Diction. Vocabulary. Word choice. Call it what you will, but the style and tone and voice of a writer are all created with the most basic unit of writing: words. Find 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.
A sentence I just had to share. From the NYT and Mark Bittman. This is awesome!!
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.
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In a fun post about apple slab pie, Deb uses a question which she then answers,"As in maybe perhaps 25 pounds more than we needed? It’s hard to gauge." This type of sentence is always exciting to read and really draws me in as a reader. I also love the humor that is very obvious in simple words. Gauge is a word that you don't often see, but in this context it works super well with the story she is trying to convey. I'm excited to read more great sentences like this one!
Molly Yeh uses extremely simple words and generally unsophisticated grammar (other than bizarre and foreign ingredient names), and in this week's post about a corn dog in a bowl she stated, "i’ve shepherded this dish into adulthood with a smooth buttery polenta, a big thick wiener, and a pile of sautéed greens to class up the joint." I feel like this is a perfect example of the type of casual, fun language that Molly uses. She keeps it concise yet playful throughout her blog. When I read her posts, these words sculpt her voice to be like that of a sweet first grade teacher I had who could also be casual and kind of salty.
I really just enjoyed the way that Brody used rhyming to convey a similar idea but with drastically different words "Mottola has been dealt a comic hand that leaves him bluffing, and huffing and puffing." The way that he is able to convey the entire encapsulation of the experience of the directors experience in three words while carrying a cadence that is both enjoying and somewhat whimsical. The structure leaves you with a smile on your face because of the absurdity of the words but with an understanding of what goes into the movie from the director's point of view
This week, I read a post from Krystal's experience on a cruise. As always, Krystal kept a more casual tone. However, after taking a moment to look, I found many interesting sentence structures. In one sentence, Krystal states,"It grounds you, it gives you a sense of belonging and it gives you perspective about your place in the world when you do venture out into it." in this sentence, she Uses repetition as a sentence structure in a listing format. In this case the it, traveling, is repeated several times. This drills the importance of traveling into my mind, enhancing the theme of the writing.
When Lindsay writes, she has no problems throwing grammar aside. However, I have no problem with it because whenever she does, it only adds emphasize her personality and enhances her descriptions. In this case, her informal grammar makes her unique word choices stand out. For example, she says, "But if fall means eating more of dis stuff, I mean… just… GIMME." I like this sentence because, for one, it so clearly is her voice, and secondly, she uses the word "gimme," which when reading about pumpkin bites with maple glaze makes me think the same thing. To add to it all, she makes this perfect word pop by writing it in all caps. This only adds to her personality because I feel like she is raising her voice, but not in an aggressive way, but rather an extremely excited one, as if we were having a conversation and standing next to each other.
One of the things I love about David Lebovitz’s writing is the way he personifies the foods he talks about, especially through vivid descriptions. A phrase that stood out to me in this week’s post was, “…the slightly floral flavor of the bean took the accent off the vegetal flavor from the pumpkin, and turned it back into a fruit…” I liked how he used such uncommon adjectives for the flavors (I know I’ve never referred to a bean as floral or a pumpkin as vegetal), but the surprise of those words made me focus on what he was saying even more, and also shows his unique perspective on the flavors he works with. And again, I love the subtle personification that really makes the sentence more tangible for me.
One of my favorite things about this writer is that she doesn't use big words, because it makes easy to understand, no need to read it twice. In this article she uses the phrase "many moons ago". I really like the chose of words because it is something that I don't often hear. I would have never thought to use "moons" instead of days, months or years. For some reason I also feel like using "moons" makes the tone a lot more softer, which I like. I think it's just the way it sounds.
One of the things I enjoy least about my writer is that she isn't very creative. Instead of writing opinion pieces about the movies she reads/views, she merely reports on them. However, one thing I do appreciate is her tendency to be straightforward and simple about how she does this. She uses words that bring a sense of urgency to her writing, making it seem more important. In a recent piece about Ben Stiller speaking openly about his diagnosis with prostate cancer, she uses words like, 'stresses, 'urges,' 'indicates,' and 'prompted,' which all seem to bring formality in addition to the urgency.
Cathy has a quirky personality that definitely shows in her writing. For this week, I went back and looked at her post from August 16th about marriage. At the end of the post she states the following about her cat: "He kept trying to nuzzle me and cuddle. I realized that it’s hard to not love something that seems to love you. Even when it makes your life significantly more dirty." The words "nuzzle" and "cuddle" both have soft and playful connotations which fit perfectly with the description of Cathy's relationship with her cat. The use of "dirty" as the defining adjective of life loving a pet is also simplistic and fun, further highlighting Cathy's personality and style of writing.
It was only by writing this blogpost that I appreciated how powerful Valenti’s word choice and pairings are. Her unique diction keeps her (to me) repetitive articles interesting and relatable. To start of, she explains that Donald trump brings her “Sheer, stomach-churning panic.” Exaggerated, yes, but an appealing sense of humor, that still clearly holds a lot of truth for the author. A few sentences later, she cleverly notes that Trump’s campaign is “infect[ed]...” Although these words got my attention, I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at some of them because she overuses the extremely negative/gross words to show her dislike for Trump. Towards the end she says "It’s about the slime that’s risen to the top, the stink we can’t wash off with one election or one president.” Overall, though, her language spices up her articles and showcases the absurdity and high stakes for this election.
