This was article was clearly theory, and I hope I at least gained something from it, so here we go.
I believe that Johnson doesn't want writers to not just write in their own voice, but to try and own it. By writing in a way that's similar to the way they talk, it allows the reader to comprehend the authors message. He wants the students to use prose, and own it at the same time. I like his idea of using stylistic devices, and trying to use time within your paper. By speeding things up, or slowing things down, this can determine pace and can make things dramatic.
Honestly, I believe that I'll have to hear people talk about this article in class to fully grasp it. I'm going to try and finish this question after class on Thursday, because many of his ideas are still unclear to me.
I hope our initial discussion helped some with your understanding of this article, Stuart -- and we will come back to talking about it.
ReplyDeleteBut don't forget that you can cruise others' blogs to see how other people were understanding the article; those other blogs are a highly useful resource for seeing where others are coming from and thickening your sense of possibilities...!