What Identity Means to Me

Matthew Williams

English 1100

2 September 2015

Prof. Young

What Identity Means to Me

     What the word "Identity' means to me is what do you believe who you are.  The identity characteristics I think identity is about are race, culture, language, religion, presentation, clothing, friends and family.  Gloria Anzaldua thinks identity is about race, language, culture and family.  In her story she writes about how she can’t speak English fluently.  She is of Mexican decent because of her family and lives in the Texas’s Rio Grande Valley on the U.S.-Mexican border.  She can speak some English that is broken up, Standard Mexican Spanish and Tex-Mex.  “We’re going to have to control your tongue” (Anzaldua 255). Gloria is a strong and stubborn child and as an adult, she really wants her language to survive in the future. She wants the language to be brought down to generations to generations.  When she is in her mother’s house she would always talk in Tex-Mex.  Gloria always cares about her identity.  My identity is mainly about my race, culture, language, religion and family.  In my house we have big Italian celebrations for holidays and get togethers.  I care about my whole family like Gloria does.  Even though I do not speak a lot of Italian, I do pick some up still.  Having your race, culture, language, religion and family is a great part of your identity.

Works Cited

Anzaldua, Gloria. "How to tame a Wild Tongue" Teaching Development Writing. Ed.  Susan Naomi              Bernstein. Fourth ed. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2013. 245-255. Print.