Reading Fiction
Parataxis and hypotaxis change how a sentence makes you wait
Try two short passages to hear how parataxis and hypotaxis organise clauses, pace a scene and change what a narrator seems to emphasise.
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Reading Fiction
Who speaks and who sees? Two questions for reading a novel
Separate the narrator’s voice from the perspective limiting a scene. A short invented example makes focalisation easier to notice in your next novel.
Reading Fiction
When the weather seems to feel: reading the pathetic fallacy
When a landscape seems to share a character’s feelings, look closely at the narration. Pathetic fallacy can reveal mood, perspective or a deliberate mismatch.
Reading Poetry
A dramatic monologue lets a speaker reveal more than they intend
Read a dramatic monologue by listening for the speaker, the silent audience and the details that escape the speaker’s intended story.
Reading Poetry
Hypallage moves a description to an unexpected neighbour
Hypallage shifts a description to an unexpected word. Try a close-reading exercise that shows how a transferred epithet can change the atmosphere of a sentence.
Reading Poetry
Synecdoche: when one small part stands for a larger whole
Synecdoche lets a part stand for a whole. Use a few original examples to see how the choice of detail can change a sentence’s emphasis and tone.