Toomer

These excerpts from Toomer's pieces are very poetic, and he writes very freely, "breaking rules."

In many of the excerpts we see the peice begin with and end with the same text.

BECKY

"Becky was the white woman who had two Negro sons. She's dead; they're gone away. The pines whisper to Jesus. The Bible flaps its leaves with an aimless rustle on her mound."

This begins and ends the piece. It tells the reader what the story is about and almost tells the entire story before we even read it. It's almost like Toomer tells us what to expect and them remindes us of what we've just read.

"excerpts from BONA AND PAUL:

"Crimson Gardens. Hurrah! So one feels."

This phrase appears throughout the piece, much like what we would see in poetry. Toomer has a very interesting style and isn't afraid to use it.

SEVENTH STREET:

"Money burns the pocket, pocket hurts,
Bootleggers in silken shirts,
Balooned, zooming Cadillacs,
Whizzing, whizzing down the street-car tracks."

Like in "Becky" we also see this in the beginning and ending of the piece. This is much like an actual poem. Rhyme and all.

Toomer uses lists..----> "Becky":"Her eyes were sunken, her neck stringy, her breasts fallen, till then. Taking their words, they filled her, like a bubble rising - then she broke. Mouth setting in a twist that held her eyes, harsh, vacant, staring."

These lines are an example of Lanham's Chapter 4, Hypotactic period. It is an example of 'poetic prose.'

American Pastoral

Roth doesn't do much to draw in the reader. I don't find this piece compelling. I can't help but imagine high school as a battlefield for some reason in this piece..

Some nice descriptions though..

"Every ten pages or so, to succinctly depict a dramatic physical moment in the story-"He was able to put a little steam in it," "It was over the fence," "Razzle limped to the dugout"-there is a blackish, ink-heavy rendering of a scrawny, shadow-faced ballplayer starkly silhouetted on a blank page, isolated, like the world's most lonesome soul, from both nature and man, or set in a stippled simulation of ballpark grass, dragging beneath him the skinny statuette of a wormlike shadow. He is unglamorous even in a baseball uniform; if he is the pitcher, his gloved hand looks like a paw; and what image after image makes graphically clear is that playing up in the majors, heroic though it may seem, is yet another form of backbreaking, unremunerative labor."

These sentences are rather long, filled with quotations, dashes and commas.

Roth also asks many questions..

"And how did this affect him-the glorification, the sanctification, of every hook shot he sank, every pass he leaped up and caught, every line drive he rifled for a double down the left-field line? Is this what made him that staid and stone-faced boy? Or was the mature-seeming sobriety the outward manifestation of an arduous inward struggle to keep in check the narcissism that an entire community was ladling with love?"

It is interesting when the author includes a question in the text. It shows that he is unsure of the answer, therefore the reader will be unsure of the answer as well.

Kurt Vonnegut

Kurt Vonnegut's casual style is effective for his message. His writing sounds very conversational. He starts sentences with “because” in “Cold Turkey.”

“Because power corrupts us, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Human beings are chimpanzees who get crazy drunk on power.”

“When you get my age, if you get my age, which is 81, and if you have reproduced, you will find yourself asking your children, who are themselves middle-aged, what life is all about. I have seven kids, four of the, adopted.”

Vonnegut speaks like a grandfather speaking to his grandchild about life.

“Many of you reading this are probably the same age as my grandchildren.”

Vonnegut expresses a strong confidence when he writes like this to his audience. He lets the reader know that he is aware.

In “Teaching the Unteachable” this confidence is present as well. He starts, “You can't teach people to write well.”

Vonnegut places “so it goes” on its own line in the first page of the text. This is a move a poet would make. The “So it goes” allows a pause. It works as a breath to let the reader take in what they've just read.

The Uncanny

It is expected that "The Uncanny" will read somewhat "scientific" or "philosophical" because it was written by Freud. It's written in a middle style I suppose, and Freud sets it up nicely. He starts by discussing aesthetics ...

"it is only rarely that a psycho-analyst feels impelled to investigate the subject of aesthetics, even when aesthetics is understood to mean not merely the theory of beauty but the theory of the qualities of feeling."

