characters vs. CHARACTERS

Since in the title of this post it may be hard to differentiate between the two types of "characters" I'm talking about here it is again:

characters vs. Characters

You may notice that in my posts I vary between referring to characters with either a capital or a lowercase "c." I will, in this post, define what I mean by either, because, yes, there is a difference.

By the way, before we begin, I am not even addressing the definition of "character" as, "moral or ethic quality," as in "he was a man of strong character," or the topic of those "character building courses." Here, I'm only talking about a character as in a character in a story. I hope that makes sense.

We proceed.

When I say, "I don't like the character of Javert," for an example of the lowercase version, I mean that I would not like to hang out with him, because he's not a nice guy. It's what people mean when they say, "He's an evil character," or, "She's a funny character," or "He's a calm, sweet character." It's the conventional use of the word.

When I use a capital "C," however, it means something entirely different. Though I may not like the Javert's character, I do like his Character. Character with a capital "C," has to do with Characterization, how the author portrayed the Character. Javert is an awesome Character. Look at his depth! Look at his transformation! In fact if you want a good example of a Character, choose any from Les Miserables. They are all spectacular Characters - though only some are nice characters.

To be able to produce good Characters in your writing, you have to practice. The opposite of a good Character is a flat one without any depth; the opposite of a good character is an evil one.

I hope this makes at least some sense.

See you in the next post.

~Sophia

(A small addition on Mondegreens)

Hullo folks!

We interrupt our regular program to bring you this small diversion.

I posted recently about mondegreens, which are when we mis-hear the lyrics to songs.
On MSN this morning there was a slideshow on. . . mondegreens! Check it out here.

Enjoy!

Our regular program will continue shortly - a longer post on a completely different topic is coming tomorrow.

~Sophia

Echophonesis!

Weird Literary Terms Part 3

My sister said that Echophonesis was her favorite Literary Term, so I thought I would do a quick post on it.
It's not really used nowadays. I first discovered it in Shakespeare. It is the expression "O!"

"O!" may look like "Oh!" but they are not the same (at least when reading them out loud).
"Oh!" is pronounced exactly how you would think. "Oh!"
When you see "O!" however, it means you have the freedom to make whatever sound you want:
"Oooooohhhh..."
"Sheesh."
"HAHAHAHAHA!"
"GAH!"
"Uuuugghhh..."
"Woooooooooooo...."

Take your pick :-)

"...the rest is silence./ O! O! O! O!" 

~Hamlet's last words (Hamlet 5.2.395-6)

(Note: These last O!'s are often omitted by editors, as they are just an indication for the actor to make sounds appropriate to dying.)

Hamlet's death

 ~Sophia

Do any of you know of any weird literary terms? Let me know in the comments and I'll do a post on them!

Mondegreens!

Weird Literary Terms Part 2

What is a Mondegreen? I'm sure you all have experienced it at one time or another.
Wikipedia defines it as:

...the mishearing or misinterpretation of a phrase as a result of near-homophony, in a way that gives it a new meaning. It most commonly is applied to a line in a poem or a lyric in a song.

For example - "Gladly the cross I'd bear..." becomes, "Gladly, the cross-eyed bear."
And - "There's a bad moon on the rise," becomes, "There's a bathroom on the right."

I did some research and discovered the etymology and origin of this interesting word. Apparently, Sylvia Wright, an American writer of the 1950's, wrote an essay titled: The Death of Lady Mondegreen. In this essay, she writes:

When I was a child, my mother used to read aloud to me from Percy's Reliques, and one of my favorite poems began, as I remember:

Ye Highlands and ye Lowlands,

Oh, where hae ye been?

They hae slain the Earl O' Moray,

And Lady Mondegreen.

Turns out, this poem is the 17th century ballad, "The Bonny Earl O'Moray," and the line is actually, "And laid him on the green." Further in the essay, Wright decides:

The point about what I shall hereafter call mondegreens, since no one else has thought up a word for them, is that they are better than the original.

I realized that I had some of these gems in my own experience - which, as you will soon see, prove my "classic" education and literary nerdiness.

Firstly, when I was about twelve-ish, I heard the song Dynamite. I thought it had a reference to an Italian astronomer in it. When I learned the real lyrics, I was quite disappointed.

The actual words are:

I throw my hands up in the air sometimes, singing eh-oh, gotta let go.....

 My version:

I throw my hands up in the air sometimes, singing eh-oh, Galileo.....

Isn't that so much better? :-) In fact, it's so much better that I've decided to write a parody.

I cast my eyes up to the stars sometimes, singing eh-oh, Galileo...

Maybe not.

Anyway, I have another one, and a little more recent. A certain song which everyone was singing last year made me wonder what sort of dance moves a lawyer would have - and why this song considered them so... sexy.

The song is Moves Like Jagger.

"Who is this Jagger, anyway?" I ask my friends.
They all look at me, horrified.
"Mick Jagger. You don't know who Mick Jagger is!?"
I change the subject.

But no, I didn't know who Mick Jagger was. (I do now, by the way.)

The closest thing to a Jagger that I knew was Mr. Jaggers from Dickens' Great Expectations. He's a lawyer. And he seems rather stiff - he definitely has no impressive "moves."


Or maybe he does, as these old engravings reveal:



He looks like he's disco dancing in that one! And what about this:



Though I am rather curious to know who that other guy is, looking under Mr. Jaggers's coattails.
(I haven't read Great Expectations in a while. If you can elucidate this picture, please do so.)

So there you go - you see how shielded my childhood was.

Though personally, I would prefer Mr. Jaggers to Mick anyday.

~Sophia

Malapropisms!

Weird Literary Terms Part 1

"O villain! Thou wilt be condemned into everlasting redemption for this!" 

-Dogberry, Much Ado About Nothing

Dogberry "respects" the villains (i.e suspects)

The word "Malapropism" comes indirectly from the French phrase mal a propos, which means inappropriate. It is defined by when a person uses an incorrect, but similar sounding word. Richard Sheridan's character, Mrs. Malaprop, is where the word comes from, and she uses malapropisms in abundance.

Here are some examples. 

"Oh, he will dissolve this mystery!"  -i.e. resolve

"It gives me such hydrostatics to such a degree!" -i.e. hysterics

Dogberry, from Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, is probably the most famous user of malapropisms. Here are some of his gems. See if you can figure out what he actually means, and post your guesses in the comments!

"Our watch, sir, have indeed comprehended two auspicious persons, and we would have them his morning examined before your worship."

"Is the whole dissembly appeared?"

"Only get the learned writer to set down our excommunication, and meet me at the jail."

Have any of you heard (or used yourself) any malapropisms in everyday speech? Please share!

Next up is a unique type of malapropism called a mondegreen. Stay tuned!

~Sophia

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Post Script: I am going on a family vacation to Quebec tomorrow, and won't be returning for ten days. However, I will have blog posts scheduled to be published for every few days, and Weird Literary Terms Parts 2 and 3 will be coming soon!

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