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Post by hannahcherusseril on Sept 23, 2015 16:56:40 GMT
In "Accident", the language and word choice is really simple. There isn't a whole lot of figurative language and nothing is described extensively. The sentences are very straightforward and get to the point without any 'fluff'. In fact, the small amount of descriptive language used in the short story is very negative, using words such as ruined, violence-contemplating, wrecked, and lonely. The simplistic diction conveys a tone of melancholy or desolation. The reader gets a sense of the complete sadness and loneliness felt but the driver who almost hit the teenagers.
Also, this style of writing can be compared to Ernest Hemingway's style in the way that it is really simple and non-descriptive but is able to create a really sorrowful tone.
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Post by margaretpalko on Sept 24, 2015 21:48:54 GMT
Hannah, I completely agree. I think using short and simple language can really make a reader feel what is going on. If the author had used long complicated sentences the reader could have become uninterested. For example, by the end of the story the reader could have forgotten what the story was originally about. So in basic terms, using short terms makes it easy to understand, remember, and communicate the overall theme of the story. I do find it interesting however, that the author begins using short sentences and then transitions to using long ones towards the end of the short story. I imagine there is a reason for it, but I am unsure as to what. In regards to syntax, it is very true that it helps develop the mood of the story. The only figurative language I saw was repetition when he said "lonely" and "cry" a few times, but besides for that there wasn't much.
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Post by gabi.eglinton on Sept 24, 2015 22:27:35 GMT
In "Accident", the syntax contains very short, "no-fluff" sentences (like Hannah said). The lines that stuck out to me most were the following: "He knows your name and you know his, and you almost killed him, and because you got so close to doing so but you didn't, you want to fall on him, weeping, so lonely, so lonely always, and all contact is contact, and all contact...". This is all one sentence but there are EIGHT COMMAS. That's an unusually high number for one sentence. Clearly there was some significance to Eggers's decision. Was this done to characterize the narrator? To draw a reader closer to the theme? To me, this sentence sounds like a lonely, friendless individual is mumbling to himself. It displays the narrator as someone lacking contact, and taking advantage of it whenever the opportunity arises. Upon closer analysis, it becomes clear that he should see a counselor or something.
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