Text 1: Critic Park argues that Toni Morrison's prose draws much of its power from oral tradition. Repetition, call-and-response cadences, and direct address to the reader root her novels in African American storytelling traditions older than the form of the novel itself.
Text 2: Critic Singh agrees that Morrison draws on oral tradition but argues that her prose is also deeply literary in its engagement with European modernist techniques — fractured chronology, multiple consciousnesses, mythic structure. Morrison's achievement, Singh contends, lies in fusing these traditions rather than choosing between them.
The authors most clearly disagree about
- Acheck_circle
whether oral tradition alone adequately characterizes Morrison's prose.
- B
whether African American storytelling traditions exist.
- C
whether Morrison wrote novels.
- D
whether Morrison's prose engages oral traditions.
Explanation
Both accept the oral influence. They differ on whether oral tradition alone characterizes the prose. B captures the dispute.