Excerpt from "How to Tame a Wild Tongue" by Gloria Anzaldúa:

Question

"I remember being called into the principal's office, my mother beside me, the words 'your daughter's tongue' ringing in my ears. The teachers, their faces stern, spoke of standards, of proper English, of the need to 'correct' what they deemed a flaw. They spoke of my Spanish, my Chicano Spanish, as if it were a disease, a weed to be plucked from the garden of their perfect language.

'You must speak English,' they said, their voices sharp, their eyes unwavering. 'You must forget that other tongue, that barbaric noise.' The words felt like stones, heavy and cold, pressing down on my chest, silencing the very breath within me. I wanted to speak, to defend the language that was my home, my history, my very self. But the words caught in my throat, trapped behind the walls of fear and shame.

I was eleven, just eleven, and I knew, even then, that they were trying to erase me. To erase the part of me that was most real, most true. To make me disappear, to become a shadow of their expectations. I felt small, insignificant, like a child lost in a vast, empty room. My voice, my tongue, felt like a burden, a thing to be hidden, to be ashamed of. I wanted to shrink, to vanish, to become nothing. Because that was what they wanted. That was what they demanded."

Question 1 (1 point)
Which quotation provides the best evidence that Anzaldúa felt her cultural identity was being attacked?

Question 1 options:

"I remember being called into the principal's office, my mother beside me, the words 'your daughter's tongue' ringing in my ears."

"'You must speak English,' they said, their voices sharp, their eyes unwavering. 'You must forget that other tongue, that barbaric noise.'"

"I felt small, insignificant, like a child lost in a vast, empty room."

"I wanted to speak, to defend the language that was my home, my history, my very self."

Question 2 (1 point)
How does the author mainly organize the text?

Question 2 options:

By narrating a personal experience to illustrate the impact of cultural suppression.

By contrasting her internal thoughts with the thoughts of the teachers.

By outlining the historical development of Chicano Spanish.

By presenting a series of arguments supporting the importance of bilingualism.

Question 3 (1 point)
Which detail best supports the idea that Anzaldúa experienced a profound sense of alienation?

Question 3 options:

"I felt small, insignificant, like a child lost in a vast, empty room."

"They spoke of my Spanish, my Chicano Spanish, as if it were a disease, a weed to be plucked from the garden of their perfect language."

"I remember being called into the principal's office, my mother beside me, the words 'your daughter's tongue' ringing in my ears."

"I wanted to speak, to defend the language that was my home, my history, my very self."

Question 4 (1 point)
What is the author’s main purpose for writing this text?

Question 4 options:

To argue for the importance of standardized English education in public schools.

To describe the challenges of learning a second language as a young student.

To provide a historical overview of the development of Chicano Spanish.

To illustrate the emotional impact of cultural suppression and language discrimination.

Answer 1

Here are the answers to your questions based on the excerpt from "How to Tame a Wild Tongue" by Gloria Anzaldúa:

Question 1: Which quotation provides the best evidence that Anzaldúa felt her cultural identity was being attacked?
Answer: "'You must speak English,' they said, their voices sharp, their eyes unwavering. 'You must forget that other tongue, that barbaric noise.'"

Question 2: How does the author mainly organize the text?
Answer: By narrating a personal experience to illustrate the impact of cultural suppression.

Question 3: Which detail best supports the idea that Anzaldúa experienced a profound sense of alienation?
Answer: "I felt small, insignificant, like a child lost in a vast, empty room."

Question 4: What is the author’s main purpose for writing this text?
Answer: To illustrate the emotional impact of cultural suppression and language discrimination.