Language

Conversational style

The language employed by Tarquin Hall in the novel excerpt from your textbook, “Salaam Brick Lane”, is easy to understand. The author combines dialogue with narrative and descriptive passages, a choice which makes the text more authentic and vivid. The following dialogue, for example, mirrors the different points of view of the narrator and Abdul-Haq regarding the government’s interest in the East End:

‘I admit it’s grim around here,’ I said. ‘But surely you can’t be saying that it’s as bad as it was in Jack London’s day. People don’t starve to death in the streets any more. The Welfare State has –‘
‘Welfar...