I can be compared to my field hockey stick. My stick is my Excalibur. It is what helps me triumph over my opponents and tells others that I am not a person to mess with. With my stick, I will find a way to get the ball into the goal. Just like no other blanket can replace my blanket, no other stick could replace my stick. These two objects define me with almost a Ying and Yang type of feel; my blanket makes me soft and vulnerable, while my stick makes me tough and rough around the edges. Unlike myself, Gloria Anzaldua defines herself through her language.

En boca cerrada no entran moscas. “Flies don’t enter a closed mouth” a phrase Gloria was told as a child. A phrase that could simply mean, if she kept her mouth shut she would no longer get herself into trouble. As Gloria grew up she decided that she would not change herself for others. She embraced the very thing everyone seemed to want her to get rid of, her language. Chicano spanish, is considered a disgrace to the purist of Latinos and Latinas. Yet Gloria sees her language as evolution. “So, if you want to hurt me, speak badly about my language. Ethnic identity is twin skin to linguistic identity-I am my language”. 

Having your own identity is important because it molds us into who we are. The items I hold so dear to me helped me find myself, they showed me the materials that make me. The strengths and also the weaknesses. My stick is mine, no one else's. I carry it with me with pride. It often protects me from other sticks and I reward it with goals. Goals that will remain that sticks forever, no other stick I may ever own will be able to claim the goals that my stick has touched, hit, or drove in. Just like no other blanket can ever have the tears and the nights of sleep that my blanket has had. Gloria will not change herself for the satisfaction of others, because Chicano spanish is as much of her as she is it, Chicano spanish lives in her. Her stubborn tongue will remain resistant to others opinions and efforts to silence what she is. No one will ever be me or take my identity, and the things I've done away from me. No one will ever take away Gloria’s’ language.