Essay 1 revised

Jodie Crutchley          

English Writing Skills Workshop

Professor Rasheda Young

September 11, 2014

Identity

            “Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armor 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. Gloria’s stubborn tongue remained impenetrable. Her Chicano Spanish was what defined her and she wasn’t going to let anyone take it away from her. She was right to defend her identity, because identity defines who you are, it is the most important thing about yourself.

            Identity is most commonly defined as, “the state or fact of remaining the same one or ones, as under varying aspects or conditions”. Saying this, identity can be compared to how scientists use constants in their experiments. For example, in a scientist named Pavlov did an experiment with a dog where he would use a tuning fork to tell the dog he was about to eat. After the dog associated the sound with food he would ring the tuning fork and not feed the dog. After not feeding the dog after ringing the tuning fork the dog unassociated the sound to being fed. The constant in the experiment was the tuning fork. The sound of the tuning fork never changed, and was rung every time Pavlov tested on the dog. Constants are things that remain the same when other elements are being changed.

            Ever since I was born 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. New blankets have a hard feeling to them. I didn’t like having a blanket that was brand new, fresh from Bed, Bath, and Beyond. I needed it to be soft and worn before I would latch onto it. Do not compare me to Linus from the Peanuts. Even though I actually drag my blanket behind me everywhere I go. 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. My stick is a TK (brand) and is black and silver. My stick comes up to about my waste, which is shorter than most people usually get. It’s extremely light in weight. The weight of it is comparable to a broomstick without the broom part. 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, attached to items, Gloria Anzaldua defines herself through her language.

            “Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no ones definition of your life, but define yourself.” This quote by Harvey Fierstein fits best for the story of Gloria Anzaldua who fought for her language and for her to be able to speak up and let her accent and Chicano Spanish to be heard. 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”. Gloria’s fight for her identity helps prove that identity is important. Her stubborn tongue did not give up who she was and was meant to be. Her language, identity, was something worth fighting for.

Protecting your identity is because it is who we are. Who have you become? Does it really matter as long as you’re happy with yourself? The way you grew up. Your story will remain yours and only yours forever. The discovery of your identity, every twist, turn, and bump in the road brought you here and made you the type of person you are now. Choose to embrace your identity for it is important. 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 the stick’s 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. Identity is important because it is a constant for who you are. You are someone that does not change under varying aspects or conditions. Identity is you, and you are your identity.