David Hernandez, "Retirement Home Melee at the Salad Bar"

Today, some rainy-day practice in the art of observation. You will be placing the style of different authors on the "map" that we made yesterday. Your task: blog a single, informal, observational paragraph that compares the language of three different excerpts from novels of your choice. Title your post "Style Mapping."

Up to two of these excerpts can be from the group that we looked at yesterday (other than Cruddy). The third should be from a book you find in this room: one that you have in your backpack, in your neighbor's hand, on the shelves--it's up to you. Open the book to the first page and have a look. Put it back when you are done.

The three excerpts you choose should have styles of diction that fall in different areas or quadrants of the map you looked at yesterday. For example, one might be elevated and musical, another might be lower but more evocative and sensuous or figurative.

Remember that pop-fiction and some non-fiction is less useful for an exercise like this because it is often written in more of a "middle style" that tries to be "invisible," or style-less.

In your paragraph, describe and compare their language, using partial quotations and using adjectives that you collected yesterday. But you should also use some adjectives that you come up with on your own. Find them from our ol' pink handout of adjectives, find them using the synonyms function on Word or the internet, or come up with your own. Try to surprise yourself.

You can collaborate with a friend (or nemesis) but your paragraph should be your own.

When you have finished your work, read, blog, it's up to you. No homework for other classes, please.