tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9721761.post7047153459494286955..comments2024-03-19T07:27:06.216-04:00Comments on VOTARIES OF HORROR: What Is Swift Really Saying?Katherine Woodburyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14364517253667798449noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9721761.post-28345070734981449582009-04-15T12:36:00.000-04:002009-04-15T12:36:00.000-04:00I had never heard of "Tom Swifties"--what a hoot! ...I had never heard of "Tom Swifties"--what a hoot! <br /><br />I <B>am</B> opposed to adverbs on principle. I agree with Stephen King, from his book <I>On Writing</I>, that a sentence, especially a piece of dialog, should be able to stand alone without that pesky adverb. <br /><br />"Captain, look out for the death gliders," she cried startlingly. <br /><br />I suppose if that was a Tom Swiftie, it would be, "Captain, look out for the death gliders!" she cried ?morbidly? <br /><br />I'm not very good with puns :)Kate Woodburyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06276977170991272672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9721761.post-14733993374614497992009-04-15T11:29:00.000-04:002009-04-15T11:29:00.000-04:00I'm bad. I tried really hard. Honestly. I did. ...I'm bad. I tried really hard. Honestly. I did. But all i could think of was how to turn everything into "Tom Swifties".<br /><br />"What if Swift's point was (rather) that idealistic societies don't really prepare people for the real world?," she asked imaginatively.<br /><br />"In the section on Houyhnhnms, Swift goes out of his way to identify the Yahoos with all seven of the deadly sins: Greed, Lust, Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Sloth, Wrath," she stated corpulantly.<br /><br />I should repent (he said, turning).<br /><br />I am soooo sorry.a calvinist preachernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9721761.post-80097990100053371022009-03-31T01:26:00.000-04:002009-03-31T01:26:00.000-04:00I can see that. Swift was all about telling peopl...I can see that. Swift was all about telling people to go to hell in such a way that they might be looking forward to the trip. In my experience, most people and educators skip the end of Travels because of the sudden shift in tone and theme. It's too hard for most to teach because I think you're right.. most people don't get it. Or if they do, the don;t like it. Kind of the way most people skip Isaiah in the scriptures or most movie adaptations of Huck Finn skip the entire end with Tom Sawyer. <BR/><BR/>I think Swift (and Mark Twain, since I mentioned him) had a gift for seeing the world as it is, when most people see it as how they believe it is.<BR/><BR/>I can see him being sneaky, particularly if he felt people were going to study and read between the lines anyway.<BR/><BR/>Any, I've been putting some new blogs up, take a look!Mike Cherniskehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10977194295402105318noreply@blogger.com