Developing Reading Maturity: Understanding Style (1964)

[Music] thank you here is a writer at work why does he write this way what is he attempting to do what kind of person is he learning to understand style will help you answer these questions and greatly enrich your understanding of what you read an author first of all is both a Craftsman and an artist carefully combining words to convey his thoughts and his feelings he has available an almost unlimited number of ways in which he can put these words together but he chooses the one way which to him best expresses himself in writing the way that an author expresses his ideas and feelings is called his style every effective author puts something of himself into his writing creating a unique style of his own now an author writes for a reader you for instance you read his words and you attempt to understand his meaning if you developed the mature skill of understanding style you'll gain a deeper understanding of an author's meaning and a greater appreciation of why and how an author writes as he does let's see some of the ways to understand style and improve your reading a first step in understanding style is to try to discover the author's purpose in writing everything is written with some purpose in the writer's mind for example some things are written primarily to inform that was the purpose of Paul De Christ's book microbe Hunters he wrote it to give information about men who have made important contributions in the battle against disease other books are meant to argue or persuade for example Silent Spring by Rachel Carson was written to convince readers that the chemicals used to kill insects are dangerous to other animal life as well so a writer's purpose may be to inform or persuade or something else it might be to satirize or poke not too gentle fun at something take this book Don Quixote a satire by Miguel de Cervantes in creating the character of Don Quixote savante's main purpose was probably to ridicule the highly idealistic romances of chivalry that were popular in his time Don Quixote suffers from the misguided notion that he must write all the wrongs of the world in his mind sheep become transformed into armies and windmills into Giants that he must overcome but satire information and persuasion are examples of only three of the many purposes an author may have for expressing himself the way he does a second step in understanding style is to consider the literary form which the author uses for example take the famous ride of Paul Revere his ride is an authentic historical event that's been written about in the straightforward narrative style of a textbook Paul Revere rode through the countryside warning that the British were coming and in the bouncing rhythm of longfellow's well-known poem listen my children and you shall hear of the midnight ride of Paul Revere notice how the literary form a poem affects the style in the choice and Rhythm of the words take another theme the Journey of a ship in 1609 that was driven off course by a storm and wrecked near Bermuda the style used by an historian of the period in a work describing the event is Apparent from its title a true Repertory of the rack and Redemption of Sir Thomas Gates Knight upon and from the islands of the Bermudas we would expect this style to be very different from that used by Shakespeare who probably used the same event as the basis for his play The Tempest ACT first scene one on a ship at sea a tempestuous noise of thunder and lightning heard enter a shipmaster and a boat swing both Wayne here Master what cheer good speak to the Mariners fall to it yearly or we run ourselves aground be stir be stir we might also compare writings about the flood described in the Bible a Biblical account of the event has one style and the rain fell upon the Earth 40 days and 40 nights my archaeological studies of the same event have another Style the flood that was the only possible explanation of this great clay deposit beneath the hill at er and so the style reflects the literary form chosen by the writer a third step in understanding style is to examine the characteristic language patterns which an author uses in expressing himself William Faulkner's style for example as we can see in a selection about a flood from The Wild Palms is noted for its frequent use of long involved sentences it was as if the water itself were in three straighters separate and distinct the Bland and unhurried surface bearing a frothy scum and a miniature Flotsam of twigs and screening as though by vicious calculation the Russian Fury of the flood itself and this set this goes on at length slowly building the tremendous emotional effect that is characteristic of Faulkner's writing a much different sort of language pattern is frequently used by Ernest Hemingway in this story Big two-hearted River we find a series of sentences also about water that shows Hemingway's use of short simple sentences to produce a sense of vigor and directness in his writing Nick looked down into the pool from the bridge it was a hot day a kingfisher flew up the Stream it was a long time since Nick had looked into a stream and seen trout they were very satisfactory still another thing to consider in understanding style is the author's choice of specific words and the particular ways in which he puts them together to suggest meanings and feelings for example there are many ways that a cloudy sky has been described in a newspaper a mass of low stratus clouds reduced visibility in Homer's Odyssey great Zeus and shrouded Land and Sea in dark clouds by Edgar Allan Poe the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens each style helps to create a certain effect oh for example was a master at setting a mood of mystery and Terror this sentence is actually part of a longer sentence in the opening of The Fall of the House of Usher it's easy to see how Poe's choice of words and the way in which he puts them together affect the tone and mood of what he is writing and the style of the work as a whole reflects Poe himself and the elements of strangeness that were part of his personality the same is true for any writer his selection of purpose literary form words and language patterns are all part of his Unique Style it is through his method of handling such characteristics of style that the writer often reveals something of his own personality by understanding the style of Hemingway for example you can gain a sense of the directness and vigor that were aspects of his personality when understanding of the style of Faulkner you can see something of the moodiness and depth of feeling that we're part of the man in this way an understanding of style helps you come to know authors as persons with feelings as well as ideas to express when a writer is honest with himself and his ideas his personality will be reflected in his style you will become a more mature reader as you learn to seek the additional Clues to meaning that an author's style reveals understanding style helps you know the man as well as his writing and so makes the act of reading more enjoyable and meaningful [Music] thank you