Thursday, March 19, 2015

What Draws You Into A Book?


Hello my fellow readers and bloggers! Are you ready to do my linguistics homework for me? (Just kidding)

No but actually, the reason I bring up this topic is because I have a syntax paper coming up, and right now I'm brainstorming on a topic. I've played around with the idea of writing in fiction, or more specifically, what kinds of writing draws you into a story, and how is that different from something you didn't like/care about? Does the structure of the sentences have anything to do with it, or does it depend more on relatability, characters, etc. 


Basically, since this is for my linguistics/syntax class, I want to research what kinds of sentences appeal more to readers. And this can most definitely be seen in literature, where there are sentences that you would just NEVER say in speech. 

For example, taken from Grasshopper Jungle:

Robby and I were the gods of concrete rivers, and history does prove to us that wherever boys ride bicycles, paved roadways ribbon along afterward like intestinal tapeworms.

I don't know why this sentence stood out for me today, maybe it was the use of the word "ribbon". But for some reason, it did stand out, and I wonder why.

Hence, due to said final paper, I've decided to conduct a survey about what draws you into a book. Since this is a discussion, I'm not limiting you to just writing style, it can be anything from plot to characters. You're not obligated to help me out, you can just leave me a comment, BUT YOU SHOULD HELP ME OUT BECAUSE YOU LOVE ME. Plus it's an interesting question: Does sentence structure play a role in literature?

I HAVE A SURVEY FOR YOU. It's pretty short, but I guess it kind of involves some thinking, and your favorite quote! IT WOULD BE AWESOME IF YOU COMPLETED IT. Ya know, for me ;)



Of course, feel free to still comment below if you want! This is still an interesting discussion, besides being my paper topic haha.

Comments (18)

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Survey done!
1 reply · active 523 weeks ago
Thanks Frannie!!!
I can see why it stood out. Lots of imagery! And a little bit of surprise factor with the tapeworm comparison. That sounds like something Vonnegut would write.
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1 reply · active 523 weeks ago
Hahah I still need to read Vonnegut! I know I have Slaughterhouse Five on my kindle :) I think imagery plays a big role definitely. :)
I did it! Hopefully it helps. :-)
1 reply · active 523 weeks ago
Thanks Sam! It helped a lot! I got a lot of quotes and I actually figured out the answer to my question ;)
1). What draws me into books are the blurbs. If there's a blurb that sounds really appealing or like a total "me" book, then I put it on my TBR immediately.

2). I definitely do! One of my all time favorite blurbs is from Premeditated by Josin L. McQuein, which has an amazingly structured blurb:
A week ago, Dinah’s cousin Claire cut her wrists.
Five days ago, Dinah found Claire’s diary and discovered why.
Three days ago, Dinah stopped crying and came up with a plan.
Two days ago, she ditched her piercings and bleached the black dye from her hair.
Yesterday, knee socks and uniform plaid became a predator’s camouflage.
Today, she’ll find the boy who broke Claire.
By tomorrow, he’ll wish he were dead.The rhythm of the blurb and the way it flows is honestly what really appealed to me about the book.

3). “It's really a wonder that I haven't dropped all my ideals, because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet I keep them, because in spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.” (Anne Frank)

Thanks for sharing Val, and great post! <3
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1 reply · active 523 weeks ago
Oo blurbs! You're definitely right about the rhythm of a sentence! Many of the quotes I got, including your blurb, has commas and pauses in places that help with the rhythm. So that must mean something right :) SAME WITH YOUR QUOTE! I'm going to add that one to my paper! Yay thanks for helping me out :)
The answer to your first question is yes, I will do your linguistics. Rhetoric and writing major here, I loved my classes on linguistics. :D I answered your survey, you'll probably be able to tell which one was from me based on what I just divulged. Hopefully I wasn't too obtuse.

Great paper topic, though. And what an awesome forum for a survey. You should share the results in some way!
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2 replies · active 523 weeks ago
Hahah good! Isn't linguistics the best? It's my other major hehe. Ooo writing major! I'm not a very good writer and I'm very impressed with what you're majoring in :)

No worries you weren't obtuse :) I'm going to assume you had a quote from a classic? Maybe. Anyways I'm glad I had a couple quotes from classics and it's cool to compare them to more recently published books! Especially since the structure is pretty similar :) And I will share my results! Right now I'm looking to see if the same thing happens in books of other languages (Chinese, French) and so far I am seeing that it does :)
Yea, it has been a few years -- I graduated in 2010, but I still miss some of my classes. History of the English language was my favorite. Combines my history nerd with language!

I did have a classic quote in there. And I agree it is cool to see how they compare to today's books!
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I filled out your survey, though I am admittedly terrible at quotes. Also, you have reminded me that I need to read Grasshopper Jungle. This is a very interesting topic, which surprises me, because I heard "syntax" and dozed off ;)
1 reply · active 523 weeks ago
Come on Shannon you can't sleep on the job. Just kidding. I'm glad you think the topic is interesting.

I'm gathering quotes because I want to get different opinions and not be biased, BUT THE REAL REASON is that I also am terrible at keeping/finding quotes. I should probably fix that.
Completed! Hope I helped!!
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1 reply · active 523 weeks ago
Thanks Lola! It helps a lot!
This is so freaking interesting! I did the survey, but I wanted to comment with my second favorite quote because it was so hard to pick just one!

"I wanted to tell them that I'd never had a friend, not ever, not a real one. Until Dante. I wanted to tell them that I never knew that people like Dante existed in the world, people who looked at the stars, and knew the mysteries of water, and knew enough to know that birds belonged to the heavens and weren't meant to be shot down from their graceful flights by mean and stupid boys. I wanted to tell them that he had changed my life and that I would never be the same, not ever. And that somehow it felt like it was Dante who had saved my life and not the other way around. I wanted to tell them that he was the first human being aside from my mother who had ever made me want to talk about the things that scared me. I wanted to tell them so many things and yet I didn't have the words. So I just stupidly repeated myself. "Dante's my friend.” - from Aristotle and Dante Discover The Secrets Of The Universe
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1 reply · active 523 weeks ago
GOOD I NEED AS MANY QUOTES AS I CAN GET. I'm glad you loved the topic hahahah
What draws me into a book? The writing, definitely. I want the writing to be beautiful and lyrical and meaningful, because otherwise, a "tell no show" style would make me want to bang my head on a wall instead. Does the sentence structure matter? It definitely makes them more appealing. I would even read them out loud if necessary, just to savor the words even more!
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