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GM DESCRIPTION: NARRATION OR CONVERSATION?
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<blockquote data-quote="Aldarc" data-source="post: 7624241" data-attributes="member: 5142"><p>I don't think that "vocabulary IS the important distinction between conversational and prose language," but that does not mean that I am arguing "pretty vehemently, all the way along that vocabulary choice doesn't matter." This was also not true on the other thread either. (In fact, I'm not sure if there was anyone on the other thread who believed otherwise.) This latter point is a false position that you have constructed of your own devices and then attributed to me. You are, however, correct when you suggest that "@Aldarc would say...that 'big adjectives' ISN'T what delineates conversation from boxed text." I think that the distinction between conversation and prose tends to amount to more stylistic, tonal, and performative differences rather than vocabulary differences. These differences often pertain to diction, but this is not the same thing as vocabulary. It's about how complexly or formally we construct and arrange our uttered thoughts, but this is not the same thing as vocabulary. </p><p></p><p>For example, if we were to look at this sample description about a husband and wife, we could probably recognize that this is literary prose as opposed to a conversational description. </p><p>How might you recognize that? It's not necessarily "how big the words are" that tips us off, but, rather, the style and manner by which these ideas are communicated. Sure, you or possibly [MENTION=85555]Bedrockgames[/MENTION] would point to the "big adjectives," but I would say it's how these words are constructed together that makes the difference. We could even go back through this piece and replace the "big adjectives" with simpler synonyms, and we could still probably recognize this as literary prose due to how the ideas are communicated through organized structure, style, and tone. Though maybe this is not modern enough of a text? </p><p></p><p>Discounting proper names, the expected vocabulary size required is relatively small. Even if you had no idea where this text came from - and I assume here that you do - you would probably expect that this description of a family came from a literary text rather than something transcribed from a conversation.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Aldarc, post: 7624241, member: 5142"] I don't think that "vocabulary IS the important distinction between conversational and prose language," but that does not mean that I am arguing "pretty vehemently, all the way along that vocabulary choice doesn't matter." This was also not true on the other thread either. (In fact, I'm not sure if there was anyone on the other thread who believed otherwise.) This latter point is a false position that you have constructed of your own devices and then attributed to me. You are, however, correct when you suggest that "@Aldarc would say...that 'big adjectives' ISN'T what delineates conversation from boxed text." I think that the distinction between conversation and prose tends to amount to more stylistic, tonal, and performative differences rather than vocabulary differences. These differences often pertain to diction, but this is not the same thing as vocabulary. It's about how complexly or formally we construct and arrange our uttered thoughts, but this is not the same thing as vocabulary. For example, if we were to look at this sample description about a husband and wife, we could probably recognize that this is literary prose as opposed to a conversational description. How might you recognize that? It's not necessarily "how big the words are" that tips us off, but, rather, the style and manner by which these ideas are communicated. Sure, you or possibly [MENTION=85555]Bedrockgames[/MENTION] would point to the "big adjectives," but I would say it's how these words are constructed together that makes the difference. We could even go back through this piece and replace the "big adjectives" with simpler synonyms, and we could still probably recognize this as literary prose due to how the ideas are communicated through organized structure, style, and tone. Though maybe this is not modern enough of a text? Discounting proper names, the expected vocabulary size required is relatively small. Even if you had no idea where this text came from - and I assume here that you do - you would probably expect that this description of a family came from a literary text rather than something transcribed from a conversation. [/QUOTE]
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