Ok, we looked at some sentences, now find some something in the diction that stands out. Maybe it's a word combination, the use of simple words, a word bomb that makes you reach for the dictionary.
Keep sharing your great ideas. LOVE the posts so far. Excellent work.
ps: a reminder — post by Sunday at 11:59.59 (please don't stay up that late, but that is technically the end of Sunday and the end of the week and the deadline for a timely post.).
pps: a sentence I just had to share. From the NYT and Mark Bittman: The food processor replaces the whisk; the pastry cutter; the standing mixer (for which there are still some uses, but only if you’re a dedicated baker); the mandoline (which, to me, remains a fine alternative to the food processor for small quantities); the mortar and pestle, which, no matter how lovely, quaint and authentic, is perhaps the most labor-intensive, primitive and damnable set of tools in the kitchen; and, perhaps most importantly, the grater.
18 comments:
"And now, alas, another election season is upon us with all the froth and spittle we love to loathe."
The word "spittle" disgusts me, without fail, every time I come across it. Parker's use of "froth and spittle" when talking about the election gives it a really nasty, wet, horrible sound, in my opinion. "Love" and "loathe" are also great when used together, because they sound so similar but have opposite meanings. All in all, Parker's word choice in this sentence freaked me the heck out, which is probably how she wanted me to feel about the upcoming election.
There is a possibility -- admittedly, as slim as a tassel waving from the top of a goalpost upright -- that...
Wojciechowski just used a football simile. And it wasn't even painfully contrived. This is just one of Wojciechowski's regularly clever little ways to bring his profile pieces beyond standard sportswriting. "Slim" and "tassel" have no place in a story about Peyton Manning's neck injury, and yet this sentence conveys to both the thick-necked football fan and the english student just what the situation is.
"She was 5 feet 9 inches tall, with blood red hair and a plus-sized personality."
I really like Achenbach's choice of descriptive words in this sentence. His description of this woman's hair as being "blood red" makes the image of her very vivid and memorable in the readers' mind, which I think adds a lot to this article because it is about a man who lost his wife on 9/11. Also, I liked how he uniquely described her personality as being "plus-sized." This reflects the woman's physical characteristics (he mentions this in previous sentences) but more importantly her admirable personality. Achenbach never met this woman but is able to describe her with such specific words which is a testament to the large impact she made on those who knew her.
"He doesn’t say much or display much emotion in the interrogation room—indeed his cool demeanor is his trademark—yet he is a keen lie spotter" - Wray Herbert
I really like the brevity of Herbert's descriptions. "Cool demeanor," "trademark," and "keen" are simple yet catchy words. Like the character Herbert is referencing (Gibbs from NCIS), they don't "say much," but do convey a lot in their precision.
"I was almost ascetic in my serene rejection of the superficial."
After reading this, I had to look up the word ascetic. It means practicing forms of extreme self discipline and abstention. It was also noted that this word was usually used in when referring to religious reasons. I thought that this word choice was so interesting. She describes her action of discarding the superficial as something as serious as, for example, fasting on Yom Kipper for those who are Jewish. This word really lets the reader know how strong her opinions are on this particular idea.
"And sometimes it is all dross, apparently inserted into our machine by the evil iPod fairy."
Even though I did not know the definition of the "dross," the sound of the word, when I read it out loud, had a negative connotation. The dictionary says it means "something regarded as worthless; rubbish." I like how Carroll uses such a strong word just for music he doesn't like. It makes the sentence more powerful. I also appreciate his transition from the use of advanced vocabulary to the phrase "evil iPod fairy." The words are very simple on their own, and are never seen together. Yet Carroll's creative combination paints a hilarious picture.
"Pensioners push back against decreased benefits while students scream that the largess their forebears long enjoyed — not to mention the debt these forebears racked up — has raised the cost of their own education and bequeathed them an economy leached of hope. "
This sentence is jammed with words and imagery that grabbed me. "pensioners", "largess", "forebears", "bequeathed", and "leached" are all strong, interesting vocabulary that I generally don't see in normal writing. And Bruni put them all in one sentence. Yet even though the sentence is rich with vocabulary, it doesn't feel overwhelming, which is a really tough balance to achieve. All of these interesting words come together to provide a great picture of the frustration the students feel, and the sentence flows and works very well. I was impressed with his vocabulary.
"Summer reading often consists of mindless page-turners, equally riveting and vacuous." - Nicholas Kristof
I spent a long time trying to find words that stood out to me from Kristof. I read four pieces, but realized his style of writing sounds like he is talking to you and does not use extensive and complicated language. It was hard to pick out a sentence of words because all of his sentences flowed so well together. However, I did find the sentence I posted about summer reading pop off the page.
