O'Connor's use of parataxis

This is from O'Connor's most famous story, "A Good Man is Hard to Find."

A Good Man is Hard to Find

The grandmother didn't want to go to Florida. She wanted to visit some of her connections in east Tennessee and she was seizing at every chance to change Bailey's mind. Bailey was the son she lived with, her only boy. He was sitting on the edge of his chair at the table, bent over the orange sports section of the Journal. "Now look here, Bailey," she said, "see here, read this," and she stood with one hand on her thin hip and the other rattling the newspaper at his bald head. "Here this fellow that calls himself The Misfit is aloose from the Federal Pen and headed toward Florida and you read here what it says he did to these people. Just you read it. I wouldn't take my children in any direction with a criminal like that aloose in it. I couldn't answer to my conscience if I did."

It's the beginning of the story, but O'Connor doesn't introduce the characters.

"The grandmother" makes her sound anonymous but also symbolic of grandmothers.

"...her connections": this is the grandmother's language, probably meaning her relatives, but also mocks her gently as if she were an important person who would have "connections" - which she's not. The sentence - "She wanted to visit... and she was seizing" - is paratactic, because neither part is logically subordinate. "...she was seizing" - this unusual word summarizes the old woman's stubborn character.

Any time you have parataxis, the author appears more present. Because the unspoken connection between facts is in the author's (and reader's) mind, making that mind part of the story.

"He was sitting on the edge... bent over the orange sports section..." "Edge" and especially "orange" stand out in this paratactic sentence, because they seem completely unnecessary. Sitting on the edge of the chair is not something one does deliberately, so it emphasizes the character's lack of self-awareness. "...her thin hip" - "his bald head": the paratactic sentences contain few details, so the ones O'Connor included sound almost facetious. Thinness and baldness - decay - characterize this world and its people. She "rattles" the newspaper - an impossible sound to imagine in this situation, but one that underscores her snakelike quality. This is O'Connor's gothic minimalism.

The parataxis and sense of randomness communicate the disorder of the South, or the South of this story. Every paratactic style creates a space for the author's presence, as I said, and O'Connor's presence is gently mocking. The odd details sprinkled in the passage drive this tone home.

Assignments up to 11/4

For 11/2: post on one passage from each of the two readings - the short fictions handed out by Ben and the Communist Manifesto (just "Bourgeois and Proletarians"). Earlier we talked about how style can reflect an author's attitude towards truth. How does Marx & Engels' manifesto seek to influence its reader? Surely no text is as aggressive as a revolutionary manifesto. And Marx's major works, largely built out of Adam Smith's ideas, have commanded a lasting group of adherents. This remains true in spite of less-than-perfect attempts to put Marxian ideas into practice in 20-some states over the course of the 20th century. How do the authors use rhetorical techniques so successfully to influence generations of readers?

For 11/4: Read and analyze an essay by Montaigne ("On Some Lines by Virgil"). Just as Wallace or Lydia Davis are contemporary rule-breakers, Montaigne was, perhaps, the ultimate rule-breaker. At the same time, he shows his mastery of the traditional rhetorical (argumentative) style. He was a great lover of the Romans, and his style is the epitome of classically"elegant" writing.. In your post, be sure to analyze a couple examples of the classic Montaigne sentence; how does he design his structures for effect? Does the writing style work with or against the content? Also, comment on the unusual structure of this long essay - or does it even have a structure? (Print out the version of the essay on blackboard with page numbers to make class discussion easier.)

If you've missed

...missed more than a couple classes, then please don't make travel plans on days when class is scheduled during this upcoming holidays. And overall, be careful. A situation can result in which, even if you've been ill, you have to take a "W" because you just haven't been there enough.

Parker's not back

Due to the copying problem, we won't be reading "Parker's Back" for Wednesday. Just the Anderson. Maybe later.

Assignment 10/26 - 10/28

10/26: Mid-term paper due. Also: read article for presentation.

