Before you begin, look at my most recent quote posts.
Have you done it yet?
Good.
I want to make an example of them. Although they are very insightful, the author does have many things about him to question. Did you recognize the author? He is the author of The Cider House Rules. Do you know the book? It’s plot revolves around two doctors, one who believes in abortion, the other who does not. Irving himself believes in the right to choose an abortion.
Now, read the quotes again.
Anything different?
You probably shifted the voice in your mind to appropriatly fit what you would believe to be the voice of one who believes it’s completely okay for a woman to have an abortion. Whatever that is to you, you heard it.
Wait.
Am I saying we distinguish between people who believe it’s okay and those who don’t?
No, although you may have concluded that about youself in the last minute.
I’m saying that we adjust the voice in our head to fit what we are reading.
“Duh,” you may say.
Well, how do you read quotes? Do you read them differently than news articles? Do you read them differently than blogs? Sermons? Biographies? Autobiographies?
Do you imagine a stale voice as that describing the hunting practices of a South-American panther? (If there are panthers in South America.)
I read quotes with a prestigious sounding voice. It’s always a male. It’s always witty.
I think we do this, because we believe that because something is in a quote it has a certain unequaled quality of prestige… or use. Unless the first two sentences happen to throw us in a different direction…
“Them there hedgehogs got caught in ma’ radiator!” - Cletus
See?
I think a more apporpriate demonstration would be this:
“I think it wise enough, for any young gentleman, to not brush his teeth a single day.” - Idiot
The most useless and distractingly harmfull sentence can indeed be sold above its standards if the ” is placed around it.
“…’ is placed around it.”
Maybe ask youself this question:
Do I read enough? (I don’t)
Do I write enough? (No… That’s obvious in the statement above Maybe ask yourself this question:)
Do I text or chat too often, thus rendering me incapable of discerning correct grammer and punctuation in a sentence? (Yes; and no… I dunno…)
I hope you’re glad you’ve read this. I’m sure glad I wrote it.
It was in my mind you see.
The appropriate way to have read this was with a certain amount of poignancy and cynicism. (Although not at all upsetting.) I find that it is the most appropriate (and fun) way of writing an analyses, commentary blog.
Don’t you?
If you haven’t thought of it before, I was only wanting to bring it to your attention.
But if you have thought of it, I was only saying what we were all thinking.
3 years ago
•
Notes
