Use of Descriptive Language in American Gods
by Theodore Kemna
I have currently been reading a book titled
American Gods by Neil Gaiman, which follows a man named Shadow who takes a job from a man named Mr. Wednesday shortly after getting out of prison and ends up caught up in a war between new and old gods who have found themselves living throughout America.
One method of writing I've found particularly interesting in the book is the writing about a character named Mr. Ibis, who is the American Old God incarnation of the ancient Egyptian god Thoth who runs a funeral home in Cairo, Illinois. He is described as a thin black man, but the way the writer goes about explaining it is unique. For those uninformed Thoth in ancient Egyptian art and writings is described as having an ibis head on a human body, and even though he doesn't in the book, the writer is still able to capture that aspect of the character in the writing. For example, on page 194 he is described as a "crane-like man", or on page 209 he is said that "Small golf-rimmed glasses were perched on his nose... Mr. Ibis was well over six feet in hight, with a crane-like stoop." None of these descriptions explicitly state that he looked like an ibis, but they paint the picture in the reader's head.
Thoth as depicted in Egyptian hieroglyphs
The ibis-like descriptions are also used when describing his actions throughout the book, such as on page 208 when it is stated that "Mr. Ibis picked and pecked at a slice of coffee cake" or on page 210 when it states "Mr. Ibis pushed his lower lip upward, then let his head bob from side to side, as if it were on a spring." Like with his physical descriptions none of these descriptions state explicitly that he is a long-neck-and-beaked bird but they still leave the echoes of that image in the heads of those who read it.
This is merely an example of the excellent use of language by the writer within the text. This level of descriptive writing is used and included on almost every of the 635 page book. If this has peaked your interest at all I definitely recommend checking it out.
I really liked the quotes that you included from the book, especially the one describing the way Mr. Ibis had cake. These quotes were very detailed and helped me visualize his behavior, and your explanations of the quotes helped me understand them even better. I enjoyed your blog post.
ReplyDelete-Florence Lin
I think this book seems interesting. It sounds cool how old gods come to america. Also I thought you did a good job of expressing the style of the book through your quotes especially the one about how Mr. Ibis looked because it gives me an idea about the author's writing style.
ReplyDeleteThe author's style of writing seems very engaging . The quotes you provided gives readers an idea of the book's style. American Gods sounds like a very interesting book, and your article was very thoughtful and provides a good summary of the book.
ReplyDeleteYou do a great job of highlighting the author's interesting way of writing. Through your use of passages you were able to do a great job of showing just how descriptive the book is.
ReplyDeleteI like how you quoted the book to demonstrate your point of the author's good language. I think that your book has a very nontraditional, yet interesting plot. Usually, stories about gods are isolated from stories set in America, and I thought that it was interesting that the author combined the two. I think you provided a very good summary to your reader. Good job!
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