Present Tense Narration
Having established the three categories of Point of View—first-, second-, and third-person—we move on to types of narration. These are variables that can occur within… Read More »Present Tense Narration
Having established the three categories of Point of View—first-, second-, and third-person—we move on to types of narration. These are variables that can occur within… Read More »Present Tense Narration
In Third Person Point of View, both Reader and Narrator exist outside the boundaries of the Story. The Narrator uses third person pronouns to recount… Read More »Third Person Point of View
Second Person Point of View is the polar opposite of First Person: here, the Reader is a character within the story, and the Narrator exists… Read More »Second Person Point of View
In First Person Point of View, the Narrator is a character who exists within the story world. They use first person personal pronouns to describe… Read More »First Person Point of View
The mystery genre requires careful threading of information from character to character, between narrator and reader, and from author to audience. And Agatha Christie, as… Read More »The Misdirection of Agatha Christie | Liar, Liar
Now that we’ve explored the Cooperative Principle and how to break it, we turn our attention back to our three layers of dialogue. Breaking the CP… Read More »Breaking the CP on 3 Layers | Liar, Liar
Continuing in the Cooperative Principle and how to break it, we turn our attention to a literary example of rampant unintentional violations: Miss Bates from… Read More »Miss Bates of Emma: A Liar, Liar Case Study
Although H. P. Grice’s Cooperative Principle provides lovely guidelines for how to accomplish good communication, for writers, its real value lies in breaking it. We… Read More »Breaking the Cooperative Principal | Liar, Liar
In the 1960s and 70s, linguist H. Paul Grice defined the Cooperative Principle to explain dynamics of conversation. Even though his work hinges on real-life… Read More »The Cooperative Principle | Liar, Liar
Continuing in our series of literary barrier objects, we delve into the boondoggle of excessive, expressive dialogue tags. The Basics A dialogue tag, as its… Read More »Excessive Expressive Dialogue Tags | Liar, Liar