10/28: Read "Parker's Back." O'Connor is a classic, ironic, gothic, southern short story writer. Can you see any of those putative labels reflected in her style? What's gothic here? What's southern? Again: how is her view of the world embodied in her style? Also: read article for presentation and post briefly on this: reactions.

Dumb metafilter blog

On the subject of why there are no good prose stylists anymore? Is it the internet? Or political correctness? Read at your peril.

Analyzing diction

The Axes: The term “diction” covers a lot of ground, but here is a somewhat simplified way to approach. Consider analyzing the diction according to where it falls on any of the two main axes: (1) levels of formality, and (2) Connotation

(1) Levels of formality

Diction can usually be described as one of three different “levels” of style:

High or Formal: Dignified, elevated, and often impersonal. Elaborate, or sophisticated vocabulary. In some cases, “high style” can refer to grammar, or syntax, that has been manipulated for an artistic effect—that is, the grammar calls attention to itself. Polysyllabic.

Middle or Neutral: Follows rules of grammar and uses common, unexceptional vocabulary. Think Strunk and White. Grammar and vocabulary is meant to be transparent, easily understood.

Low or Informal: Plain language of everyday use, including slang, jargon, vulgarity, and dialect. Monosyllabic.

(2) Connotation

In addition to falling somewhere on the above axis, an author’s prose will fall somewhere on a scale between the two poles of denotation, a word’s dictionary meaning, or connotation, the more metaphorical or poetic usage of words.


How to talk about levels of formality

One thing that is really impressive is having a large bank of words that you know that you can use to characterize the different kinds of diction. You can use this stuff when fashioning terribly impressive thesis statements—even when you don’t have any idea what you’re talking about! That is what the following notes are for. Many of these words can be used to describe syntax as well as diction.


High, Formal Style
Cultured
Learned
Pretentious
Archaic
Scholarly
Pedantic
Ornate
Elegant
Flowery

Middle, Neutral Style

Unadorned
Plain
Detached
Simple

Low, Informal Style

Abrupt
Terse
Laconic
Homespun
Colloquial
Vulgar
Slang
Jargon


How to talk about Connotation

Language can also fall somewhere on the following scale. Few works of literature are purely denotative, of course, but they are connotative to varying degrees. Speak of a passage as being “highly connotative” or Learn to use these words to discuss connotation.

Denotative language
Literal
Exact
Journalistic
Straightforward



Connotative language
Poetic
Lyrical
Figurative
Symbolic
Metaphoric
Obscure
Sensuous
Grotesque
Picturesque



Additional aspects of word choice.

Abstraction

In addition, an author’s language will fall somewhere on a scale between the poles of abstract and concrete language. That is, do they write about stuff you can hold in your hands, or stuff you can only hold in your heads?

The Music

Do the words sound nice? If so, you can talk about the euphony of the passage.. If it sounds harsh, talk about that and the relationship to meaning.

Figures of Speech

You know all these, right? Personification, Metaphor, Paradox, Alliteration, etc.

Assignments for 10/15-10/17

Read and comment on Christopher Durang's play. Also read Lanham's chapter on High, Middle, and Low style - comment on his distinction with reference to texts we have read.

for 10/17: read "Hills Like White Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway and post in the usual manner. In addition, pick a paragraph from the story and rewrite it in the "high" style of Winston Churchill, as quoted in Lanham. This is an exercise, again, and the results may necessarily be awkward.

A Typical Baldwin Sentence

"What is crucial here is that, since white men represent in the black man's world so heavy a weight, white men have for black men a reality which is far from being reciprocal; and hence all black men have toward all white men an attitude which is designed, really, either to rob the white man of the jewel of his naivete, or else to make it cost him dear."

Very typical. This is an "is" sentence.

Sentence structure "What is crucial is..." everything else is a lengthy object phrase.

Sentences built on the verb "to be" have the emphasis on content and description, since they have virtually no action. The "is" structure makes it hard to argue with the statement, since he is only saying it is crucial. If it began, "White men represent in the black man's world..." It would seem much more aggressive and controversial.

