Limited Vocabulary
Lately something that has been bugging me constantly is the usage of really quite easy vocabulary in YA books I've read. There's no diversity, nothing that forces me to either use the context to figure out a word, or go find a dictionary lying around to ease my frustrations. So either I know every known word in the universe, or authors really aren't using as much hard vocab lately.
I've recently finished James Patterson's Maximum Ride books (well, up to his latest installment as my library doesn't have the final book), and there really wasn't that much vocabulary that was either unknown to me or just a harder word. It bothers me so much that so many authors don't take the time to come up with different words to make the story have personality to itself. Like LotR (Lord of the Rings) the author uses certain vocabulary to really give the book a feeling of its own.
Now that I am finished ranting on this topic, I received another email from the same viewer who had no idea who I was. Here's this person's email:
"hi again seana. nice post earlier. i now know who u r!!! so ummmmm cud u plzzzzz do a review on twilight??? plzzz i beg u! kthxbye"
Oh boy...erm...Twilight, eh? I don't know...I never planned on reading it because it seems to me that every-other page is characters making cow eyes at each other, and because people either love or hate the books. My friend read the books, and she fell in love with them, while another companion read the book and said it was a waste of her time. The plot really doesn't interest me either.
A vampire!
A human!
A werewolf!
IN LOVE!
Ack. For some reason this doesn't scream, "Seana! Seana! Read me! Please!" I'd hate to refuse a viewer a request, but this is one book I really don't think I'll read for all the reasons above and my own special Seana reasons that are tucked away in the southern regions of my mind, unless someone can convince me.
So.
Do you think I should read this book? Why or why not?
<3 Sea
I've recently finished James Patterson's Maximum Ride books (well, up to his latest installment as my library doesn't have the final book), and there really wasn't that much vocabulary that was either unknown to me or just a harder word. It bothers me so much that so many authors don't take the time to come up with different words to make the story have personality to itself. Like LotR (Lord of the Rings) the author uses certain vocabulary to really give the book a feeling of its own.
Now that I am finished ranting on this topic, I received another email from the same viewer who had no idea who I was. Here's this person's email:
"hi again seana. nice post earlier. i now know who u r!!! so ummmmm cud u plzzzzz do a review on twilight??? plzzz i beg u! kthxbye"
Oh boy...erm...Twilight, eh? I don't know...I never planned on reading it because it seems to me that every-other page is characters making cow eyes at each other, and because people either love or hate the books. My friend read the books, and she fell in love with them, while another companion read the book and said it was a waste of her time. The plot really doesn't interest me either.
A vampire!
A human!
A werewolf!
IN LOVE!
Ack. For some reason this doesn't scream, "Seana! Seana! Read me! Please!" I'd hate to refuse a viewer a request, but this is one book I really don't think I'll read for all the reasons above and my own special Seana reasons that are tucked away in the southern regions of my mind, unless someone can convince me.
So.
Do you think I should read this book? Why or why not?
<3 Sea
NO! NOOOOO!!! SAVE YOURSELF!!! DO NOT READ TWILIGHT!! TAKE HEED OF MY ADVICE BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE, SEANA!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI shall indeed save myself! I'm heeding your advice!
DeleteI pretend I'm all high-brow, reading Orwell and the like, but in fact...BRING OUT THE MEG CABOT!! I usually enjoy romances and Twilight was actually brilliant :) however, even Robert Pattinson's presence cannot make up for the fact that the films are awful.
ReplyDeleteOh yes, I did read Meg Cabot's Princess Diaries series, and it was...meh. This author just didn't write in a style I liked, but I totally get how you really enjoyed it.
DeleteNo. I might read them someday (not allowed to at the moment), just to see what all the hype is about, but I might not, because I read the sneak peek on iBooks, and I couldn't write for a couple days after that. It's like the poor writing killed my skills. :P
ReplyDeleteOn the topic of vocabulary, I agree! That's why I love trying to find synonyms so a) I don't repeat the same word a ton, and b) it challenges the reader. That's one reason I like PJO. Rick Riordan has said he doesn't try to make his writing style easy for his readers because he wants to challenge them. If they don't know a word, it can teach them to use context or they can use a dictionary to look it up, and thus add a new word to their vocabulary.
Phew, long comment!
Ah yes. When faced with writing so horrible it makes my eyes burn, my writing skills seem to fizzle out! Terrible! :D
DeleteOoh, RR books are awesome. (:
Long comments rule!
One word (though it could be called two words in a certain light, seeing as it is two words combined into one word which may or may not be proper according to English grammar laws): Don't.
ReplyDeleteAnd Maximum Ride is terrible on the vocabulary front.
Oh those pesky grammar rules drive me crazy. Just say it's one word and then we can call it a day.
DeleteNo. Do not read Twilight. Although I have not read it, I have seen the video Alex Reads Twilight, so...I think I'll say no to a book about a girl choosing between a vampire and a werewolf. I mean, the answer is obvious: neither!!! Here is all the negatives of having a vampire or werewolf as a husband.
ReplyDeleteVampire: Might bite you.
Werewolf: Will get dog hair all over everything.
Vampire: Will probably bite you.
Werewolf: Is easily distracted (cat, chew toy, squirrel..).
Vampire: Yeah...he's gonna bite you.
Werewolf: Poops in public.
Vampire: Your neck is probably looking pretty tasty right now...
Werewolf: Keeps you up all night howling.
You see??? Choose neither!!!
Hehe. That's a very nice list! (:
DeleteSeana...do you have a blog button? :)
ReplyDeleteNo, I'm not sure that I do. How would I create one? (: (I'm horrible with technology, so you might need to explain it in small words.)
DeleteWell...go onto picmonkey.com, a brilliantly amazing site, and go to either "edit photo" or "make a collage."
DeleteMAKE A COLLAGE --> On picmonkey, a collage is, funnily enough, a collage of images. I made one using some images off the web that I liked, plus a picture I'd drawn. Annoyingly, it does not allow you to add text, but when you've finished you can save your collage onto your computer then go onto "edit photo" and add some text. That's what I did; you can see my button on my sidebar.
EDIT PHOTO--> if there is only one image you want to use, just go onto edit photo and add some text.
:)
Aha. Easy enough I suppose, eh?
Delete