And then leads the reader into the subject of the uncanny..

"The subject of the ‘uncanny’ is a province of this kind. It is undoubtedly related to what is frightening — to what arouses dread and horror; equally certainly, too, the word is not always used in a clearly definable sense, so that it tends to coincide with what excites fear in general. "

Freud defines the uncanny.. this is important right from the start. Freud has not yet "lost" his reader in a sense. He is making sure to keep the reader on the same page as him, in small simple steps, that that the reader understands clearly, and the reader will understand clearly and follow Freud's writing. He does not mask his point with overly flourished language, he gets straight to the point. Which is important.

In his study of the ‘uncanny,’ Jentsch quite rightly lays stress on the obstacle presented by the fact that people vary so very greatly in their sensitivity to this quality of feeling."

Here Freud uses knowledge from another individual. This helps the tone of the piece because it does not make it all about Freud per-say. It gets the reader to trust that he knows what he is saying. The point is for the reader to understand, not for Freud to show off his knowledge.

When Freud goes into the original meanings of the words I find it a bit exhausting, but it's expected from him.

Two Drovers

Sir Walter Scott's "Two Drovers" I fond to be very dense, and difficult to get into. He writes in high style. From the very beginning, "It was the day after Doune Fair when my story commences." I'm not sure why this is necessary. I find it even a bit too authoritative. Scott is making sure we know that we are reading HIS story. The language seems to heavy for the content of the story as well.

"He might have increased his business to any extent had he condescended to manage it by deputy; but except a lad or two, sister's sons of his own, Robin rejected the idea of assistance, conscious, perhaps, how much his reputation depended of his duty in every instance."

It's too wordy, and it is hard to comprehend. This text literally gives me a headache.

Douglass

Fredrick Douglass' piece, "Learning to Read and Write" is very and sincere. he is telling a story of his life that is true and does not seem to be "juiced up" in anyways. It's written in a middle style. Douglass does well at engaging the reader and gaining the readers sympathy.

"I often found myself regretting my own existence, and wishing myself dead; and but for the hope of being free, I have no doubt but that I should have killed myself, or done something for which I should have been killed."

This is sad, but it's true, he's not making it up..

"Under its influence, the tender heart became to stone, and the lamblike disposition gave way to one of the tiger-like fierceness."

I really love this line. The link between "lamblike" and "tiger-like" shows two extreme opposites. it's a nice metaphor.

Also the way that he speaks to the reader, he is conscious of what he is saying and how much he is sharing, for example:

"I am strongly tempted to give the names of two or three of those little boys, as a testimonial of the gratitude and affection I bear them: but prudence forbids--not that it would injure me, but that it might embarrass them; for it is almost an unpardonable offense to teach salves to read in this Christian country."

he is showing the reader his feelings, yet being fair to the other boys. he makes it clear that it is not in his benefit not to mention their names, but it is in their benefit if he does not include them.

Conrad

Conrad writes in a middle style I'd say, and using very very long sentences and tons of commas. His sentences are almost too long to fully grasp their content. At times...

"There must have been some glare in the air to interfere with one's sight, because it was only just before the sun left us that my roaming eyes made out beyond the highest ridge of the principal islet of the group something which did away with the solemnity of perfect solitude."

 there is just one comma in this entire sentence, what a mouth-full!  Regardless of how long this sentence is, it reminds me so much of a poem.  It reads smoothly.  But between the word "group" and "something" it is beginning for a pause, a comma, SOMETHING! I had to read over it a few times to figure out what was missing.  I am very curious as to why Conrad would exclude a pause here.  It is definitely reflective of his style.

The next line"

"The tide of darkness flowed on swiftly; and with tropical suddenness a swarm of stars came out above the shadowy earth, while I lingered yet, my hand resting lightly on my ship's rail as if on the shoulder of a trusted friend."

This line reads much more poetic to me.  Conrad's descriptions are great, so beautiful, "with tropical suddenness a swarm of stars came out above the shadowy earth..." this line is lovely.  Conrad effectively shows the reader this scene with lovely imagery.

