There's a kind of optimism specifically within Christianity about the world - about whose side God is on. Well, I didn't have any of that in my background. I had physicality and chaos.
Ta-Nehisi CoatesRead
It was mostly through pop culture, through hip-hop, through Dungeons & Dragons and comic books that I acquired much of my vocabulary.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Pop culture can significantly influence language and vocabulary acquisition.
In this quote, Ta-Nehisi Coates reflects on how his understanding and use of vocabulary were shaped largely by his exposure to various elements of pop culture, including hip-hop, Dungeons & Dragons, and comic books. This suggests that informal and non-traditional sources of learning can play a vital role in education and linguistic development, highlighting the importance of diverse cultural influences in shaping one's language skills.
Themes
Pop CultureVocabularyEducationLanguageInfluence
In practice
Example use cases
During a lecture on the impact of media on language development.
More from Ta-Nehisi Coates
All quotes →We've got in the habit of not really understanding how freedom was in the 19th century, the idea of government of the people in the 19th century. America commits itself to that in theory.
Ta-Nehisi CoatesRead
I never expected my writing to become as popular as it did.
Ta-Nehisi CoatesRead
It's hard for me to view Baltimore outside the context of what Baltimore has always been in my mind: a violent place.
Ta-Nehisi CoatesRead
If I could have anything - you know, and this is across the board for any presidential candidate - I would have a greater acknowledgment of history in our policy and in our affairs.
Ta-Nehisi CoatesRead
You can't make a direct comparison between middle-class African Americans and middle-class white Americans, affluent African Americans and affluent white Americans. The amount of wealth tends to be less.
Ta-Nehisi CoatesRead
Similar quotes
Virtue, though she gets her beginning from nature, yet receives her finishing touches from learning.
QuintilianRead
Good teaching cannot be reduced to technique; good teaching comes from the identity and integrity of the teacher.
Parker J. PalmerRead
From a management standpoint, it is very important to know how to unleash people's inborn creativity. My concept is that anybody has creative ability, but very few people know how to use it.
Akio MoritaRead
When I was a boy I was called a nerd all the time — because I didn’t like sports, I loved to read, I liked math and science, I thought school was really cool — and it hurt a lot. Because it’s never ok when a person makes fun of you for something you didn’t choose. You know, we don’t choose to be nerds. We can’t help it that we like these things — and we shouldn’t apologize for liking these things.
Wil WheatonRead
It is absolutely essential that the oppressed participate in the revolutionary process with an increasingly critical awareness of their role as subjects of the transformation.
Paulo FreireRead
I guess I understand a public intellectual to be somebody who moves public discourse forward: someone who either says something new or says something that everybody knows to be true but is afraid to express.
Lionel ShriverRead