PART ONE VOCABULARY
1.You’ll never make your mark as a writer unless you develop a respect for words and a curiosity about their shades of meaning that is almost obsessive.
obsess这个单词我在这两章实在是见了太多次忍不住去查到底是什么意思,文中还有obsessive,它的形容词。obsess有两种意思,第一种和spellbound意思有点像,但这个是动词使...痴迷,比如说她美的令我神魂颠倒
e.g.she is absolutely so beautiful that obsessed with me.
第二种意思是对某事过分牵挂,念念不忘,be obsessing about sth。而obsessive的意思就是迷恋,obsessive有名词和形容词,当作名词时表强迫症患者,表adj时有种贬义的痴迷,过度的迷恋。生活中有人对干净有种痴迷,即所谓洁癖,我们可以说an obsessive concern with cleanliness.
2.he was the most revered and influential journalist of his generation.
revere代表admire and respect,是一种正式用法。在这里用一下我在单词书学的phrase verb,look up to sb,这里的look up to就是表示respect and admire them.
3.Also bear in mind, when you’re choosing words and stringing them together, how they sound. This may seem absurd: readers read with their eyes.
absurd有两种意思,第一种就是ridiculous,第二种就是悖论的意思
e.g.it seems an absurd idea.
4.An occasional short sentence can carry a tremendous punch.
tremendous:very fast,big.写这个单词因为文章中出现很多表示“巨大”的意思,比如说vast,但vast还有广阔的意思
5.It’s the common currency of newspapers and of magazines like People—a mixture of cheap words, made-up words and clichés that have become so pervasive that a writer can hardly help using them.
pervasive:existing everywhere
e.g. the pervasive influence of fake news.
PART TWO THOUGHTS AND EXTRACT
It’s a fundamental question, and it has a fundamental answer: You are writing for yourself.Besides, they’re always looking for something new.(chapter5)
You are writing primarily to please yourself, and if you go about it with enjoyment you will also entertain the readers who are worth writing for.(chapter5)
It’s the common currency of newspapers and of magazines like People—a mixture of cheap words,made-up words and clichés that have become so pervasive that a writer can hardly help using them. You must fight these phrases or you’ll sound like every hack.
We are in the hands of a hack,and we know it right away. We stop reading.Don’t let yourself get in this position. The only way to avoid it is to care deeply about words.
The race in writing is not to the swift but to the original.Writing is learned by imitation.Good writers of prose must be part poet, always listening to what they write.
这些句子实在是太喜欢,我在读的时候把它画了下来。你到底是为了谁而写?本章标题了是观众,你是为了迎合观众还是按内心所想的写的?承接了上章所说风格为自己的,写作时如果自己写嗨了读者也能嗨了。文中举例了Mencken,他的非小说对后代都产生了深远的影响,原因就是他写出了自己的风格。第六章说报纸杂志所用词太普遍,就像FT TIMES与经济学人,金融时报这种时效性新闻追求快即所谓时效性,所用词普遍是为了有效传递消息。而经济学人思考层次、深度都高一层,用词表达方面更深思熟虑,因为被当做商业经典,也是我们考试出题的范围,仔细看会发现有时标题是一语双关的。比如说有篇deep trouble,既指深海也指深陷困境。
而一个作家应避免使用这些陈词滥调,好的文学作品应具有original原创性和个人风格个人情感色彩,才能长久流传下去。