In her sermon in "the Clearing" near her house, Baby Suggs in Toni Morrison's "Beloved" celebrates the bodies of the members of her community: "[...] in this here place, we flesh; flesh that weeps, laughs; flesh that dances on bare feet in grass." "We flesh" is a zero copula, a feature of African American Vernacular English that connects a subject and a predicate without a verb. This morning, when my students and I "fleshed out" the construction, we not only considered verbs that could be put between the two ("are" or "become") but also interpreted "flesh" as a verb, with the ghost Beloved "fleshing herself out" when she assumes bodily form. (Andrew Shields, #111words, 15 March 2022)
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Beloved also "fleshes up" by putting on weight...grows a sizeable stomach...sleeps, eats and raises hell.Referred to as 'flesh' by Ella. " I'm talking about flesh".pg 301. As Beloved increases in size, Sethe diminishes...fleshes down ?
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