Tlilli Tlapalli: The Path of the Red and Black Ink by Gloria Anzaldua
Before you Read: I
have seen many interviews of actors or singers that I truly admire and I always
have found myself respecting them more. I look at these actors and musicians
and notice through their interviews that they are people just like everyone
else its just they go about life in a completely different way. Most of them I
find myself respecting more because they follow there dreams and work hard to
accomplish them. These famous people aren’t any different than anyone else it
is just that they believe in themselves and hold to a greater purpose while
most just go through life.
Summary: In her
article Tlilli Tlapalli :the path of the
red and black ink, Gloria Anzaldua discusses her tribal culture compared to
western culture. She talks about her times of ritual and performance and how it
differs from western culture for instance in how we see objects and symbols as
“dead” things. She argues how inn her tribal culture these artifacts or piece
are just like people in that they have needs like being fed (getting ritual
performances). She argues how in western culture these objects are
psychological in that they run their energy between the object and the witness.
Then she discusses a little bit about her culture and how they perform. She
discusses the singer and their duties as well as being in the Shamanic State
and what all it entails. She argues that you need to use your energy and how
your how body is part of the acts you perform. She discusses writing and using
red ink; how she holds it and it brings her pain or how she can feel herself
stomach words, phrases and so forth just like she feels herself writing with
her fingers. She argues for the anxiety that is involved in writing and how in
order to be a writer you have to embrace this as well as the aggravation of
writing. She also discusses how you must know how to communicate with images
and words and do it well. She argues for the importance of making writing more
than just a thing or system but instead enact all of yourself and your
spirit/body.
Synthesis: I
think that both of these articles are good to read and bring relation to each
other. They go in line with each other in the discussion of writing and
embodying yourself with it. They also both go into relation with Delpits
article in that they discuss western culture and how it has formed itself and
the views within it. These articles explore how the western culture has had no
regard for outside communities or even just simply forms of writing.
Questions for
Journaling and Discussion:
1.
I am not
sure why she choose to exclude this information from the article. I felt that I
was missing a piece of the pie and it was almost frustrating but I think at the
same time it was effective. I think that it was effective because it aloud for
the audience to think on their own and explore the idea. Also now the audience
wasn’t focusing on the concepts related just to her community but all
communities that are possible. I think it was a good idea because it prevented
closed-minded thoughts and judgment for the entire article.
2.
I think
that if you believe in yourself and your abilities then your possibilities are
endless. I think that it is very important to believe in yourself because this
is how you push yourself forward. If you don’t believe in yourself then your
holding yourself back from really do all that you can. I think that it
negatively affects your writing also because when you fail to believe in
yourself and your writing you fail to expand your thoughts and work. When you
fail to do this then you lock your thoughts and possibilities with writing into
a box in which you cannot escape.
Applying
and Exploring:
1.
I think
that it would be les effective if she wrote the piece in a academic format because
she wouldn’t be able to use these different forms of convey your ideas and
topics. Also this takes away from having a personal touch in her writing in
which teh audience can experience through the writing. I also think that the
way she write it made the piece more interesting and fun to read and I fear
that if it was a strictly academic format it would take away from all of this
as well.
2.
I think
that the idea is simple to agree with as I am sure you have heard before a
picture is worth a thousand words. I feel that writing can effectively make a
point and get something across however images and non-verbal communication make
up 90% of interaction. I think that images are the best source because they are
so naturally appealing to the human eye and we can’t help but observe and think
about everything we see whether a picture or a action. Images are much better
at presenting and explaining things because they are faster, more effective and
most importantly appealing and meaningful to humans naturally.
Opinion on Article:
I think that these articles were interesting to read and explore within. I
gained many new perspectives and It was fun and interesting to learn about a
different culture and how they see things compared to western culture. Also it
gave me a lot of new ways to use writing or think about writing even though it
may take time and practice as they are so different than western forms such as
feeling writing from within. I am glad I got to read these articles because of
my interest they drew into but more importantly the new cultures I got to
examine and gain some information and perspective for.