Baldwin uses the structure of classic logic: since X ("a heavy weight"), Y ("have a reality"), and hence ("ALL black men...). This syllogistic structure begins with a subjective statement, about the heavy weight, with which it is hard to argue. Then follows it with much bolder assertions. Having accepted the first statement and the one that follows, we are more likely to accept the global description of ALL black men's rage.

Comment on these blogs!

• Alisha's post this week has a piece with a fascinating variety of subject-verb variations.
• Anthony's blog contains the reading of "The Rocking Horse Winner" discussed in class, as tacitly placing responsibility on the character of the mother.
• Asha's comments on Joyce are a study in how a skilled author directs the emphasis in specific ways for specific reasons.
• Clay's restless blog quotes Ashbery, has a music video, and a quote on a similar theme to Baldwin's "Stranger." Not to be missed.
• My favorite post this week from Drew's dense, graphics-heavy blog: Vonnegut's surprisingly sensible rules for short story writers.
• Erin's insightful and thorough posts are all worthwhile; her Baldwin comments will be a good way to start our conversation tomorrow.
• James's Freudian reading of Lawrence was a highlight of our discussion. Check out his informal and engaging posts.
• It wouldn't be a bad idea to read Julio's talky & energetic posts for every class. He nails Didion.
• For a careful reading of The Bell Jar chapter 10 that doesn't focus on Plath as a personality, go to Lucina's blog.
• "Baldwin's point is not a pleasant one. So his sentences have to be unassailable," Miranda writes.
• Sam sees connections no one else would have noticed: Didion with Plath; Plath with Hemingway; Orwell with the New School Free Press.
  
• Sara Beth's rich reading of Baldwin outlines the structure of the piece, moving from quiet to explicit rage.
  

More mid-term paper ideas

Some of you may not understand just how insanely open this paper topic is. Pick something that interests you! Close reading applies to everything, but the trick is: use a topic that gives you a question. Close reading is not an end in itself. It's a tool to answer questions that are i) worth asking; and which ii) do not have an obvious answer.

1. In the 1930s the New York Times, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Walter Duranty went to the Soviet Union and wrote a series of articles about how great life was under Stalin. In historical retrospect, he probably knew about the famines, political assassinations, etc. His articles are available on the web. The writing should yield insights into how he dealt with this awkward subject.

2. In the 1700s a journal called The Spectator was published in England. It's famous among literary scholars. The whole thing was an example of 18th century wit; it was a joke. It had fake articles, fake letters... It was a satire. This would be good material for a close reading of 18th century rhetoric, considered the ultimate in elegance and wit.

3. Speaking of the New York Times and fake stuff, a variety of fabricated texts have emerged in recent years. Jayson Blair's Times articles, James Frey's A Million Little Pieces, and, well, perhaps some fabricated reports of weapons of mass destruction. Is there a writing style peculiar to people who aren't telling the whole truth?

4. In the '90s an interesting school of literature called "Avant-pop" popped up. Writers like William Vollmann and Mark Leyner had a striking experimental style. How did they create this style? What does it express or signify as literature?

