Close Reading Bingo

1. "This lower diction gives the reader the idea that the author is trying to reach out to the everyday person."
From Chillin In The Nyle. He uses "the reader" and breaks rule number four.

2. "Comparing the black handrails, "like the radians of black luster," shows the way he is able to control his writing."
From Back of the Napkin blog. He uses the word "shows" and breaks rule number 6.

3. "Baker describes the escalators themselves that rise to his office, “They were the free-standing kind: a pair of integral sins swooping upward between the two floors they served without struts or piers to bear any intermediate weight.” 
From The Lost Message of Words He uses a long quotation and breaks rule number two.

4. "It also seems manipulating and compulsive like there is a hidden problem within the character that is expressed through sharp abrasive language."
From Apples to Apples He switches to past tense and breaks rule number seven.

Best Example
From InsideOut

The highly descriptive and scholarly diction, the almost philosophical and appreciative tone inserted into Nicholson Baker's connotation, and the harmonious flow ringing throughout the first page of his novel, instill dreamy, practically romantic admiration for the mezzanine Baker speaks of, as this first page is read. Define Mezzanine: [mez-uh-neen, mez-uh-neen] the lowest balcony or forward part of such a balcony in a theater, or in this case, an office building (perhaps, I have not read this book). Baker elaborates on the mezzanine, the centerpiece of his novel, with a subtle passion, as he begins his journey to his office. He observes a "needly area of shine . . . [fall] against their brushed-steel side-panels" and the "long gloss highlights" waver on the black rubber handrails-- and he is amazed.  He adores these simple flecks of beauty that he comes across in his office building (?) and he watches them with fanciful amusement, absorbing each simple elegance with the a happy heart.

Currently

This week I read 102 pages of Stephen King's The Drawing of the Three.

Style Mapping Top 3 Winners:

1. "It pays no heed to the way that words sound together and has extraordinarily little figurative language. There was not a single word I had to look up or ask about, not even the Spanish parts and I took French."

From Less Than Three. This is the winner I think she uses great wit when she talks about how unfigurative the language is

2. "The language used in Tina Fey's Bossy pants on page 37, was very juvinalian. It was vulgar, common and blunt."

From That Peruvian Chick. I can relate to this because I have read the book also and it is pretty hilarious

3. "Suzzane Collins wrote The Hunger Games. In this book she is highly straightforward with her words. She does not beat around the bush. She is scholarly , archaic and sometimes senuous with her work."

From Skittles Train. I just like that she said beat around the bush.

Style Mapping

In the excerpt from Stardust the words contains a very straight-forward description of a town named Wall that has a very primitive feel with huts instead of houses and tracks instead of roads. The language is very common and familiar with words like building, tree, and house. The diction is neither very musical nor very harsh. It is somewhere in the middle. Contrasting from this the excerpt from Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian the diction is very high and I don't think I know what all the words mean such as swale and sprent. The words flow sort of like it’s a poem but the words are very harsh such as gnashing, thunderclap and bitter. The excerpt from Stephen King's The Drawing of the Three uses very low and vulgar words to describe a man’s despicable predicament. The words are very picturesque I can even imagine what King describes. The excerpt uses both harsh and musical words for a nice mix that makes it flow.

Quarterly

So far this semester I have read a total of about 4 books which i probably the most I have read in a long time! I have found a new author that I really enjoy and I think next semester I am going to challenge myself to complete his series, The Dark Tower. I started on the second book so I still need to go back and read the first one before I move on to the rest. I haven't had a lot of time to read recently so I have only been trying to read minimums so I am going to try and read extra next semester.

Absolute Madness

In my book The Drawing of the Three, Stephen King there are like five different story plots going on at the same time and it is really confusing. Eddie is trying to find drugs while the “Lady of Shadows” is being controlled by the gunslinger. Eddie wants to kill him cause he won’t let him buy drugs, and some random new character wants to become a doctor but he keeps having weird dreams about it so he gets discouraged. I am so confused, but I don’t want to put the book down because it is really interesting to me. This is sort of like my life right now. This week is choreography week for show choir and the week of regionals for marching band so I am balancing two very complex things with my homework and my job and it is very depleting. I haven’t really had a lot of time for blogs because of all this stuff!

Currently.

I am reading The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King.

Pages This week: 160