Do words Matter?

First let's talk about the language style of the novel. From the reader's point of view, the language style is mainly divided into simple and gorgeous two kinds. The plain language style is generally represented by realistic novels, which are good at showing the life of the lower class, while the gorgeous ones are represented by magical realism and surrealism novels, which are good at showing the life of the bourgeoisie, the powerful class or artists. Generally speaking, there is no difference between plain and ornate, and the choice of language style is based on the character the author wants to represent. Let's look at the beginning of Les Miserables to see how a simple style of language can create vivid characters.

The story of Les Miserables begins as follows: In 1815, Jean Valjean is released from the penal servitude in which he has been imprisoned for nineteen years. Jean Valjean had lost his parents as a child, and had seven hungry nephews at home. He had stolen a piece of bread in order to save the children, and had since been put in prison. He spent a total of nineteen years in prison for several escapes and being recaptured. But prison did not change him for the better. Instead, it made him hate everything, trust no one, and become a fierce and lonely man. When he arrived at Dines, he found that no one would shelter him for the night.

When Jean Valjean finally reached the Bishop's house, he introduced himself to the Bishop as follows:

Nineteen years in prison, four days after my release, and now I am on my way to Pontarlier, which is my destination. I have been walking from Toulon for four days, and I have covered twelve leagues in one day. I had been to an inn, and had been turned out of it for having my yellow passport examined at the town Hall, which I had to do, and I went to another inn, and they said to me: This house doesn't want me, and that house doesn't want me. I went to the kennel, too, and the dog bit me and drove me out as if he were a man, as if he knew who I was. There, in the clearing, was a SLATE on which I lay, and a mother-in-law showed me your house, and said: "You go to knock on the door." I've been ringing. What is this place? Is inn? I have money. I have savings. One hundred francs fifteen sous, I was in prison with 19 years work earned. Can pay. What does it matter? I have money. I am very trapped, walked twelve, I'm so hungry. You let me rest?"

Although these sentences seem to be very simple sentences and words, there is no rhetoric, but these language to complete the narrative function is extremely rich, read very vivid. First of all, why does the author use so much space? Most sentences are in short sentences of five to ten words. We may consider that Jean Valjean, as a man who had never gone to school, and who had spent his youth in prison, had a level of education and a rank which would have given him such a simple phrase. This is considered from the character's identity. Second, he says, "as if the dogs knew who I was," which may seem mundane, but expresses Jean Valjean's despair of his lowly status by contrast -- even the dogs can laugh at him. Then, when Jean Valjean said to the Bishop, "I have money, I have savings," in only seven words, he did his utmost to highlight his human dignity. Then he said, "One hundred and nine francs and fifteen sous, which I earned in the course of nineteen years' toil in the prison," which expressed his rank, his wealth, and his hardship. In the end, he said, When the city hall checked the yellow passport, they were thrown out of the city hall, indicating that the French government trampled on the human rights of the released criminals. All these characteristics combine to form the realistic language style of the whole novel. This style tries to reproduce the situation, psychology, identity and dignity of different classes in an era, and reproduce the political, economic and cultural conditions of an era.

From the above analysis, we can see that plain language can also bring very good narrative effect. The key is that the language of each character should conform to his or her own class cultural identity. The people at the bottom speak the language of the people at the bottom, and the aristocrats speak the language of the aristocrats. The length and grammatical structure of the sentence, the simplicity and complexity of the words, can reflect different characters and personalities. However, in the specific setting and environment of characters, plain language makes the expression of characters more impactful.

In the same case of Les Miserables, if we look at the following passage, the linguistic characteristics of the description are very different. M. Myriel, the Bishop, took Jean Valjean in, invited him to dine with him, and made him a white bed for the night. This was the first time in nineteen years that Jean Valjean had slept in a bed. In the middle of the night Jean Valjean rose secretly, and decided to steal a valuable set of silver from Bishop Myriel's house. At this time Hugo described Jean Valjean's mind as he looked at the Bishop in his sleep:

"A ray of light from the sky was shining upon the Bishop, and he himself was clear, for the sky was within him; the sky was his faith; and while the moon shone upon, so to speak, the light of his heart, the sleeping bishop seemed enveloped in a circle of light. Jean Valjean, standing still in the shadows, with his iron candle-stick in his hand, looked at this bright old man with a shudder. He had never seen such a man, and his devotion to others appalled him. There was no greater scene in the realm of the mind than that of a sinister, criminal man looking up at a sleeping man... His eyes did not leave the old man, and there was only a strange hesitation in his posture and face. He hesitates, we may say, between two gates: the gates of self-denial and the gates of self-salvation. He seems ready to smash the head or kiss the hand."

