hendiadys

[A7inchPhildo]

Oh yeah,

Ya, use two five cent words, whatever floats your boat. I read a lot of greek mythology. Should I try to interlay greek writings with an up to date story? Only if it works for the reader! I guess I try to please the redneck crowd, they enjoy the story for its true intention. Each his own.

Where did that little woods nymph go?

Phildo

 

[Colleen Thomas]

Really? I was toying with the idea of doing a story (not necessairly erotic) based on th life of Catherine de Medici. I find her interesting but the again I think on a very basic level I dislike her immensly. Still you never know


ps: We're always on the same team D

The Medici family gives you about any opening you would like for a story, erotic, tragic or otherwise. Lucretia Borgias life would be interesting too. Both families provide enough murder to satisy even ol Will S. with enough fooling around to keep your average lit reader stroking for days.

So far I have set two stories in WWII Europe and one in the 17th century Carribean. I love the Indies setting for all the exotic locales and the less inhibited and bigoted atmospheres, at least among the pirates. One I would really love to do would be a story on the Barbary coast, but so far my book on the subject has stayed on backorder so I can't research it enough to really capture the atmoshphere and make sure my facts are correct.

-Colly

 

[The_Fool]

Waiting for the

kikked ihn tha dooor and kamed in hes phace

post....

 

[dee1124]

I live for the day when I can make "cyclopentanoperhydrophenanthrene."
MG

Isn't that available over the counter now, Math?

 

[oggbashan]

Short, simple words

While some of us may be able to regurgiate the complete Oxford Dictionary, there is no point in doing it because the average reader will just backclick.

You will find use of many literary constructions in some of the stories written in Literotica but how much of it is unconscious use? I don't know.

A knowledge of the terminology doesn't make a good writer. It might help a good writer become better but the writer could end by not seeing the story for the words, grammar and construction.

Life is a learning process. Writing is a craft that can be improved with study and practice.

Og

 

[sanchopanza]

anyway back to the point i made originally - i wasn't suggesting we should weave ridiculously obscure words into stories i was just wondering about language techniques and how many people pay attention to them when writing (with some people it may just come naturally)

 

[Black Tulip]

metaphorically speaking

Well, you did ask for it: I'm language teacher.

Oh God, did I really confessed to that?

I am a teacher in my own language. In the past I have given classes on literature and on the use of such things as metaphors and the likes in great works of art.

But knowing the theory is certainly no guarantee to using it, let alone using it correctly or in an inspiring way.

To be honest, I never gave a thought to this before you mentioned it.

Just trying to paint powerful pictures.

 

[raphy]

You'll find a LOT of people able to debate the finer and more technical points of the English language with you here, Sanchopanza. Alas, I'm not one of them - I'm one of those intuitive writers that writes by feel and mostly educated guesswork.

But there's definitely a whole glut of exceptionally literate people here. It's not often I feel intellectually humbled, but I definitely do here on the AH.

Raph, intuitively.

 

[MathGirl]

I don;t think you're going to find any close textual analysis of "Mom's Anal Birthday Surprise" on this site

we're always on the lookout for a good synonym for nipple and a non-offensive word for the vagina.

Dear Dr M,
I think M'sABS would be a wonderful story for textual analysis. I'd love to see some Associate Professor of English offer a course on that story.

Those non-offensive words you're looking for are unlikely to be found amongst the portions of the Profanosaurus I dish out on a daily basis.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

anyway back to the point i made originally - i wasn't suggesting we should weave ridiculously obscure words into stories i was just wondering about language techniques and how many people pay attention to them when writing (with some people it may just come naturally)

I took a degree in English comp and had to learn all that stuff about rhetorical devices, though we really only applied it to analyzing poetry. I've forgotten almost all of it now (though 'litotes' and 'zeugma' stick in my mind for some reason, whatever they are) and use none of it when I write. In fact, I was crippled me for a long time because I started writing like a critic with an eye to showing how clever I could be, and that just doesn't work.

I think that, as in most of the arts, there's a big difference between the creative and the analytical mind, and that being a good critic doesn;t make you a good writer any more than being a gourmet makes you a good cook.

Then too, you've got to remember that this is a Porn site. There are some very good writers here, and a lot of people who are really trying to develop their skills and choose to do it here. For my money, this is the best writing site I've found on the web in terms of people and feedback, straight or XXX, but you're not likely to find anyone talking Spencer and Milton here. Unless one of them is going down on the other.

---dr.M.

 

[Guest]

I was nearly snide above, now I have something more specific to say. If I use any seemingly exotic words, or references/allusions, it's because they fit and I love them. If the 'average' reader doesn't get them I don't care. Or rather, I cannot care; if I did then I would change the way I write and I would not be writing for myself.

Example: In one of my 'Snipps' I quoted James Joyce's story, "The Dead", considered by many to be one of, or the, greatest short story ever written in English. It is perhaps my favorite short story, and my fave Joyce piece, for very personal reasons besides literary appreciation.

The heart of the story is a woman's remembrance of her first love, long dead. She's a mature married woman, happy enough but taken for granted by her good husband. At the climax of the story he thinks he's going to get sex and then is shocked to discover she's thinking of her dead lover, a boy who was recalled to memory by a song heard earlier that evening. She 'relives' her time of him and in one particular, his eyes. The woman, Gretta Conroy, breaks down, tells her story and then says, "I think he died for me". It's heartbreaking, and overwhelms her husband from his complancency.

My quote in my story doesn't explain all that, but the quote itself, whether one knows the source or whole story, fits my character in my story. If one knows the quote and Joyce's story and character then it will enhance my story for some readers.