"My second mate was a round-cheeked, silent young man, grave beyond his years, I thought; but as our eyes happened to meet I detected a slight quiver on his lips.  I looked down at once.  I was not my part to encourage sneering on boards my ship.  It must be said too, that I knew very little of my officers."

He it feels as if Conrad is speaking directly to his reader. "It must be said too..." For me it works because it makes the reader feel as if their understanding of the text is important to the author.  Conrad wants the reader to see the story exactly the way it is.  His style does this effectively.  His imagery, his way of showing rather than just telling, but also including the reading.

Henry James: Paste

"Charlotte had now in her hand a small bag of faded, figured silk- one of those antique conveniences that speak to us, in the terms of evaporated camphor and lavender, of the part they have played in some personal history; but though she had for the first time drawn the string, she looked much more at the young man than at the questionable treasure it appeared to contain.  'I shall like them. They're all I have.'"

James sentences are extremely long and show tons of description.  His description of the antique piece is almost exhaustive.  faded, figure silk, antique conveniences, evaporated camphor and lavender, personal history,  and THEN Charlotte draws the sting of the bag that was mentioned in the beginning of the sentence.   Then the focus moves from the focus of the antique piece to the focus of the man.  The man becomes the most important detail in this passage, why spend so much time describing the rest.  is this a form of suspense?   I'm not sure it is.  i find this to be quite confusing, it is not clear.  James is almost trying to distract the reader and then suddenly throw in one last detail, not really describing it, and making it the main point.  

"she looked much more at the young man than at the questionable treasure it appeared to contain." 

 This sentence almost says, forget about the description I used earlier because this is what is the main point.  It's ironic, but it's a pretty great technique.  We can see how James is manipulating the reader.

Montaigne

Montaigne's writing sounds very philosophical.  His opinion is written as fact, which works to make his argument strong.  He often uses "I" and speaks of himself, making this more personalized. 

"As to the rest, I have enjoined myself to dare to say all that I dare to do; even thoughts that are not to be published, displease me; the worst of my actions and qualities do not appear me so evil, as I find it evil and base not to dare own them."

This is written somewhere between a high and middle style I'd say.  It reminds me almost of Shakespeare, and reads quite poetically.  

Montaigne often drops historical names, know worldwide, which serve to make his argument even stronger.

"I am very much of Plato's opinion, who says that facile or harsh humors are great indications of the good ill disposition of the mind.  Socrates had a constant countenance, but serene and smiling, not sourly constant, like the elder Crassus, whom no one ever saw laugh.  Virtue is a pleasant and a gay quality."

Here Montaigne shows his knowledge of these world-known individuals gives him a sense of credibility to his readers.  He is showing that he knows what he is talking about.  He shows confidence.  it can seem as if he is being pretentious about his knowledge, but I believe it is effective in making his argument stronger.  

Raymond Carver

Raymond Carver's story, "Little Things" is quite disturbing.  The story begins with a break up between what seems to be a mother and father.  Once the mother and father begin to argue about who will keep the baby, things get ugly.  It is incredibly disturbing that these two characters are fighting over the baby like two children fighting over a toy.  Even the dialogue is extremely juvenile.  

I want the baby, he said.

Are you crazy?

 No, but I want the baby.

This is low style and we see a lot of repetition with the word "baby."  I think this is Carver's way of reminding the reader that this is a baby the couple is fighting over, though it may not seem to be something insignificant.

At the end, as the two grab hold of the baby and pull in opposite directions, though it is not directly stated, it is clear that the baby has been ripped in two.  the very last line is incredible, "In this manner, the issue was decided."

This ended very much like the idea of two children fighting over a toy.  usually the fighting leads for the toy to break, in this case the baby did.  Perhaps Carver is trying to show metaphorically the tearing of the baby in two to represent and emotional tear that may occur when a child's parents split up.  By choosing to have the baby tear in two may be his way of symbolizing extreme emotional pain that children go through.

