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Summary Of Zadie Smith's 'Speaking In Tongues'

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In Zadie Smith’s lecture entitled, ‘Speaking in Tongues’ she stresses the concept of equivocation, using the life of William Shakespeare and his father to illustrate the antithesis of the lifestyle she advocates. This is particularly prevalent in the short passage on page 10 of her speech in the two paragraphs beginning with ‘And this we still know’. In this text, she first mentions equivocation in the context of politicians who must unequivocally espouse two particular pieces of dogma in order to advance their ambitions, regardless of their own potential beliefs on the matter. Smith then references the concept of equivocation again in the next paragraph, when she that “He [William Shakespeare] grew up in an atmosphere of equivocation, but
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In The Crucible, John Proctor the protagonist, becomes a victim of the witch trials when his wife Elizabeth, is accused of witchcraft. In order to free his wife, Proctor must convince Judge Danforth of his wife’s innocence. Judge Danforth does not sign condemnations lightly and takes meticulous inspection of his cases to determine the guilty party. He is also a highly religious man who takes matters between God and men seriously. It is because of Danforth’s dedication to the law and God that Proctor utilizes ethos, logos, and pathos to persuade him.

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Secondly, Judge Danforth’s irrationality and ignorance brings about poor decisions on his part. One of the instances where Danforth reveals his following attitude is when he denies to even look at a deposition presented by John Proctor as described by his words “ No, no, I accept no depositions” (Miller 88). John Proctor hands him a deposition signed by Mary warren, stating that the accusations made by Abigail and the girls are false. In this regard Judge Danforth replies to John Proctor by repetitively says “No” thereby emphasizing his adamant view on this subject.

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Symbolism is the practice of representing things by symbols, or of investing things with a symbolic meaning or character. In Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson uses literary devices to help the reader better understand Melinda’s personal changes and growth. Trees, lips, and coldness are all symbolically used to represent the changes of Melinda. Throughout the novel, trees play a big part in symbolizing Melinda. Melinda is constantly drawing and relating to trees in the book.

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In Arthur Miller’s dramatic play The Crucible, John Proctor, the protagonist, symbolized truth and justice by displaying honor and pride in his name. The change in balance between those two attributes acted as a catalyst in defining moments of the play. In the beginning, Proctor equally reflected both pride and honor in separate events. However, when forced to make a decision, he chose honor over pride. Ultimately, both his honor and pride pushed him to commit the ultimate sacrifice.

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In a setting of Salem, Massachusetts 1692, religion is the direct reflection of one's social standing. Reputation is extremely important for the town, as it is your only way to get a fair hearing and respect from the people. The protectiveness of reputation is necessary in The Crucible to justify yourself when presented with fallacious arguments. In this play the importance of reputation is revealed though the uses of ethos, logos and pathos. The protectiveness of reputation is uncovered through various characters such as Reverend Hale, Reverend Parris, and John Proctor.

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According to founding father Thomas Paine, “Reputation is what men and women think of us; character is what God and angels know of us” (“Reputation”). Whether individuals readily admit it or not, everyone cares about what others think or say about them to some extent. Though people are constantly told to not take to heart what others believe about them, they still do. In Arthur Miller’s drama, The Crucible, Salem’s society is collapsing and innocent characters are taking action because their reputation is at stake due to the false accusations of involving themselves in witchcraft. These characters live in such fear that if their pride is tarnished they will never recover from it.

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The film “Speaking in Tongues” (2010) obtained the students, parents, and communities perspective towards bilingual education. The students interviewed were all mainly towards learning how to speak a second language. The students felt they could benefit in learning a second language or in expanding their home language. In the film, Kelly Wong stated she loved speaking Chinese to her grandmother. Kelly could practice, learn, and get corrected by her grandmother while speaking Chinese.

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In “The Crucible,” Judge Danforth addresses Francis Nurse saying, “You must understand, sir, that a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it. There be no road between.” In this line, Arthur Miller uses absolutism to demonstrate how the government utilises its power to control the people of society, stating that if the people do not abide by the government’s jurisdiction they shall be persecuted. The political judiciary in this extract from the play exploits Salem society’s fear of incrimination to ensure that their verdict in the witchcraft hearings is not questioned. Likewise, Bob Dylan investigates the issue of political hegemony in his song.

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Proctor tells Mr. Parris how he does not talk about the people who do not go to church anymore. Proctor is just doing his job to make sure people follow the Puritan commandments. Proctor does not want to do anything wrong. The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a prime example of how rhetorical appeals highlights the significance of of Proctors speaking style by focusing on the diction and logos.

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I have seen people choked before my eyes by spirits” (Miller 211). Miller includes this exchange to show that a clear bias toward faith in the idea of witches plaguing salem has taken Danforth’s reason. Edwards also implies that he has the right to judge his congregation, such as when he preaches that “You [his congregation] have offended him infinitely more than ever a stubborn rebel did his prince” (154). By using the pronoun ‘you’ Edwards distances himself from the supposed sinners of the congregation, implying superiority and ability to judge the congregation’s

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In the small town of Salem, religion was a strict priority, and strange illnesses like these were often thought to be the devil’s work. Miller demonstrated the paradox in The Crucible from the beginning of the play by allowing Abigail Williams and the other girls to unjustly accuse whomever they wanted of witchcraft. The play presented us how too much power is dangerous, for the temptation was always there to abuse it. Under the justification of a theocratic government, the people in authority in Salem abused their almost absolute power, destroying many innocent people in the process. What theocracy illustrates is how the law is not always based on truth, and that if it is not we should stand up to it.

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Wake up. I’ve noticed many such calls to action left where I would find them. Is Rome going to ... etc. ”(II, i, 46-49) to what he responds accurately expressing this trait, ““Is this asking me to speak and strike? Oh, Rome, I promise you, if you’re meant to receive justice, you’ll receive it by my hand!”

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The play, The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller demonstrates the implications of a society in complete chaos over an irrational fear of witchcraft in the town of Salem, Massachusetts. Fear plays an immense role in the way people make their decisions, such as when the characters of Danforth and Mary Warren resort to hypocrisy when no other options remain. Danforth and Mary Warren both embody hypocrisy, as seen when Mary says she cannot lie anymore and then lies when she becomes scared for her life, and Danforth when saying lying will send a person to Hell, but then forcing people to choose between lying and death. Mary Warren exemplifies hypocrisy extraordinarily well in the scene when she and Proctor travel to the courthouse so she can confess that the girls have pretended everything and they never actually saw spirits.

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The crucible portrays injustice by how Danforth is not following court that is ruled by religion. Evidence that shows that it's injustice is when Reverend Hale asks Elizabeth "Do you know your commandments Elizabeth?"(Miller 496). Hale is asking her this to test

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