Anzaldua

SUMMARY:

In her article “ Tlilli Tlapalli: The Path of the Red and Black Ink” Gloria Anzaldia tells her story. When she was younger she says how she would always stay up late reading, and wouldn’t want to go to sleep. She began creating stories in her head and would begin writing them down. She sees a mosaic pattern within her book that she’s writing. Through out her article she makes many cultural references. For example she refers to Aztecs, tribal cultures, Western aesthetics, Indians, and whites. She also talks about myths.

SYNTHESIS:

I made a connection to Anzaldua’s article with “Queer Texts, Queer Contexts” by Harriet Malinowitz. Anzaldua compares being a writer to being queer. She states that “Being a writer feels very much like being a Chicana or being queer - a lot of squirming, coming up against all sorts of walls.” It reminded me of the discourse community of homosexuals. I also made a connection because she brings up culture. Someone of a different culture, and someone that is homosexual could face some of the same problems, just like every discourse community. 

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

Through out reading her piece I often got confused or didn’t understand everything. She talks in a way where she doesn’t use typical English words and references. I think she made the choice to not explain the language she uses to leave the reader wondering. I think that she wanted to be different.

OPINIONS:

I thought that the reading was very descriptive and visual. However I found it somewhat hard to follow. I think that she made too many cultural references that were hard to pick up on. It wasn’t a bad read though, it was a good length.