Blog #1

9/12/19 – Anling Chen PD 1

Aim: How does Cormac McCarthy use style and syntax to create setting and develop meaning?

Notes: Syntax, Diction, Dialogue, McCarthy’s devices

·         Syntax in The Road

o   Today, we discussed in our groups various devices used The Road to convey various themes. We all agreed that the syntax played a large factor in how McCarthy was effective in painting such a bleak, pessimistic world. McCarthy employed syntax in an interesting way – straightforward sentences with few commas, the occasional period, and absolutely no colons or semicolons. Sparsity mirrored the conditions of the novel’s post-apocalyptic life: no energy spent on non-necessities and only focusing on what is needed. The flow of the sentences contained few pauses or breaks for thought just as the characters felt slivers of hope among an ocean of despair and zero sight of light at the end of the tunnel.  

·         Diction

o   McCarthy’s choice of diction followed the same thread as the syntax. Straightforward adjectives like “cold” and “dark” left no room for interpretation. It was cold and it was dark. And that’s all. The father and the son faced on their journey only immediate problems. The diction wasn’t so complicated that the reader had to check in a dictionary for its meaning. There was no time for such extraneous problems.

·         Dialogue

o   In addition to only occasional quotation marks, McCarthy largely utilized three general statements of dialogue (paraphrased):

§  “I’m scared”

§  “Okay”

§  “We’re the good guys, right?”

o   Any other dialogue that would be about, for example, what they think about sports, would be unnecessary, inappropriate (they’re halfway to death), and disrupt the flow.

·         McCarthy (didn’t) use other strange devices

o   He didn’t give names to characters to not let the reader forget that could be you. Also because names don’t matter when the biggest fear is whether you can feed your son tomorrow.

o   After analyzing the Robert Frost poem, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” we students also realized that McCarthy didn’t follow an exact timeline with a beginning, middle, and end. It seemed that without chapter markings or a major climax, the father and son looked to be on an endless journey south – a south that doesn’t exist. While the poem explained context (marveling at nature with a horse), The Road gave no explanation for the collapse of society. It gives you the result: a warning.

Reflection:

            I really enjoyed today’s discussion about devices. McCarthy’s writing is so unique and presented his scenarios in a way that makes the reader think after the book, rather than in between plot points or chapters. Rather, the whole book is supposed to be like a horror movie. You don’t pause a horror movie, take a snack break, then come back and get the whole intended effect of the movie. It’s supposed to be consumed then resonate after the fact. I think this is why the book was so short. You can read it in a day and get the point. Without thinking about how we’re using our resources, one day we will run out and the world will fall into a cold, dark pit. Learning about how this author relayed this theme, I feel, will help me in my persuasive writing. Acclaimed fiction does not have to contain a hundred SAT words, a sentence the length of a whole page, or defined character development. Devices are meant to be molded to fit your purpose, whatever that may be.