Communist Manifesto

"The bourgeoisie, wherever it has got the upper hand, has put an end to all feudal, patriarchal, idyllic relations. It has pitilessly torn asunder the motley feudal ties that bound man to his "natural superiors", and has left no other nexus between people than naked self-interest, than callous "cash payment". It has drowned out the most heavenly ecstacies of religious fervor, of chivalrous enthusiasm, of philistine sentimentalism, in the icy water of egotistical calculation. It has resolved personal worth into exchange value, and in place of the numberless indefeasible chartered freedoms, has set up that single, unconscionable freedom -- Free Trade. In one word, for exploitation, veiled by religious and political illusions, it has substituted naked, shameless, direct, brutal exploitation."

By starting each of these sentences with "It has" puts further emphasis on the content.  The repetition serves as a way of making it clear to the reader so that they do not forget it.  The terms in quotes are also important.  They make the term stand out amongst the rest of the content.  Though this passage is basically a list about what the bourgeoisie has done, it is written in high style.  

The opinion presented here is strong.  It is clear that the opinions shows that the bourgeoisie is not favored.  This comes across strongly and is convincing to the reader.

Anderson

I have never read Sherwood Anderson before and I'm surprised at how simple his writing is.  It is obvious that this is a low style, even lower then Hemingway I believe.  In paper pills the story is told in a way I would expect to read a children's story.  The description is there but there really isn't anything "flowery" or unique about his style of writing, other that the fact that it is uncommonly bland.  

I do like Anserson's descriptions.  "The knuckles of the doctor's hands were extraordinarily large.  When the hands were closed they looked like clusters of unpainted wooden balls as large as walnuts fastened together by steel rods." (Paper Pills)  This is a pretty good description in some aspects.  The 'unpainted wooden balls' gives the reader an idea of what the doctors skin is like on his hands.  I imagine hem rough and splintered.  "As large as walnuts" also show the extraordinary largeness of his hands.  'fastened together by steel rods' shows that his hands are not only large, but they are boney, perhaps this even shows us his overall physic, perhaps he is very thin.  

I wanted to see more of Doctor Reefy's suit that he wore for ten years.  For me, "frayed at the sleeves and little holes had appeared at the knees and elbows." is not enough.  Perhaps a stain that remained after five years.  for example: Some tomato sauce had spilled on his sleeve five years ago at a family dinner and never completely came out.  The stain, the size of a quarter almost formed the shape of a heart and has faded over the years.  Wearing the same suit for ten years is a heavy character trait.  I saw it as a good opportunity for more description and was disappointed Sherwood did not have more.

Hills like White Elephants

This piece is so heavy with dialogue, but the dialogue is so simple, it's like reading an actually conversation the way one would speak naturally, without paraphrasing.  I'm not really a huge fan of this.  his writing seems almost childlike.  The style is almost too low.  I think the story would have been more enjoyable without so much of the dialogue and a more paragraphed structure.

Original:

The woman brought two glasses of beer and two felt pads. She put the felt pads and the beer glass on the table and looked at the man and the girl. The girl was looking off at the line of hills. They were white in the sun and the country was brown and dry.

High Style: The woman entered from behind the curtain, that brushed back her curly brown hair as she passed through holding two glasses of dark yellow fizzing beer with cream colored foam spilling over the top.  Next to the spilling beer were two square shaped green felt pads that were now beginning to soak up the dark yellow fizz from the brown tray and the edges of the clear glasses.  She shook the felt pads out effortlessly and placed them on the table while looking at the man and then the girl to see if they had noticed the wet felt.  The girl looked off at the hills she said that had resembled white elephants.  The hills were white as snow and shining in the sun and the rest of the country was brown, dry, and un-matching to the hills that resembled white elephants in the eyes of the girl.

Suspense

The girl, pale and blue-eyed with long stringy blonde hair, stuck out a shoeless foot to take a step quietly down the basement stairs.  Her socks were white with holes.  Her childlike nature made her seem to be the age of a preteen, but Sally was twenty the year her brother died.  She crept down the basement stairs, each creak raised tiny hairs on her spine.  She hadn't been down there since the night she found him dead.  The pale light from the tiny window was bright enough to only fill half of the room of light.  The room was full of old books and the floor was scattered with old clothes that were now moldy and damp.  Sally reached out to pull the light switch in the darker half of the room.  The air was musty and began to affect her allergies.  As she swung her arm around the area the cord was usually found, her eyes began to water and then to close until she lost control all together and pulled her head back, mouth open, and let out a sneeze.  At the same time she found the cord to the light switch in her hand, she pulled down on it and illuminated the room.