In these paragraphs, we can clearly feel that the author is completely different from the previous simple and short sentence description, but uses a very rich rhetorical means to describe the characters. First of all, the author says, "The light is shining on the bishop", which seems to be a very common description, but then he says, "He himself is bright and clear, because the sky is in his heart. The sky is his faith." Juxtapose the brightness of the moon with the purity of the bishop's faith and moral sense. "Heaven was in his heart," those six words, gave Jean Valjean a profound shock, more powerful than any other metaphor. Then Jean Valjean, in the shadow, and the Bishop, in all their brightness, gave us a visual contrast, and magnified the sense of guilt and nobility which they each symbolized. "He seemed ready to break the head or kiss the hand." For Jean Valjean, he only wanted to steal, but Hugo here sublimates the two choices of stealing or not to steal into the choice of life path and ultimate morality. One is to crush the sublime, the other is to kiss the sublime. This paragraph brings out the theme of soul salvation throughout the novel. This is also the moral admonition and soul purification that Hugo brings to readers through his language style.

Through these two examples we can find:

First, plain language can also bring very good narrative effect, the key is that the language of each character should conform to their own class cultural identity, the bottom people speak the language of the bottom people, the aristocrat speak the language of the aristocracy. The length and grammatical structure of the sentence, the simplicity and complexity of the words, can reflect different characters and personalities.

Second, gorgeous language style can also magnify the character's inner choice through various rhetorical devices such as contrast and symbol, and play the role of characterizing the character rather than being flashy. For the writer, as long as we use rhetoric closely around the characterization, theme sublimation, then our description will not be ineffective.

Above, we have analyzed the narrative effects that can be accomplished by plain and gorgeous language styles. Next, I would like to talk about the function of gorgeous language skills or rhetorical devices in expressing themes. For many writers, it is often just gorgeous language, but can not shape a deep theme. So how do you avoid flashy writing dilemmas? Let's take another example from Hugo's '93, a description of a naval battle. It was a very simple accident, a cannon slip, but Hugo described it this way:

"A twenty-four-pounder of the battery had slipped. It was perhaps the most terrible kind of accident at sea. The cannon, having broken its chains, was suddenly transformed into an indescribable monster; that is to say, a machine into a monster. This heavy objects of the pulley with it, like a billiard ball rolling, hull side down, when I was shaking around the top is the sink before and after the hull, roll over, roll back, pause, a brooding, and continue to roll, like an arrow shot from one end of the boat to the other, spin, dodge, escape, pause, collision, and killing, Annihilation. This is free, also can say that this is an eternal slaves found revenge; everything seemed to be hidden in our so-called inanimate objects of rogue burst out. This crazy monster agile leopards, elephants, the weight of the mice's dexterity, the stiffness of the axe, waves suddenly, lightning quick, grave chi deaf. It WEIGHS TEN THOUSAND POUNDS, BUT IT BOUNCES LIKE A CHILD'S BALL. You CANNOT KILL IT, IT IS dead. At THE SAME TIME IT IS alive. Its OMINOUS LIFE COMES FROM INFINITY. It HAS A DECK BENEATH IT THAT SHAKES IT. It IS SHAKEN BY THE SHIP, THE SHIP BY THE SEA, THE SEA BY THE WIND. This DESTROYER IS ONLY A TOY. The ship, the waves, the wind, all play with it; that is the source of its ominous life."

The passages in the original book are longer and more complex than what I have just described. This is a typical example of the magnificent language in Hugo's works. It is only a small thing like the cannon slipping away, but Hugo uses the technique of defamiliarization to write the theme of modern machines escaping from human control, which is a reflection on technology. Propelled by the waves, the cannon seemed to become a living thing, a monster. Cannon was developed to destroy the enemy's weapons, but in an accident into the destruction of human beings themselves. What a wonderful distillation of the idea.

However, "material is free", which is the praise of the natural force and the reflection of enlightenment rationality from the philosophical level. In Hugo's time, France completed the Enlightenment, rationalism and the advancement of science and technology, people began to despise nature, nature as an object to be conquered. But this passage makes the reader see the explosive power and vitality of nature itself. Propelled by the waves, a cannon can turn a ship upside down like an infinite life. Hugo tells us through this gorgeous description that human beings still need to fear nature and enlightenment has its own limits.

