Reading Notes: Voyages of Sindbad, Part A
Week 10 Extra Credit, Reading Notes, Voyages of Sindbad, Part A
This week I will be focusing on Style, specifically dialogue and action writing.
Action Writing:The author first uses action writing when describing the moment the sailors realized they were not in fact, on an island at all, but on the back of a sleeping whale. The author describes how the sailors on the island were startled when the ground started shaking and at the same time their fellow sailors on board started yelling. A lot is going on in a short amount of time. The sailors run for the ship while the whale submerges itself, and at the same time a breeze picks up and Sindbad, the narrator, is forgotten. The author does a great job of describing all of this in a mere three sentences in a way that makes the reader's heart beat fast.
Dialogue:
Two examples of the author using dialogue are listed below.
This is an example of Indirect Dialogue:
"while at the same moment those left upon the ship set up an outcry bidding us come on board for our lives, since what we had taken for an island was nothing but the back of a sleeping whale."
This is an example of Direct Dialogue:
"There was on board my ship," he replied, "a merchant of Bagdad named Sindbad. One day he and several of my other passengers landed upon what we supposed to be an island, but which was really an enormous whale floating asleep upon the waves. No sooner did it feel upon its back the heat of the fire which had been kindled than it plunged into the depths of the sea. Several of the people who were upon it perished in the waters, and among others this unlucky Sindbad. This merchandise is his, but I have resolved to dispose of it for the benefit of his family if I should ever chance to meet with them."
"Captain," said I, "I am that Sindbad whom you believe to be dead, and these are my possessions!"
When the captain heard these words he cried out in amazement, "Lackaday! And what is the world coming to? In these days there is not an honest man to be met with. Did I not with my own eyes see Sindbad drown, and now you have the audacity to tell me that you are he! I should have taken you to be a just man, and yet for the sake of obtaining that which does not belong to you, you are ready to invent this horrible falsehood."
Beautiful Sentences:
"While my companions wandered here and there gathering flowers and fruit I sat down in a shady place, and, having heartily enjoyed the provisions and the wine I had brought with me, I fell asleep, lulled by the murmur of a clear brook which flowed close by."
I love the way this sentence describes the man being "lulled by the murmur of a clear brook". This part of the sentence feels very powerful to me. Not only does it make me feel very sleepy myself, it's almost like when reading the sentence I am transported into the moment myself. I think this is a case of great descriptive writing.
Summary:
Poor Sindbad can't escape trouble! Every time he settles down the sea calls him back and he ends up in a situation. He keeps finding himself in very dangerous places, stranded and alone (usually). You'd think he would learn to be more careful!
Bibliography:
The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang, illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898).
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| (Image Information: Sindbad carried by a Roc, Blogspot) |
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| (Image Information: Sindbad, Blogspot) |
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