Wednesday, September 8, 2010

A Reader's Guide to Author's Jargon

Second person omniscient restatement

A mode of narrative whereby the 2nd person is used and the language is puffed or pretenscious giving an epic effect. This is a good device for short stretches toward the end of a work when an author needs to bring the reader up out of the minutia and into the rarified air of summary. In this case, the distance assumed between the narrator and the reader is sufficiently startling as to reset the work on a new plane. Story elements familiar to the reader are treated as newly introduced and with different language, and main charaters are refered to in type as opposed to developed characters. Since this is used after the reader is embedded in the work, the effect is like an iceberg hitting a volcano.

Edward C. Patterson

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