Tuesday, August 17, 2010

A Reader's Guide to Author's Jargon 4

comma roulade

The defiance of the chain noun comma rule (he ate pancakes, eggs and tomatillo salad) by substituting a conjunction, such as and or or. Lions and tigers and bears, oh my. An excellent way to heighten reader tension, and followed by a throwaway word, brings things to a screeching halt. It can be used with clauses also. However, if the clause is too long, the effect is dissipated, i.e. Virginia Woolf's never ending sentences.

Edward C. Patterson

No comments: