Friday, March 15, 2013

On Wording

In my First Year course, we have to write plays as our final project.  It's not supposed to be a long play, but it's supposed to have some sort of meaning.
That's not what I'm getting at, however.
What I'm getting at is that today in class, the drama professor went over wording: he emphasized that what you say is greatly affected by how you say it.
For example, if you have someone say, "I should probably pee," that means that their bladder is only half-full but they're in for a long stretch in a situation where relieving one's bladder is socially unacceptable.   However, if they say, "I NEED TO PEE!" that means that they really shouldn't have drank that two-liter bottle of Ginger Ale half an hour ago.  (drinking an entire two-liter bottle of ginger ale in one sitting is questionable under any circumstances, but that's irrelevant).

It goes beyond the situation of someone's bladder, though.  How you phrase a monologue can imply whether Beka wants Fuze to be happy, or whether Beka thinks Fuze should be happy.  What's the difference?  If Beka wants Fuze to be happy, it can carry the implication that Fuze's unhappiness is a matter of great concern to Beka.  If Beka thinks Fuze should be happy, it implies that Beka is rather concerned about Fuze's unhappiness, but it's also driving her up the wall.  In short, it can define whether Beka wants Fuze happy for his own sake or so that he'll stop complaining to her and stop irritating her so much.  It shows whether Beka is concerned more for Fuze's sanity or for her own.

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