ENGL 2920 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Gallows
24 Feb 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
We negotiate the world through sensory detail. But in literature detail is selective, makes us better notices of life. Thisness: any detail that draws abstraction towards itself and seems to kill that abstraction with a puff of palpability. *instead of saying she was in a rage, say she clenched her fist and fled out of the room. *can also be captured in an anecdote or interesting fact about another character. Too much detail is an obstruction not an aid. When we have too much detail they all become insignificant. Detail speeds our knowledge of a character: a state of mind, a gesture, a stray word tells us a lot about them. Details must be definite and concrete and appeal to the senses. They should be seen, heard, smelled, tasted, or touched. Significant details: details that convey and idea, judgement or both. Active voice: your characters must be people who do, rather than people to whom things are done.
