What Identity Signifies to Me

Moises Rodriguez

Professor Young

ENGL 1100_34

August 31, 2015

Identity, Not as Easy as it Seems

            In the piece of literature, “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”, its writer Gloria Anzadula, expresses herself on what she considers the word identity to signify. In her essay she states, “Ethics identity is twin skin to linguistic identity – I am my language.” For Anzadula the definition of identity revolves mostly around a person language and culture. She also goes on and explains how part of an individual identity can also be food and certain smells, she says “For me food and certain smells are tied to my identity, to my homeland…Woodsmoke curling up to an immense blue sky…My brother Carito barbequing fajitas in the backyard.” For her identity does not just have a simple definition, identity for her, is made up of many little components and with that I concur. After reading her Anzaldua’s point of view on identity, I have come to perceive a different meaning to identity as to the one I had before. It has now a more in depth rather complex meaning to me, therefore what does identity signifies to me?

            In its simplest meaning, identity could be described as the fact of being who or what a person or thing is. With the information provided in Anzadula’s essay, it is clearly that this definition is vague and incomplete. Identity could be broken down is subtopics such as culture, gender, accent and language, as there are also many more subtopics to touch upon. Anzadula quotes on her paper, “Identity is the essential core of who we are as individuals, the conscious experience of the self inside. – Kaufman.” We the individuals need and require of an identity to live.

Works Cited

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