We
...uage, anger, and immersion of the reader into her world. Anzaldúa uses a unique blend of eight languages, two variations of English and six of Spanish. In many ways, by writing in "Spanglish," Anzaldúa creates a daunting task for the non-bilingual reader to decipher the full meaning of the text. However there is irony in the mainstream reader's feeling of frustration and irritation. These are the very emotions Anzaldúa has dealt with throughout her life, as she has struggled to communicate in a country where non-English speakers are shunned and punished. Language, clearly one of the borders Anzaldúa is addressing, is an essential feature to her writing as her entire book is dedicated to being proud of one's heritage and recognition of the many dimensions of her culture. One undeniable aspect of Anzaldúa's essays important to address is her anger and rage. Anzaldúa uses Borderlands as an outlet for "venting her anger on all oppressors of people who are culturally or sexually different" (Fletcher, 171). For example, in Borderlands, Anzaldúa writes: Not me sold out my people but they me. Malinali Tenepat, or Malintzin, has become known as la Chingada - the fucked one. She has become the bad word that passes a dozen times a day from the lips of Chicanos. Whore, prostitute, the woman who sold out her people to the Spaniards are epithets Chicanos spit out with contempt (44). While this anger is justified, some critics feel her writing suffers as a result of what they perceive to be overtly strong emotions. Anzaldúa's passion for these issues is obviously the fuel for her writings, and some readers may find she digresses into long fiery lectures rather than relying strictly on insight. Anzaldúa's writing consistently has an element of spirituality and she adds a mystical nature to the very process of writing. To Anzaldúa, writing is not an action, but a form of channeling voices and stories, and its power is attributed to a female deity. She writes of her spirituality in an interview in Borderlands: My spirituality I call spiritual mestizaje, so I think my philosophy is like philosophical mestizaje where I take from all different cultures -- for instance, from the cultures of Latin America, the people of color and also the Europeans (238). In the poetry section Anzaldúa treats the reader to a world full of sensory images, pain, and discovery. Anzaldúa's poetry is bolder and more unapologetic than her prose, and considerably easier to read than the first half. It is unclear whether Anzaldúa is writing from memories, and unlike her earlier essays where her voice is omnipresent; ...