In Zadie Smith’s “Speaking in Tongues,” she expresses her regrets of not being able to have multiple voices. In other words, because she moved to a different area during her college years, she was forced to learn a new language - hence a new “voice”. This lead her to eventually forget her original language and end up replacing her old with the new. She claims that this “is not the voice of her childhood (Smith)” and explains how she felt conflicted because she wasn’t able to express herself in college with her old voice. She feels a sense of regret and disappointment, stating, “they were both a part of me (Smith).” However, the cultures between both languages clashed and this made me feel like she lost a part of her identity.
Smith and the other two previous authors, Dennis Baron and Joseph Harris all went through their own personal literacy experiences. Smith went through an obstacle regarding self and identity, while Baron voiced his thoughts towards technological advancement. Joseph Harris spoke about how one can fully understand literature by providing the readers with different techniques and tips.. Each of these authors’ experiences are critical to their lives and literacy journeys because it is what helped them understand more of not just themselves, but also their perspective towards literacy.
No comments:
Post a Comment