Dry September

I think that Faulkner truly captures the southern vibe of this town.  The dialogue is effective in pretty accurately portraying the characters as people from the south.  The opening scene in the barber shop is strong.  It is clear to the reader what is happening.  We are shown the feelings of many different characters at this point, and it is also clear that it is not definite that Minnie was attacked.  It's nice to see the different points of view, it gives the characters individuality.  They don't all believe the same thing, they don't all blame a "Negro."  

I love Faulkner's descriptions.  he writes so beautifully, almost suspenseful as well.

My favorite was the very last paragraph of the piece.  

"He went on through the house, ripping off his shirt, and on the dark, screened porch at the rear he stood and mopped his head and shoulders with the shirt and flung it away. He took the pistol from his hip and laid it on the table beside the bed, and sat on the bed and removed his shoes, and rose and slipped his trousers off. He was sweating again already, and he stooped and hunted furiously for the shirt. At last he found it and wiped his body again, and, with his body pressed against the dusty screen, he stood panting. There was no movement, no sound, not even an insect. The dark world seemed to lie stricken beneath the cold moon and the lidless stars."

There is incredible imagery here, you can feel the sleaze from McLendon's character.  Even words like "mopped" indicates the cleaning of a mess, because that what we use mops for.  He is using the shirt he was just wearing, as a mop, to clean is body.  Words like "hunted" show 

McLendon's nature.  He is not a gentle man, he is clearly angry and instinctual.  After he has just wiped his body, "he pressed his body against the dusty screen." Cleanliness is obviously not important to him.  Why not have the character take a shower if he is sweating?  Having McLendon take a shower instead wouldn't show the sleazy nature of this character.  "He stood panting."  Faulkner has just used words like "hunted" and "panting" this adds to McLendon's animalistic nature.  The last sentence is just so eery, it leaves the reader fearing for his wife, who doesn't seem to have been given a name.

Sister Mary/Lanham

"Sister Mary Ignatius Explains it All For You" is great.  It's so simple, definitely low style.  It's basically a recount of everything we have already been taught or if we haven't been taught it, we've heard it at some point.  The text is very simple and Durang does a great job at showing how crazy these nuns are, and what they believe.  The questions Sister Mary asks Thomas when she quizzes him on sin are terrible!  "Mary has had an argument with her parents and has shot and killed the.  Is that a venial sin or a mortal sin?"  It's just such an extreme situation, things don't happen like this as casually as she states it.  She is rewarding Thomas with cookies for the right answer, like a pet...very strange, but definitely plays in super well with the "rules" of Catholicism. 

This play takes a crazy turn and not only already sounds crazy, it just get even crazier!  The fact that Sister Mary finds reasons to make these murders o.k. is completely insane!  I was really hoping that the students would come out winning this one.  But she definitely explains it all, and makes it very clear how serious it all is.

I noticed Durang's use of multiple exclamation and question marks towards the end of the play when Sister Mary is explaining her teachings and why they must be followed.  I guess it's good because it exaggerates the speech.  It is also fun for the reader, it reminds us that this is not a serious text.

Definitely a very enjoyable read, I loved it.

Baldwin

This is obviously a very sensitive subject but Baldwin does a really great job of showing and telling his experience of being a "stranger" in a village who has never seen a black man.  What Baldwin does so effectively is he gets his point across, we know that he is mad, but he doesn't show it distastefully, that's probably what I admire the most about this piece.  He writes about experiences that are terrible.  They are even very uncomfortable to just read.  "If I sat in the sun sun for more than five minutes some darling creature was certain to come along and gingerly put his fingers on my hair, as though he were afraid of an electric shock, or put his hand on my hand, astonished that the color did not rub off."  Baldwin sarcasm in this sentence is clever.  "some darling creature" when referring to a white boy I presume, is great.  He describes this boy and the way the boy touched his hair.  The boy is examining baldwin as if he himself is a creature, as if he isn't human.  Therefore, this is how he describes the boy, and sarcastically calls him "darling."  It is obvious that Baldwin does not feel that this young boy is "darling," which makes this sentence great.