Other ideas: Recently we've seen the public apologies of a number of libidinous celebrities. Is this a literary form? What are some of its typical stylistic traits? William James, the philosopher, and Henry James, the novelist, had a sister, Alice, who spent most of her life in mental institutions. I wonder if her diaries contain the literary genius shown by her close relatives. Richard M. Nixon delivered some of the most famous political speeches of the previous century, particularly the "Checkers" speech and the "I am not a crook" speech. What made these speeches work? The nonfiction bestseller list is currently dominated by conservative political works, particularly Mark Levin's Tyranny and Liberty and Michelle Malkin's Culture of Corruption. And books by Glenn Beck and Ann Coulter have been hugely successful. Do works in this genre share a literary style? How do they use voice? Many famous works have been written under the influence of "substances," works by Aldous Huxley, de Quincey, Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs, etc. Literary style in this case is probably a function of the drug being used. Huxley used hallucinogens, Kerouac speed, but de Quincey and Burroughs used opiates. A literary analysis of Puritan hellfire sermons, such as the famous "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" by Jonathan Edwards is sure to be fruitful. What about the famous 18th century work The Compleat Angler - which is about fishing? And there are other famous sports books: The Inner Game of Tennis; Running and Being (by George Sheehan); Pumping Iron by the Governor of California; The Tao of Jeet Kune Do by Bruce Lee. Do they share a literary style? Certain inspiration books have been on the bestseller list for, like, a millennium. I'm thinking of Robert Fulghum's Kindergarten book; The Road Less Traveled; Seven Habits of Highly Successful People; Chicken Soup for the Soul; The Secret; The Power of Now. These books vary - some are about business success, some spirituality, some are devotional (religious). But I'm guessing that they, along with works like Think and Grow Rich or The Power of Positive Thinking, have something in common stylistically. What accounts for the unbelievable popularity of such books? What kind of words do they use? What tone? It is nice to see that the Nobel committee has given the Nobel Peace Prize to an American, in light of their explicit aversion to, at least, American authors. Nobel acceptance speeches should make an interesting study. Doris Lessing was particularly cranky a year or two ago, as was V.S. Naipaul. What did Bellow say? How about Hemingway? It would be nice to know what Joyce, Roth, Proust, and Nabokov would have said, but, sadly, they never got the chance.

Assignments 10/12 - 10/14

for Monday: "Stranger in the Village." Baldwin publishes this in 1955 - in a less hospitable political environment than that enjoyed by later African-American writers. He tells a personal story with a political point and must handle voice and emotion carefully in his writing. There is a fair amount of anger here, and also a comment on the notion of "blackness" and "whiteness" in America. In your post consider how Baldwin, a skilled stylist, uses writerly techniques to navigate the treacherous political waters of his time - and still effectively make his point.

Also: read the post on suspensiveness. Write a nonfiction paragraph in which you manipulate the action of various sentences to create an effective progression of sentence types. You may wish to refer to the sentence book. Just about any part of a "standard" sentence, including adverbial clauses and direct objects, can be rephrased as the subject. This is an exercise, not a test of beautiful writing. It's meant to build awareness of the many options for crafting your next sentence.

10/14: With Faulkner's "Dry September" we come to a work that consciously uses shifting points of view, the manipulation of information revealed to the reader, the emphasis on key words that define both the plot and the meaning, the manipulation of time, and extravagantly crafted sentences. Comment on the whole and pick passages to read closely.

How to craft sentences for suspensiveness

1. Extending the noun phrase of the sentence. This creates a sense of emphasis on the subject which adds drama to the sentence.

Mark Owen, the impish, boyish, playful Mark Owen, is no longer the most popular member of the band. (Notice that the appositive doesn't add much new information but really emphasizes the subject.)

2. Concealing the content of the sentence in a clause after a simple sentence structure. Orwell does this, and it's very easy to do to any sentence. It creates a sense of detachment and perhaps authority.

It is notable that Mark Owen, who was once the fans' favorite, is no longer the center of attention. (The actual independent clause doesn't say much: it is notable. This creates a sense that the main statement is assumed or known to be true.)

3. Making the object of the sentence the subject. To do this you have to make the object into a noun phrase.

The relative unpopularity of Mark Owen stands in stark contast with his former status as the fans' favorite. (Note how authoritative that sounds. It also has a built-in suspensive effect.)

4. Typical sentence structure.

Once the favorite of Take That's mostly female fanbase, Mark Owen is now relegated to the sidelines. (Now, it's not that you should never use this plain sentence structure, but... It is extremely predictable, since the opening adverbial clause forecasts what's coming next.)

5. Picking a structure that dramatizes your content. So, in this case, the content is Mark Owen's disastrous drop in popularity. Let's try a paratactic compound sentence with a suspensive structure.

