Eyes closed, I sat in my reading chair lost in the world of J.R.R.Tolkien's The Return of the King, audio version. Frodo and Sam trudged desperately up the Mountain of Doom, the weight of the ring growing ever heavier. All seemed lost. Then, amid images of pain and terror, came one simple sentence: "Great heart will not be denied." I took a deep breath with Frodo, and we climbed on.
Why is this small sentence the only one I can recite from the thousands in the trilogy? Why did it move me to tears and hope, not just for Frodo and Sam but for us all? Its power lies in its starkness, its brevity, the directness with which it lifts us up out of the muck and makes us go on. The short, ordinary words aim at us like battle spears. The consonance of the final t's in great, heart, and not and the double-d of denied cement the promise of the sentence. In six short words, the fate of the world has turned.
If you doubt the power of short, ordinary words, consider one way an amateur writer might have captured the moment: "Having courage and working passionately toward your goals will be rewarded." It's just not the same.
by Jan Tarasovic
Are you a reader who values a writer's style as much as the meaning it conveys?
Are you a writer who seeks to refine your own style?
Would you like to improve your understanding of the techniques writers use to create beautiful sentences?
Welcome to the search for the perfect sentence!
Most readers and writers focus on the content of a piece--the ideas it conveys, the story it carries, the events it chronicles. "So many books, so little time" we readers chorus, rushing through our stories, newspapers, websites. "Is it finished?" we writers ask. "Have I written enough words? Have I gotten the content across?"
Here we'll focus on the style of writing more than its content. We'll slow down. We'll read very short passages, sometimes single sentences, and we'll savor their wordcraft. We'll examine why each word was chosen, how they were arranged into sentences, and how those sentences evoke our responses. In the process, I hope we'll become more careful, perceptive readers and more effective writers.
Beautiful writing is everywhere--on the sports page of the morning paper, in the novel that relaxes you at night, in your grandmother's love letters found in the attic. If you would like to contribute a passage for close reading, with or without your own interpretation of its techniques, please email me at jtarasovic@gmail.com.
Here we'll focus on the style of writing more than its content. We'll slow down. We'll read very short passages, sometimes single sentences, and we'll savor their wordcraft. We'll examine why each word was chosen, how they were arranged into sentences, and how those sentences evoke our responses. In the process, I hope we'll become more careful, perceptive readers and more effective writers.
Beautiful writing is everywhere--on the sports page of the morning paper, in the novel that relaxes you at night, in your grandmother's love letters found in the attic. If you would like to contribute a passage for close reading, with or without your own interpretation of its techniques, please email me at jtarasovic@gmail.com.
About Me
- Jan
- After a career teaching English in the Washington, DC area, I read, write, and teach in Richmond, VA.
Visit My Book Review Blog
More for Word Lovers
A Few Tricks in the Writer's Bag
Alliteration - the repetition of initial consonant sounds in close proximity (close enough for your inner ear to notice): the price of popcorn)
Assonance - the repetition of vowel sounds. The sounds do not have to be spelled the same way. Bright sky has assonance; brand name does not, in spite of the a in each word.
Metaphor - a figure of speech that describes one thing as if it were another; an implied comparison.
Simile - a figure of speech that compares one thing to another; the comparison is signaled by like, as, or than.
Consonance - the repetition of final consonant sounds: rough surf.
Rhythm - a regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables. Most prose has little recognizable rhythm, but subtle use of it can make a sentence memorable. See "The Rhythm of Prose," left.
Suspensiveness - placing the main clause in the middle or at the end of the sentence, preceded by modifying words, phrases, or clauses
Assonance - the repetition of vowel sounds. The sounds do not have to be spelled the same way. Bright sky has assonance; brand name does not, in spite of the a in each word.
Metaphor - a figure of speech that describes one thing as if it were another; an implied comparison.
Simile - a figure of speech that compares one thing to another; the comparison is signaled by like, as, or than.
Consonance - the repetition of final consonant sounds: rough surf.
Rhythm - a regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables. Most prose has little recognizable rhythm, but subtle use of it can make a sentence memorable. See "The Rhythm of Prose," left.
Suspensiveness - placing the main clause in the middle or at the end of the sentence, preceded by modifying words, phrases, or clauses
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