"In all of this, in which it must be conceded there was the charm of genuine wonder and in which there was certainly no element of intentional unkindness, there was yet no suggestion that I was human: I was simply a living wonder."

This sentence directly follows the example I just made.  The words he uses, "charm" "genuine wonder" are words that make this sentence sound and feel positive when it's read.  He is taking this terrible scene and making it better than it was.  Very clever.

On Beauty

It's interesting that this piece begins with emails from Jerome.  It's just enough to let the reader know what's going on by "showing" rather than "telling."  When it jumps into the narrative the text is heavily descriptive. 

 "Levi was slicing strawberries, rinsing them and plopping them into cereal bowls." 

 "SHe reached for an apple and began to cut it up with one of their small knives with translucent handles, dividing it into irregular chunks.  She ate these slowly, one piece after another."

"Grabbing her robust fifteen-year-old by his denim waistband, she pulled him to her easily, forcing him down half a foot to her sitting level so that she could tuck the label of his basketball top back inside the collar."

the language in the dialogue seems to be very natural, what I mean is it is very much like the way that we would speak today.  Also very realistic between the family members. (Dialogue on page 9 between Zora and her mother regarding Monique)

Didion

I must say I love Didion.  To pick a few things I am especially fond of Didion's precise description.  "being twenty and twenty-one and even twenty three."  People may wonder why the ages are important but it helps the reader to remember maybe when they were twenty and twenty-one and even twenty-three.  Didion is very good at relating to her readers.  She uses a cute anecdote on the second page of the print out.  "I remember once, one cold bright December..."  The story about the party and "new faces" regarding the previous party where he friend had been in a room of people, five that he had slept with and that he owed money to all but two of the men.  It's a simply story and it may seem insignificant but it works so well.  This is an anecdote that people may be able to relate too and it's funny!  In the next paragraph Didion speaks to her reader and continues to be precise so that we understand exactly what she means.  "I do not mean "love" in any colloquial way, I mean that I was in love with the city..."

My favorite:

"I began to cherish the loneliness of it, the sense that at any given time no one need know where I was or what I was doing."

"I remember one day when someone who did have the West Village number came to pick me up for lunch there, and we both had hangovers, and I cut my finger opening him a beer and burst into tears, and we walked to a Spanish restauraunt and drank bloody Marys and gazpacho until we felt better.  I was not then guilt-ridden about spending afternoons that way, because I still had all the afternoons in the world."

I loved the Blood-blood relation, the blood from cutting herself and the bloody Marys.  It's almost disturbing, seeing the image of the blood from her cut and then the bloody Marys.  So many parts of this sentence are just great.  "because I still had all the afternoons in the world" they both had hangovers, and still drank beer and bloody Marys (though drinking the next day does help) 

lastly, Didion always uses such long sentences but they never seem to wordy.  Her use of commas and "ands" break up the info nicely.  I love it.

Bell Jar

Sylvia Plath's "Bell Jar" is a true reflection of who she was as a person.  There is so much here in this chapter alone that goes so psychologically deep.  We discussed the very first line of chapter 10 in class.  "The face in the mirror looked like a sick indian."  To me this line made sense.  Sylvia Plath was a poet and these lines seem to make perfect sense in the poets eye.  This line is specifically referring to the blood on her face.  By comparing it to an indian she means that the lines on her cheeks look like those of probably Native American indian face paint.  The word sick comes from her emotional state.  Perhaps she is pale after the traumatizing events that just took place (the rape).

The lines in the chapter that stand alone as paragraphs I think truly reflect her success as a poet.  The one line paragraphs are like mini poems.  I think it's great how Plath bends the rules in a sense.  We don't usually see one line paragraphs.

"The Rocking-Horse Winner"

This story was great.  I have never read D.H. Lawrence before and he is truly fantastic.  The story in itself is great and yes I do see the irony.  Having money is not luck.  The child in fact was not very lucky at all because having the money essentially brought him death.  