Mark Owen, the impish one, the playful one, known for his cheeky grin, was beloved of Take That's hysterical fans all over the world; his relative unpopularity is only one of the many changes brought by the band's remarkable comeback. (This has some drama, right? The extended noun phrase of the first part tells the beginning of the story with great emphasis. The asyndetic paratactic sentence structure adds an extra suspensiveness, since no connecting word gives us a hint as to what's coming. The second part could have been written: "After their comeback, Owen lost his popularity." Instead, for added drama, it puts the object first, nominalizing it: "his relative unpopularity." This adds a further dose of suspensiveness.)

6. Varying sentence types within a paragraph.

Each member of Take That, Europe's most popular boy band of the 1990s, enjoyed a strong following among the band's mostly-female fanbase. It would hardly be controversial, however, to say that pint-sized Mark Owen was the best-loved member. His impish quality, cheeky grin, and unpredictable antics won him a following even greater than that of conventionally handsome Jason Orage. Fast forward about ten years or so. The band went on hiatus, lost a highly visible member, aged physically, matured musically. Their fans were now grown women looking for a nostalgia trip. The seasoned and dignified figure of songwriter Gary Barlow, once the 'ugly' one, won him applause as the band's new sex symbol. The success of 'Shine,' Owen's first recorded composition, more than compensated for the loss of his popularity. As the title of their second album has it, 'Everything Changes.'

Note that relatively few of these sentences has a person doing something.

A Close Reading Mid-Term Paper

This is a 7ish-page analytic essay (typed; 12 pt; double-spaced; one inch margins) built around close rhetorical analysis of prose. That is the only real requirement, so - I want you to have a lot of freedom in how you execute the paper. It cannot be on a work we've discussed in class, although you can use an author we've discussed. Needless to say, any essay you write should be grounded by and organized around a central argument. You should always do a first draft and then rework it - for any essay you write. One reason for this is that most writers don't really know what they're saying until they finish the first draft. It's a good idea to begin with a question and (hopefully) end up with an argument that goes beyond the initial question:

1. Your argument could be about a specific genre of journalism. Is there a style typical of conservative political journalists as opposed to progressives? If so, why do they use this style? How is the writer appealing to his/her audience? It might be interesting to compare editorial pages of various newspapers. What kind of stylistic cliches are typical of The New Yorker? How do they appeal to the presumed reader of such a considerable venue? An unexpected comparison often pays off: how similar is the writing in sex advice columns in Cosmopolitan and Playboy? How does the New York Times frame and tell stories differently than the UK Guardian?

2. Your paper could take a dense text and explicate it. How about the avant-garde writings of George Saunders, Lydia Davis, Alain Robbes-Grillet? You could write about a single text (which means you'd have to know it well and have a thesis about it) or a genre of fiction. What's typical in the writing of contemporary "realist" fiction - Updike, Oates, Richard Russo? The "transgressive" style of writers like B.E. Ellis, Martin Amis, Douglas Coupland, Irvine Welsh, Chuck Palahniuk? Compare Edith Wharton to Henry James? Norman Mailer to Hemingway?

3. If that kind of topic seems big, you can write about a single work, of course. Let's say it was Updike's Rabbit is Rich. Updike continues the adventures of Harry Angstrom, disappointed ex-high-school basketball star, in this third volume. He shows us the 1970s, Angstrom's mixed-up sexuality, his middle-aged apathy and relative wealth, his inability to be happy with what he has. His goal is apparently to show that his character doesn't learn life's lessons, unlike your typical - say - Dickens character. How does he use style to do this? Your paper summarizes a view of the book other critics have found reasonable. You're not trying to do a fresh reading of the book. Then you look at key passages. You need to find an idea with an element of surprise. Is Updike more of a moralist than we think? Is he mocking Rabbit or presenting him objectively? What does style tell us about how we should understand this important work?

Good idea to pick something you already know well. Offbeat choices are good, because you don't have to deal with everyone else's opinion. Dense or difficult prose is good. Have an idea and run it by me, well in advance. Start way ahead of time. Due 26 Oct.