17.9.11

Gonzo and practice sentences



And they teach me not to start sentences just the way I did; and I defy it. The fun of rhetoric (or so I'm finding) is making good use and collecting the terms; just to abuse. Instead of reading my textbook, I sought out  Tender is the Night by F.S Fitzgerald. It turns out his writing is not textbook rhetorical, and perhaps not even rhetorical at all. I found he averages less than one sentence per page that could be classified in this way, which is perfect.

Another abuser of rhetoric; who was likely a master of it: Hunter S. Thompson. The man behind Gonzo Journalism.

How to write Gonzo:

1. "Fiction is the fact"
2. Have a drink
3. Have another


I got off the plane around midnight and no one spoke as I crossed the dark runway to the terminal. The air was thick and hot, like wandering into a steam bath. Inside, people hugged each other and shook hands...big grins and a whoop here and there: "By God! You old bastard! Good to see you, boy! Damngood...and I mean it!"

In the air-conditioned lounge I met a man from Houston who said his name was something or other--"but just call me Jimbo"--and he was here to get it on. "I'm ready for anything, by God! Anything at all. Yeah, what are you drinkin?" I ordered a Margarita with ice, but he wouldn't hear of it: "Naw, naw...what the hell kind of drink is that for Kentucky Derby time? What'swrong with you, boy?" He grinned and winked at the bartender. "Goddam, we gotta educate this boy. Get him some good whiskey..."

Now that was fantastic. Why can't the news all look like this? All of our bodies laced with toxins, our words strung together like lanterns guiding a pathway in the night. The allegorical pathway-leading you to the truth in the end-but listening to stories is better than truth is it not? However full of fact we fill our journalism-isn't the fictional story better? Even if there are 99% accuracies and one exaggeration that makes the article that much better? Which would you prefer to read now?

We get so carried away in finding that "true", and unbiased or pushy voice, that we forget we are humans, we like stories. We tell them all the time. Laced with toxins and exaggerations.


Ideal rhetoric:
The girl loved to read the book.

Unclear:
The reading of the book was done by the girl.

I would chose to write the first sentence, but with complex mannerisms. Like..

She was the kind of girl who loved reading Anna Karrennena, for the hell of it.



Sentences
&
 the instruction and destruction of them

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