Answer to Question #221305 in English for Kat

Question

The clause 'our skin was accepted as correct and normal' is ambiguous. With close reference to the text, explain the ambiguity and provide the two possible meanings.

Answer 1

There is ambiguity in the clause 'our skin was accepted as correct and normal' because it can have two possible senses when uttered in context. Thus, the clause can be understood in more than one way. Two possible meanings of the clause from the text are:

1.)In other places Maya and the guy had been to before West Africa, their skin color had been treated as abnormal and undesirable. Thus, West Africa was the only place their skin color was embraced.

2.)Previously, West Africa had treated Maya and the guy's skin color as incorrect and peculiar until this particular visit where their skin was embraced as correct and standard.