The author continuously slights being "an awkward, in-between thing" (pg. 181) and seems to favor being boldly on one side of the spectrum or the other. She praises Barack Obama for his duality of language but takes extreme care to point out that doubt is cast onto Obama from all sides. Would Zadie Smith agree with the idea of a genuinely happy medium?
The title of Smith's essay is "Speaking in Tongues", a biblical reference, yet she makes no mention of the many potential didactic stories that are found in the Bible. Is there something preventing Smith from tapping into the huge seam of biblical lore available to her?
Smith initiates part two of her essay with "but I haven't described Dream City" (pg. 184)- a bold insistence that seems nearly pushy, as if she's holding you from running out of the door. Starting a sentence with "but" defies most writing convention and to begin an entire portion of a work with the word borders on audacious swagger. To me this move came off as a bit too edgy. It is also entirely possible I am missing something. Why does Smith kick off the second part of her essay in such noticeable fashion?
The author goes on a tangent about the dual nature of being black. She claims that "black reality has diversified . It's black people who talk like me, and black people who talk like Lil' Wayne" (pg. 188). Why does Smith acknowledge that by allowing for these contrasts, she is downplaying the duality of a black person and instead creating two different people who happen to be black? It seems to go against her general point.
Smith makes some imperative statements in her essay that she does not want to back up by herself, so she throws the reader and society into the mix as well. She insists that "we consider pragmatists to be weak. We consider men of balance naive fools" (pg. 191). I cannot help but notice that this incorporation of "we" occurs after she acknowledges Obama's use of the word, saying "he was also drawing us in with him" (184). Is she consciously using "we" in the hope of this tactic being noticed and appreciated, or is it incidental?
In the last paragraph Smith uses the word "hope" half a dozen times. Is she trying to make a connection to Obama's campaign?
These questions are great( or at least better then mine). My comment would be on the bible reference in the title. Being a potential religion major I guess I am drawn to this sort of thing. Do you think that it truly is being used as a biblical reference? I feel like when Zadie says speaking in tongues she is talking about different voices people have not a message coming from God. I think that she tried to take what might mean something and use it in another way.
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