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Feb. 18th, 2005 05:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hathycolSo I finished the section on verbs.
Only three more sections and a conclusion to go... which I'm not doing today. I will do over the weekend, or simply not give it in. It is Teh Crap, but it's a draft. There we are. Some of you were interested, so here we are thus far - how does Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets (Text A) and The Hobbit (Text A) creates suspense and tension via verbs? Taken the table out, so will make even less sense... I apologise.
From this, the first thing that is immediately obvious is that The Hobbit (Text B) contains far more bland verbs than Chamber Of Secrets. (Text A) At first glance, this could go to show that this is how Text A manages to create a sense of tension and even one of action. By describing the movements of each character in explicit detail, the tension could be increased. This is shown in Text A, with verbs such as ‘surging’ and ‘clicking’ allowing the reader to clearly see what it is the spiders are doing. By doing this, the author draws the reader into the viewpoint of the protagonist and as such increases the tension for the reader by allowing a feeling of fear to creep in. This is not shared by Text B, where verbs are mostly perfunctorily and to further the story, even though Text B actually uses more verbs than Text A. This leads to an assumption that Text A’s verb choices are all deliberative, leading to a very distinct style and tone and build-up in suspense.
However, it also leads to an idea that Text A uses more emotive verbs that Text B, yet listing them reveals this is not true. Both texts use equal amounts of emotive verbs, although the average use of emotive verb is different. Taking into account all of the repeated verbs, Text A uses emotive verbs 25% of the time. Text B only uses emotive verbs 20% of the time. This leads back to the initial conclusion that Text A creates tension through deliberate choices of verbs.
I felt that there might be something in looking at the connotations of the verbs, in particular the emotive verbs. To begin, Text A, uses verbs with strong connotations of noises and actions which are generally repulsive. For example, ‘swarmed’ leaves the reader in mind of scuttling insects in a great multitude. As the scene is obviously about this, it increases the tension by indicating that there are a great many of antagonists. (In this case, the spiders.) This is combined with various verbs connoting to fear and terror, such as ‘cowering.’ This leaves the reader with a clear picture of abject fear, and shrinking away from the antagonist. Again, this heightens the suspense and fear for the protagonists. Text B does not share this. No emotive verbs are used when detailing the protagonists fear, nor any in particular of the spider’s actions. However, on closer examination this is not the purpose of the passage. Instead, the emotive verbs are used to describe the ferocity of the fight between the protagonist and the spider. Words such as ‘attack’ are stark and clearly show how intense the fight in meant to be, whilst verbs such as ‘flung’ add to this by showing how strong the antagonist is. By doing this, the author gives the reader clear images of how desperate the struggle is for the protagonist, and adds a sense of suspense to the text.
Blah blah. I'm going to go and eat, and then I'm going for a driving lesson. And then out! Presuming I don't pass out from caffience overconsumption.
~Hathy_Col~
Only three more sections and a conclusion to go... which I'm not doing today. I will do over the weekend, or simply not give it in. It is Teh Crap, but it's a draft. There we are. Some of you were interested, so here we are thus far - how does Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets (Text A) and The Hobbit (Text A) creates suspense and tension via verbs? Taken the table out, so will make even less sense... I apologise.
From this, the first thing that is immediately obvious is that The Hobbit (Text B) contains far more bland verbs than Chamber Of Secrets. (Text A) At first glance, this could go to show that this is how Text A manages to create a sense of tension and even one of action. By describing the movements of each character in explicit detail, the tension could be increased. This is shown in Text A, with verbs such as ‘surging’ and ‘clicking’ allowing the reader to clearly see what it is the spiders are doing. By doing this, the author draws the reader into the viewpoint of the protagonist and as such increases the tension for the reader by allowing a feeling of fear to creep in. This is not shared by Text B, where verbs are mostly perfunctorily and to further the story, even though Text B actually uses more verbs than Text A. This leads to an assumption that Text A’s verb choices are all deliberative, leading to a very distinct style and tone and build-up in suspense.
However, it also leads to an idea that Text A uses more emotive verbs that Text B, yet listing them reveals this is not true. Both texts use equal amounts of emotive verbs, although the average use of emotive verb is different. Taking into account all of the repeated verbs, Text A uses emotive verbs 25% of the time. Text B only uses emotive verbs 20% of the time. This leads back to the initial conclusion that Text A creates tension through deliberate choices of verbs.
I felt that there might be something in looking at the connotations of the verbs, in particular the emotive verbs. To begin, Text A, uses verbs with strong connotations of noises and actions which are generally repulsive. For example, ‘swarmed’ leaves the reader in mind of scuttling insects in a great multitude. As the scene is obviously about this, it increases the tension by indicating that there are a great many of antagonists. (In this case, the spiders.) This is combined with various verbs connoting to fear and terror, such as ‘cowering.’ This leaves the reader with a clear picture of abject fear, and shrinking away from the antagonist. Again, this heightens the suspense and fear for the protagonists. Text B does not share this. No emotive verbs are used when detailing the protagonists fear, nor any in particular of the spider’s actions. However, on closer examination this is not the purpose of the passage. Instead, the emotive verbs are used to describe the ferocity of the fight between the protagonist and the spider. Words such as ‘attack’ are stark and clearly show how intense the fight in meant to be, whilst verbs such as ‘flung’ add to this by showing how strong the antagonist is. By doing this, the author gives the reader clear images of how desperate the struggle is for the protagonist, and adds a sense of suspense to the text.
Blah blah. I'm going to go and eat, and then I'm going for a driving lesson. And then out! Presuming I don't pass out from caffience overconsumption.
~Hathy_Col~