The content of the sentence is very true and relatable, but I also really liked the phrases "mindless page turners" and "equally riveting and vacuous". The use of "riveting" and "vacuous" alongside "mindless page turners" balance the sentence out between meaty vocabulary that makes the sentence juicy and easily understandable phrases that help the sentence flow. Kristof succeeded in getting me excited to read his summer book list.
"Italy is too big to fail but might also be too big to bail."
With this sentence, Zakaria shows he has a range of literary abilities and styles. He is usually a very intellectual and serious writer. His combination of "fail" and "bail" in this sentence caught my eye because it seemed like Zakaria was having a little more fun with his writing. The rhyming changed up his usual style while still demonstrating to the reader that Italy is in a very tough position.
"And being in a deaf football team's locker room at halftime is louder than standing next to a 727."
Rick Reilly is great at writing unexpected similes that put the reader on his/her toes. He is always an amazing writer, who rarely uses big or extraneous words to get his point across. This sentence caught my attention on both points. One would never think that a group of deaf kids could be loud at all, but making the comparison to an airplane really jumps off the page. I am at an airport now and I can hear engines whizzing by, and am imagining the locker room Reilly describes. The simplicity of the line also stands out. Instead of confusing my brain with words I cannot pronounce, let alone know what they mean, I am about to digest and react to the line without stopping my reading flow.
"Most people overrate their own abilities and exaggerate their capacity to shape the future."
What really stood out to me in this sentence was the use of overrate and exaggerate. The way that these two words rhyme and play off of each other was something that really caught my eye as I read through the article. This sentence seemed, as I read it, that it should belong as an independent quote/life lesson, rather than stuck in the middle of an article about planning. It was the combination of the words coupled with the articulation of the thought that made this the highlight of this article.
"Not long after, Kirchherr began snapping pictures of the five young Beatles (Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, the drummer Pete Best and the bassist Stuart Sutcliffe), brooding and bruised black-and-whites as gritty and real as they were scrupulously stylized."
Ah, the alliteration! I just love the way "brooding and bruised black-and-whites" sounds so punchy and slow when spoken aloud. "Scrupulously stylized" does the same thing in a very opposite way; the alliteration slides effortlessly off the tongue. I really like how Mark Rozzo's form mirrors the content of his words.
"Nature, by its very ... nature, is cruel; it claims the lives of animals wantonly, sometimes the lives of entire species, leaving the rest terrified and wondering which will be the next group to blink out of existence." - Soren Bowie
After reading this sentence, I could not forget Bowie's vivid descriptions of nature. Depicting nature as "wantonly" truly made his words memorable, and effectively conveyed the sarcastic tone of his article. Bowie expanded on this portrayal, saying that nature leaves species worrying over who "will be the next group to blink out of existence." This pairing of words also caught my eyes. It conveyed a sense of urgency through simple, yet memorable, diction.
"Making a pass is not grounds for eviction or conviction." - Dan Savage
With trademark fluidity, Savage sums up his own response to the question at hand, whether or not the asker took advantage of their roommate, in one simple but eloquent sentence.
I love the use of 'eviction' and 'conviction' in one sentence - I feel as though it very slightly detaches me from the content, but in terms of word use, I cannot help but feel that Savage made the best possible choice.
"Helping the country is unlikely to be enough of an incentive for Republicans to pass a bill, any bill, that Obama supports, even a bill, like this one, that is assembled mostly from refurbished spare parts collected from their own ideological warehouse."
I really enjoyed the structure and diction used in this sentence by Hendrick Hertzberg. I was especially fascinated by his use of the phrase " ideological warehouse" to coinside with the phrase " refurbished spare parts". I feel like this is a unique way of describing a bill that inclusive of many of the republican party's views and policys.
"In contemporary America, we also have people who are — and I am inventing this word — illegitimists."
Referring to a person who believes that the government or a specific elected leader of a country is illegitimate. I chose this sentence simply because of the fact that Anne Applebaum created her own word to use in an article. It is effective, because it is fairly clear and understandable.
"A slippery slope differs from, say, a rocky slope in that a slippery slope is a lot harder to climb back up"
Jon Carroll made me laugh aloud with this comment. His sly humor hidden behind serious philosophies is one of a kind. Even though this sentence is blatantly obvious at first glance, when thought about you realize the genius simplicity and truth behind it.
"However, two bystanders were hit with gunfire."
The word bystander stands out in its particular column, because it manages to highlight the innocence of the people involved. Rather than using a word like 'pedestrians' or 'passerby', Lee manages to add a slightly dramatic edge to his writing.
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