Caitlyn Hoang

Speer
AP English III - 4th Period

Essay Assessment
On your own paper, complete the following prompts as completely as possible as you read your
assigned essays.
A. Assigned Essay : How To Tame A Wild Tongue
1. Identify the hook
Were going to have to control your tongue, the dentist says, pulling out all the
metal from my mouth.
2. Who, specifically, is the speaker?
The speaker is the author Gloria Anzaldua because throughout the essay it is
mostly in first person.
3. Comment on the writers voice and style:
The author uses quotes in the Chicano and Latina language. Because of this the
audience could feel how the author feels about her language.
4. Who is the intended audience?
The intended audience are the people that are discriminated because of the
language that they speak.
5. What is the authors purpose?
The authors purpose of this essay is to portray the message of defending
someones identity. The author wanted to tell people that their identities shows the person
they are and that they should feel ashamed about it.
6. Note at least two sentences that are particularly effective (paragraph #, line #). Why?
I will no longer be made to feel ashamed of existing (paragraph 25, line 1).
This sentence is effective because this is where the author showed that she didnt really
care about what other people thought of her culture and language.
I will overcome the tradition of silence (paragraph 25, line 4). This sentence is
also effective this shows the authors point of view because it shows the confidence that
she had in her true self.
7. Note at least two rhetorical devices that are particularly effective (paragraph #, line #). Why?
I remember being caught speaking Spanish at recess - that was good for three
licks on the knuckles with a sharp ruler (paragraph 4, line 1-2).This is a flashback
because the author is remembering what had happened to her in the past.
Who is to say that robbing a people of its language is less violent than war? -
Ray Gwyn Smith (Paragraph 3, line 8). This is an Epigraph because the author quotes
Ray Gwyn Smith.
8. Note two examples of the authors expository technique(s) (paragraph #):
If you want to be American, speak American. If you dont like it, go back to
Mexico where you belong (paragraph 4).
1. Standard English
2. Working class and slang English
3. Standard Spanish
4. Standard Mexican Spanish
Caitlyn Hoang
Speer
AP English III - 4th Period

5. North Mexican Spanish dialect

6. Chicano Spanish (Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California
have regional variations)
7. Tex-Mex
8. Pachuco (called calo) (Paragraph 10)
9. Choose two tone words for the passage:
Bitter and critical
10. Choose two tone words for the authors attitude:
Distressed and compassionate
11. Your personal reaction to the piece.
My personal reaction to this piece is that I found it interesting how there was
people that hit during school because of the language they spoke, if they didnt speak
english correctly they would be punished. I found that really cruel. I also that the the
author had a lot of courage to ignore everything and just accept who she was and didnt
care how others saw her.

Essay Assessment
On your own paper, complete the following prompts as completely as possible as you read your
assigned essays.
A. Assigned Essay :College Pressures
1. Identify the hook
Dear Carlos: I desperately need a deans excuse for my chem midterm which
will begin in about 1 hour.
2. Who, specifically, is the speaker?
The author, William Zinsser is the speaker because this story is in first person.
3. Comment on the writers voice and style:
Zinssers style is very persuasive and at the same time his voice is very informal
and inspiring. Throughout the whole passage, Zinsser talks about the pressures that a
student would go through when they try to follow the plan they wanted to take in life.
Because of his informal language the audience was able to understand the message he
was trying to show.
4. Who is the intended audience?
The intended audience would be the students that are so caught up in school and
just try to enjoy.
5. What is the authors purpose?
The authors purpose of writing this passage is to show the different pressures a
student faces in school on making their own decisions on how to lead their life. He wants
Caitlyn Hoang
Speer
AP English III - 4th Period

students to realize that everyone is different and that everyone has their own future ahead
of them.
6. Note at least two sentences that are particularly effective (paragraph #, line #). Why?
I wish them the right to experiment, to trip and fall to learn that defeat is as
instructive as victory and is not the end of the world (paragraph 5, line3-5). This is
effective because this portrays how the author feels about how he would like students to
understand how if feels to fail but then to get back up because it isnt the end of the
world.
... I think we should all be worried about the values that are nurturing a
generation so fearful of risk and so goal-obsessed at such an early age (paragraph 35,
line 4-6). This sentence is effective because the shows the need to for success in life and
how it is messing up the way that students think.
7. Note at least two rhetorical devices that are particularly effective (paragraph #, line #). Why?
I wish for all students is some release from the clammy grip of the future. I wish
them a chance to saver each segment of education I wish them the right to experiment
(paragraph 5, lines 1-4). This is repetitions because of the repeating of the words I
wish. Through this rhetorical device the readers are able to feel the narrator put an
emphasis on how he feels the students should have the opportunity to do.
Will I get everything done? (paragraph 25, line 8). This is an example of a
rhetorical question. With this question, the audience is able to in a way, feel what it is like
to be stressed like the students he is describing.
8. Note two examples of the authors expository technique(s) (paragraph #):
... four kinds of pressure working on college students today (paragraph 7).
I see students going off to the library every night after dinner and coming back
when it closes at midnight I hear the clacking of typewriters I see the tension in
their eyes (paragraph 25).
9. Choose two tone words for the passage:
Sincere and obsequious
10. Choose two tone words for the authors attitude:
Hopeful and contemplative
11. Your personal reaction to the piece.
I really liked this passage a lot. I can relate to all of the things that the author said
throughout this essay. There are many people out there that have expectations to fulfil
and it is something that they dont really want to do.