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.