The Danger of a Single Story and Speaking In Tongues: A Discussion on Dominant Culture and Language

Running Head: ENGLISH 1
Final Exam Talking Points
Author's Name
Institutional Affiliation
Introduction

EDUCATION 2
The Danger of a Single Story” By Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie“and “Speaking In Tongues” by
Zadie Smith
Dominant Culture/Dominant Discourse
Both authors address the subjects of dominant culture and discourse in their articles. Adichie
mentions how surprised her American roommate was on her good grasp over English language,
even if she was from Nigeria. Her roommate had a singular view of the African countries and
carried a default view on Africans (Adichie, 2009). As for Zadie Smith, she writes as to how the
way you speak or the way your speaking changes is read a sign of your identity or where you
came from. How she changed her voice from ‘working class Willesden‘to‘ high-class Cambridge
‘shows racism within the dominant culture (Smith, 2009).
Status Quo
The concept of Status Quo is useful in understanding the texts as English is a universal
language that is popularly spoken and understood all across the world. It is not just your
command over the language but also how you speak the language decides your social status and
position. Changing your language and voice can be seen as a mean of climbing the social ladder.
dentity
Adichie and Smith touch upon the ideas of identity in their articles several times. For
example, Adichie gets conscious about where she comes from when she moves from Nigeria to
the U.S. She is made more acute about her African identity and the African authenticity in her
writing (Adichie, 2009). For Smith, her identity relies on the language she speaks. The way you