That's how I use 'big' words or literary references, to fit what I am writing, not to show off or confuse a reader.

Perdita

I misquoted myself, edited to say it's a Snipps story, not the H'ween entry.

 

[whispering_surrender]

I really wish I had something to add here, but alas, my writing pours straight from my brain that way. As to complex literary concepts, I would love to know them, but my poor little brain is filled with trying to overcome a natural inabillity to spell and break my dependence (or dependance?) on my spell checker.

Whisper

 

[Guest]

I really wish I had something to add here,

Hey Whisper, you just did. . If spelling is your biggest hangup, you're OK. Use the checker, don't bother 'learning' how to spell, just write and read more.

cheers, Perdita

 

[sanchopanza]

I've got a walking, talking, cursing Profanosaurus in my family - my dear ole Pa. I've quoted him a few times . . .

Bollocks and rollocks and bollocks to it all
Fuckpig - classic

 

[Uther_Pendragon]

... words like ... apocryphile have no place here.

Sad but true.

|
"Apocryphile" I love it.
What is one? Somebody who loves what is hidden?
Somebody who loves the inauthentic?
Not meaning to be nasty -- I can't spell, either.
It's just that this word calls out for a definition.

 

[Icingsugar]

anyway back to the point i made originally - i wasn't suggesting we should weave ridiculously obscure words into stories i was just wondering about language techniques and how many people pay attention to them when writing (with some people it may just come naturally)

I do. I often pay close attention to every single detail, every choice of word and sentence construction, and I try to experiment with different language techniques in my writing. I often mull over certain sentences and passes, trying different types of language rythm on them until I find one that pleases me.

I still don't know the first thing about hendiadys, or any other grammar for that matter. To me it just seems like "antother way of building that sentence". If I knew a word for every phrase building variation that I have used over the years, I'd need to double my English vocabulary. I guess there is a reason for putting labels on such variation of phrase rythm. Can someone please tell me which reason that is?

/Ice

 

[dr_mabeuse]

I guess there is a reason for putting labels on such variation of phrase rythm. Can someone please tell me which reason that is?

I don't know about phrase rhythm, but all those terms for figures of speech come from the study of Rhetoric, and a lot of them date back to the middle ages or even earlier. Rhetoric was originally the art and science of persuasive argument, and students would study the speeches of the masters (like Cicero) and analyze and dissect them. It went out of fashion with the rise of the idea of the liberal education, and Rhetoric was kind of absorbed into the study of English. It's making a comeback though.

If you want to know more, check out this site:

http://humanities.byu.edu/rhetoric/silva.htm

If you want to impress people, you learn one of these terms-- bdelygmia is a good one, for example--and pull it out every so often when discussing some porn story and watch the eyebrows go up.

---dr.M.

BTW, bdelygmia is the rhetorical name for calling someone a bad name. The 'b' is silent.

 

[Quasimodem]

bdelygmia is a good one, for example--and pull it out every so often when discussing some porn story and watch the eyebrows go up. ---dr.M.

Ah, yes! Logos, Pathos, Ethos, and D'Artagnan.

 

[Icingsugar]

I don't know about phrase rhythm, but all those terms for figures of speech come from the study of Rhetoric, and a lot of them date back to the middle ages or even earlier. Rhetoric was originally the art and science of persuasive argument, and students would study the speeches of the masters (like Cicero) and analyze and dissect them. It went out of fashion with the rise of the idea of the liberal education, and Rhetoric was kind of absorbed into the study of English. It's making a comeback though.

Well, I have actually studied rhetorics. But that course never treated it as a science, which I've never seen it as. To me, the art of argumentative persuation is to be compared to acting or dancing, an artistic craft much more than an science. Of course, there are a few techniques that we were thought in the process of meetiing arguments and counter arcyments back and forth. But still, knowing the names of a hundred techniques of answering a question doesn't mean that you answer it well.

If you want to impress people, you learn one of these terms-- bdelygmia is a good one, for example--and pull it out every so often when discussing some porn story and watch the eyebrows go up.

I think I'll get mostly blank stares, and a few giggles from thouse who thought I just said something nasty.

 

[MathGirl]

Logos, Pathos, Ethos, and D'Artagnan.

Dear Quaz,
Don't forget Curley, Moe, and Larry. Oh, also Manny, Moe, and Jack.
MG

 

[Quasimodem]

Dear Quaz,
Don't forget Curley, Moe, and Larry. Oh, also Manny, Moe, and Jack.
MG

Math,

The characters you quote were not in Rhetoric; but rather, they were in Recked-to-Rack and Rune!

 

[oggbashan]

Unused Tools

That's an eye-catching title.

The terminology for rhetoric and literary dissection are like the unused complex tools in the garage or shed. They are impressive but rarely used.

I have two electric drills in my workroom but when I want to drill one hole I use a hand drill. It is quicker to set up because I don't have to have an extension lead or check that the battery pack is charged.

The same syndrome is seen in recipe books. Many housewives have details of more recipes than they could use in two lifetimes.

A Do-it-yourself expert or a good cook can produce masterpieces with a minimum of tools.

So can a good writer.

Og

 

[Guest]

Unused Tools cont.

I think people are putting the literary cart before the dead horse here. These 'tools' came after the horse. Rhetoric came first, without a name. Then to teach and understand it, and good heavens analyze it, the tools were named and defined. Today their primary use is academic.

With structuralism and post-modernism (both coming after a 'new' horse) we have new tools, but they were not invented, only discovered, labeled and applied.

I enjoy acquiring rhetorical tools only because they enhance my understanding and appreciation of language. I am never conscious of them when I write, and I do like disregarding them, even abusing them at times.

Perdita