1- Analyze the impact word choice has on the meaning or tone of a text.
2- Analyze how dialogue or specific incidents reveal information about characters. Make sure to include textual evidence.
I recently began reading shiver after struggling with 'Salem's Lot by Stephen King. This being due to the fact that I was not able to maintain my interest in the book. After the conflicting choice I decided to read shiver, a book my brother (once I began reading, I questioned why he would have read it) recommended.
Shiver is told through the switching point of view of the two main characters, Sam and Grace. The characters are still developing but you can begin to see the the way word choice creates the character. Both Sam and Grace are teenagers so I feel that if it weren't Stiefvater's accurate use of wording, the story would not be as interesting. The author, when writing dialogue, uses common lingo used by teenagers such as, "dude," "babe," "really cute pizza boy" and my personal 'fave,' "omigod yes." These words are more commonly used by Grace's friends.
Another fantastic bonus to the story would be exactly how Stiefvater's word choice makes the characters. The phrases and words I previously mentioned are restricted to only the vocabulary of Grace's friends. Grace, not once, has used any of those phrases. Grace's diction consist of a much more eloquently spoken type of wording. I feel that this helps you realize how she is set apart and what makes her so unique. Grace's friends would rather speak about boys who tend to be human, but Grace prefers to dream of her favorite wolf (who may or may not be named Sam.) You see these moments when Grace is with her friends. In a way it is almost as if she is the odd one out, daydreaming about werewolves,* while her life seems to pass her by without her realizing it. Her friends on other hand find a comfort in daydreaming about shoe shopping.
*If you have not yet guessed it, Sam is a werewolf. DO NOT despair, from what it seems, this is a much better love story than Twilight. (Contrary to the beliefs of several of my classmates, Twilight was a rather impressive series. Unfortunately, the series was ruined by the mediocre movies that just so happened to be "based on the series" and that carried the same name.)
I can completely emphasize with you on the need to switch unfinished books. Great blog! It's nice you didn't overthink the prompts.
ReplyDeleteI absolutley love your blog this week. I agree with you on how teenagers talk. I completely agree with your last anecdote, because the Twilight movies didn't really stay true to the book and all I really remember are the guys, oops.
ReplyDeleteGreat blog this week! I love how you included many examples of dialogue. Your book uses about the same dialogue as mine. They both are told from the point of views of teenagers and uses the same words in dialogue. I like how you said you favorite one was "omigod yes", I think thats my favorite too.
ReplyDeleteI could not take my eyes off the screen when I was reading this. I found it humorous how you question why your brother read the book, which I could later relate to why you had that opinion. Do Sam and Grace get together? That would certainly be predictable. From the word choice, you could already infer that the characters were teenagers, so I would say that you, yourself did a remarkable job because you chose words that could say a lot for a character. Excellent blog!
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