What was refreshing about this story was the D.H. Lawrence write very colloquially and get his point across very effectively while still using beautifully descriptive lines.  I also admire his repetition of description i.e. the child's blue eyes and the coldness of the mother.  The story reminds me very much of a fable because there is a moral at the end and the story is told in a very fairy-tale like style.  

I think that perhaps some of the dialogue could have been cut just because it can be confusing.  Also the repetition of the uncles full name seemed to be unnecessary, I'm not sure of the significance of it.  the only other thing that seemed a bit unclear was what exactly was happening to the boy that led him to know the winners of the Derby.  Was he possessed? or so determined to win his mother's affection that he concentrated to his death.

Otherwise, phenomenal story.

Orwell

Orwell in fact is very opinionated in his beliefs on "good writing."  He writes "Politics and the English Language" as if, for lack of a better phrase, "It's his way, or the highway."  I like this.  it forces the reader to hear him out, at least thats how I felt.  He is so adamant about these rules to good writing, and so sure of himself that it made me want to hear him out and see his point.

Towards the end of the piece I thought that his list of rules were great.

(i) Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.

(ii) Never use a long word where a short one will do.

(iii) If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.

(iv) Never use the passive where you can use the active.

(v) Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday english equivalent.

(vi) Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright and barbarous.

I think these are great because they are so straight forward.  Each rule begins with never.  There is so much confidence in the idea that if you do not break any of these rules, you will write well.  it makes me really want to believe it.  His rules also seem to make perfect sense. 

What I like the most is that Orwell's writing is not confusing and certainly doesn't "beat around the bush."

He writes as if he is speaking directly to the reader and makes clear what he is doing and why he is doing it.  

"These five passages have not been picked out because they are especially bad--I could have quoted far worse if I had chosen--but because they illustrate various of mental vices from which we now suffer." p. 703

Lanham Review

I find Lanham to be excruciating.  I try and read him but I have no idea what I'm reading because he's writing about 100 things at once, it seems to me at least.  But I'll give it a go...

Chapter 1:

In Chapter 1, Lanham goes over the different noun and verb styles of different texts showing the effects that they have in the sentence.  He states that choosing noun and verb styles leads to a pattern creating a characteristic syntax.

Chapter 2:

(from class notes)

Parataxis: joining independent clauses

Hypotaxis: an independent clause and subordinate clause

Chapter 3:

I honestly do not understand the Periodic and running styles.  Lanham provides examples but doesn't clearly state what either of the styles are meant to do. It makes me want to yell at him, "JUST TELL US ALREADY!"

But periodic style relates to hypotactic?

and the running style is paratactic? I still don't really know what this means...

Chapter 5:

voiced prose suggests a transcription of speech and has personality and style

unvoiced lacks this...

James Joyce

In this story Joyce uses a lot of dialogue as the way of telling the story.  It seems very much like a play more than a story.  All of the dialogue is almost distracting to the text.  He draws the reader in, in the very beginning.  his descriptions are very visible and we don't see too much dialogue here yet.  He then places the reader right in the scene with all of the dialogue.  He's basically showing all that is occurring.  It seems almost as is these events are real and he has simply recorded them.  At the end he ties the reader back up with description and telling the rest of the story without the weight of the dialogue.

1.  Pattern 8: dependent clause in a pair or series 

"His collar was unfastened and his necktie undone."

2. Pattern 11: interrupting modifier

"The manager, alarmed by the grey pallor of the man's face, sent for a police man."

3. Pattern 13: single modifier out of place emphasis

"A dark medal of blood had formed itself near the man's head on the tessellated floor."

4. Patter 14: prepositional phrase

"He opened his eyes for an instant, sighed and closed them again."

Lolita

In passage two of "Lolita" we can see Nabokov's use of Pattern 10a: A variation: Appositive.  Single or pair or series after a dash.  

"experts in obscure subjects--paleopedology and Aeolian harps, respectively. "

Also Pattern 10: emphatic appositive at end, after a colon

 "I was born in 1910, in Paris. My father was a gentle, easy-going person, a salad of racial genes: a Swiss citizen, of mixed French and Austrian descent, with a dash of the Danube in his veins."