"In the cracks between ice baths and epsom salt I really am bursting with excitement to perform these works.” I love the word choice in this sentence. The phrase “in the cracks” referring to the short amounts of time between one healing practice and another, Kirsten illustrates how busy she is and how much injury prevention she’s going through in the midst of the season. Also, she implies that aside from all the dirty work and salts and soaks, she really is still excited and inspired by ballet, no matter how difficult and strenuous it can get. Tightly packed into this one fragment of a sentence is a snapshot of her entire ballet career at the current moment, something I find fascinating and difficult to convey.
What I consistently appreciate from Mike Pearl's writing is his ability to weave in his own character and sense of humor even when reporting on serious topics. I looked at a piece called "How Republicans Could Prevent the Rise of Future Trumps", and while this article took on a more reporting-heavy style, there were still tidbits of comedy. One sentence about the Republican party's allegiance or lack thereof to Trump says, "Others who nominally support Trump, like House Speaker Paul Ryan, are distancing themselves from him the way you might a high school friend who started embarrassing you at every party you invited him to." I think it was smart for Pearl to include this sentence early in the piece because it is something that everyone, not just young people, has likely been able to relate to. Once again, Pearl demonstrates an awareness of his audience even while writing about things like politics.
I found in one of Duffy's short articles this week the sentence,"Bradford's first-down pass was batted back to him by Vikings defensive tackle Tyrunn Walker, so he caught it and promptly ran for five yards."I found this to be a super cool expression of his tone in a very short piece. The way he casually describes a freak incident like the one described above is an excellent way to make the writing more fun for the reader. I think his use of promptly adds to the sarcastic casual tone of this sentence and that it is reflected throughout the rest of the piece. Sarcasm is one of the most effective ways Duffy makes reading about sports fun and entertaining for everyone.
I found Kenneth Chang's usage of the word 'cascade' in this sentence very satisfying: "The cascade of explosions... that destroyed the Falcon 9 Rocket..." I honestly didn't even know what the word meant by definition, I just noticed it sounded really cool. According to google it's just a synonym for the word 'sequence.' I also enjoyed the sentence: "...setting off a domino effect that destroyed the rocket in a succession of fireballs on the launchpad." Chang's decision to describe the accident as a succession of fireballs provided great diction for inspiring the reader to imagine a climactic show of exploding rockets.
I love Connelly's use of the word democracy. He uses it in this phrase: "It also means a spread team[Oklahoma State] wins the national title a year after Oregon had nearly done the same. It would have been a strike for democracy, a blow against the ruling class". He uses the word "democracy" to talk about diversity of pay style in college football. His reader instantly know what that phrase and the sentence means. Diversity instead of monotony, excitement instead of hard nosed grind it out football. Oklahoma St. winning would have been the first example of a up tempo, spread offense winning the national title. Unfortunately, as he discusses in the article, one missed field goal ruined all that.
This week I read "College Student Misses Graduation to Give Birth, Gets Special Celebration" by Sydney Lupkin. A sentence I really liked in this article was, "By 11:57 that night, baby Milo was born. He was 5 pounds, 7 ounces. But Smith missed her commencement ceremony." The punctuality of the terse nature of this excerpt effectively delivers the significance of a new baby being born, and makes the final sentence hit the reader like a train. She lists things that are significant (the weight and time born of the baby) in a concise manner, so the length of the last sentence (long in comparison to the rest of the segments of the excerpt) makes its subject sound so significant as it is given the dignity of being explained at length while other more important factors are explained concisely.
This week, I read Jon Caramanica’s review of D.R.A.M.’s album “Big Baby D.R.A.M.” I have always found Jon Caramanica’s diction to be one of the strongest elements of his writing, and this piece is no exception. The title of the article is ‘Big Baby D.R.A.M.’ Finds a Rapper-Singer in Whimsy Mode,’ which I think epitomizes Caramanica’s inventiveness and creativity when it comes to word choice. Honestly, I did not know what whimsy meant, but when I read one of Caramanica’s reviews of music I’ve recently heard, he always seems to hit the nail right on the head in regard to his accuracy and care of word choice. He writes of the album, “It’s festive but also deeply felt, historically minded but also utterly of the now, when hip-hop has largely sloughed off its dourness, its rugged reserve and its reliance on tension.” As much music journalism as I have read, I have never heard the word dour used when describing music. While there is definitely literature that is easy to get lost in given the density of the vocabulary, I think Caramanica walks that fine line by intertwining both a complex and relatable style.
This week I read Nicole Puglise's "Alton Brown's Good Eats to get online sequel, Food Network star reveals". I always expect Nicole's articles to be short and thoughtful and full of the information necessary for the reader. Because of her lack of literature risk-taking I do not find her word choice to ever be very interesting. In this article that I read she continued to use bland language that was only imperative in delivering an accurate story. In the end of her article she chose a specific phrase to open a sentence that painted a picture, something she does not usually do. She wrote, "With paper and pencil in hand, he took down ideas from his commenters...". This image that she creates by simply stating that the chef had a pencil in hand, colored so much more than just the information but also shed a little light on who she was writing about. This simple choice of words made me re think Nicole's seemingly colorless writing.
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