Similarly, writing naval battles, for many writers, may be extremely gorgeous to render the fierce naval battles, but it is like Hollywood industrial special effects, may satisfy the reader's visual stimulation, but can not withstand the aftertaste and deliberation. This example tells us that when using language, every writer should also think about how to complicate the simple facts that people used to take for granted in language through the technique of defamiliarization, so as to pass on to readers the reflection on the crux of The Times and the certain crisis facing mankind. , for example, for a historical novel, or the fantasy of world war ii, the army fighting scenes often appear, but if the writers will view in a batman, will his psychological activities, what you see is what you feel complicated, completely to the reflection of the writers of the war included, such as descriptions of the with defamiliarization he saw disabled magical scenes, The hunger for life in the deserter's soul, the moment when the weapon destroys the body, etc.

In the examples above, we have illustrated in detail the effect of plain and flowery language styles on writing. There are also some very flexible techniques in the use of language, which can make the environment and the characters jump out of the page instantly.

If the above mentioned are far away from our current era of foreign classics, then let's look at a very representative contemporary localized work "Flowers". The following is the first chapter of the Flower, which describes a scene in the alley where a fish-selling woman is caught cheating by her husband:

Rumbling thunder "ooh. This noisy, christi, front and back alley, residents going la-la-la, all came running out to see the white, m not tao, food does not burn, chopsticks don't swing, sit toilet, also jumped up and ran out, this kind of things, one thousand rare. Next to an old man, think again to movement, the air at the moment, wet trousers. Shanghai born a smile said, well, add toppings, not ok. Some ceramic said that sentence is true ah, only the rest of the time, the husband to apprentice, dragging down the dew yuanyang, husband catch tight women sell fish, disciple and sell egg man, pushing and shoving, down the stairs, women are not willing to step out of the back door. The husband, brisk walking, corruption, do not face things, to replacement and relaxed, fast. The HUSBAND IS STRONG ONE DRAG, THE WOMAN WALKS TWO STEPS TOWARD THE FRONT, THE UPPER AND LOWER HANDS WU TIGHT, SQUAT IMMOBILE. The NEIGHBORHOOD OLD AUNT, IMMEDIATELY TAKE OFF A DRESS TOWARD THE WOMAN'S BODY COVER, LOUDLY SPEAK, EVERYBODY FORBID TO MOVE, GO BACK CALM SOLVE A PROBLEM, QUICKLY GO BACK, HEARD. At the moment, her husband returned to, suddenly opened the apprentice, the sell eggs man ran, hands a pinched man umbilical with this home, with sufficient strength, treat them. This one home, really rare treasures, does not change color, fresh, sheer weight of gold, foolhardy, disorderly shaking. The husband a pinched her home, like a kink sugar cane, kink carrots as poor flexed. The HUSBAND SPEAK, MAKE, NOW MAKE, MAKE COMFORTABLE IS, AGAIN MAKE, MAKE.SELL EGG MAN SHOUT LOUDLY.HOUSEHOLD POLICE RUN TO COME OVER, CARRY SUFFICIENT WHOLE BODY FORCE WAY, POOR SHOUT 1 SPEAK, FEED, FEED FEED, CIVILIZATION A BIT WELL, LET GO, EVERYBODY QUICK LET GO."

As I've been reading it, have you gotten very graphic? The very smell of local life came to my face. Let's look at how the author does this through verbal descriptions. This paragraph of the first characteristic is rich in onomatopoeia and Shanghai dialect, such as "white" play, "the dead", "replacement and relaxed" "face", etc., create a strong local Shanghai - the townsfolk are like lively, neighborhood got the wagging pervasive, alley to quarrel with narrow sense, etc., it is only through the style of language conveys. The second feature is to depict the distinctive characteristics of The Times, showing the specific times and the characteristics of Shanghai citizens. "The old gentleman next door thought he was going to do sports again" implies that this was still during the Cultural Revolution, and "wet pants" implies that the old gentleman suffered humiliation during the Cultural Revolution. "Corruption" is a political rhetoric commonly used by Chinese people in the last decade. A small section, appeared bystanders Hu Sheng and Tao Tao, the old gentleman next door, around the old aunt aunt, small apprentice, the old aunt of the neighborhood committee, the household registration police so many characters. The third feature is humor, which compares the husband's punishment of the egg seller to "as poor as sugar cane or carrot", which is vivid and out of the original indecent context. This kind of humor is not only the author's observation of the details of life, but also the expression of people's life mentality in such an environment.

This example tells us the charm of dialect, onomatopoeia and local metaphors in the use of language styles. There are also political terms that fit the context of different times in China, such as "corruption" in the 1960s, "movement" in the 1970s, and "market economy" in the 1990s. As a writer, it is important to present this information in the language if you want to represent a region of a time more truthfully.

Imagination question for this lesson: Imagine how the passage from "Flowers" mentioned in this lesson could be expressed in words if it appeared in your hometown, or if it happened in a relationship between characters of other classes.