Also Pattern 7: an internal series of appositives or modifiers

and Pattern 9: repetition of a key term

"I was extremely fond of her, despite the rigidity--the fatal rigidity--of some of her rules."

Nabokov probably most frequently uses Pattern 7.  He descriptions just get better and better, he continues to modify.  In this sentence the use of Pattern 9 for the word "rigidity" makes it stand out more to the reader.  Usually any use of repetition will stand out to the reader.  It is not only "rigidity", it is "fatal rigidity" this simply puts the emphasis on the "rigidity" of the matter.

Assigment 2

Lanham's chapters are a bit confusing and hard to follow.  I agree that his examples before explanations are very confusing.  I also find his language quite confusing, just because it doesn't seem natural.  Maybe its just me but I feel if he were to write more like speaking, it would be easier to understand these techniques a bit better.  

Clinton has a way of inflecting on words to make them stand out and welcome applause.  His pauses are very effective as well, it keeps the attention on his words.  I guess we could say that Clinton uses a polysydentic style because he makes many references to the past connecting the present and future i.e. when he mentions moments in history and salutes Bush Sr.

Clinton writes and speaks with charm, confidence and courage.  This is believe is very important to making speeches, especially a presidential one.  

Perhaps we could also say that Clinton uses parataxis and anaphora because of his short sentences and pauses much like line breaks in poetry, letting the words resonate further with the listener

Assignment 2

Below's writing is very honest and sincere. He writes about Woody Selbst as if he knows him personally. By using his first name when speaking of him suggests this personal quality as well.


"How, against a contemportary background, do you mourn an octogenarian father, nearly blind, his heart enlarged, his lungs filling with fluid, who creeps, stumbles, gives off the odors, the mildiness or gassiness of old men."

To say these things takes some amount of courage, and comfort. It's admirable.


The story about Woody's trip to Africa adds a light quality to the text. This is an article about death but it is very light hearted and also lets the reader forget about death.

"There were giraffes along the tropical river, and hippopotomuses, and baboons, and flamingos and other brilliant birds crodding the bright air in the heat of the morning, when the calf, stepping into the river to drink, was grabbed by the hoof anf dragged down."

This whole excerpt seems almost entirely irrelavant but it's a great technique. It's a minor distraction, yet still on the topic of "mourning" Below mentions a few times, directly.

Assignment 1

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/02/world/asia/02diplo.html?hp

"Japan's landmark election presents the Obama administration with an untested government, creating a new set of imponderables for a white House already burdened by foreign policy headaches in Afghanistan, Iran and North Korea."

This excerpt from "U.S. Is Seeing Policy Thorns in Japan Shift" has a nice opening style but can possibly be distracted by the second half of the sentence. We can gather that the article is about an issue in Japan that will affect America, but we are also reminded of the other issues America is currently dealing with regarding these three other countries. It's works well as a good attention grabber because to the reader it shows urgency. This is something that perhaps we should be worried/concerned about because our country is already dealing with issues in other countries, now another?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/02/books/02moore.html


"Lorrie Moore had just begun working on what would become her new novel, "A Gate at the Stairs," when she told one interviewer that she was writing a book "about hate." Later she recalled telling someone else that it was a novel about chores. In May, speaking to a roomful of booksellers at BookExpo America, the publishing industry's annual convention, she said she had written a book-- her first in 11 years-- about a 20-year-old woman because she viewed 20 as "the universal age of passion."

This excerpt from "Hate, Love, Chores: Lorrie Moore's Midwest Chronicle" seems to be all over the place. It isn't clear what this article is going to be about, and frankly it seems as if Lorrie Moore doesnt know what shes writing about. It is not compelling because there is nothing gravitating about the language or the content.

I favor poetry the most but I enjoy any prose that gives many visuals. I like to feel as if im seeing and not necessarily just reading and having to imagine for myself. In my own writing I would like to be able to show the reader exactly what I see and what I mean with not too much room for interpretation, if this makes any sense, I've been a little rusty this past summer..