At some point over the weekend, I stumbled across a discussion of James W. Pennebacker, the author of The Secret Life of Pronouns. I didn’t get the whole interview, but Pennebaker’s theory seems to be that how we use language…
Tag: voice
Can You Tell One Rogue from Another?
Not all vagabonds are created equal. Some travel in pairs, some steal horses, some steal from the disabled. Fortunately, British writer Thomas Harman studied vagabond-ology back in the mid 1500’s and provided us a with a list of the various…
If I Was a Rich Man . . .
Notice anything incorrect about the title of this post? If so, you’re probably wondering why our discussion of verbs did not cover the subjunctive mood. My answer is that, for the purposes of this class, we won’t be discussing the…
Metaphor
We often discuss metaphor in the context of a writer’s voice, but metaphor also reflects the way we think. The metaphors we use to describe certain concepts, activities, etc. both reflect and affect the way we think about those concepts,…
Voice, Diction, and Comedy
The television show In Living Color, which I believe you can still watch on some channels in syndication, was a brilliant show produced by the Wayans brothers before they went on to spoof movies. Damon Wayans’ exaggerated portrayal of Oswald…