bell notificationshomepageloginNewPostedit profile

Topic : How to make a list enjoyable to read? I think I'm a Modern Man by George Carlin, is a good example. And, after analyzing it, I've come up with some techniques. Varying sentence length - selfpublishingguru.com

10.01% popularity

I think I'm a Modern Man by George Carlin, is a good example. And, after analyzing it, I've come up with some techniques.

Varying sentence length

I’m a modern man, a man for the millennium. Digital and smoke free. A
diversified multi-cultural, post-modern deconstruction that is
anatomically and ecologically incorrect.

Using opposing ideas

I’ve been inputted and outsourced, I know the upside of downsizing, I
know the downside of upgrading. I’m a high-tech low-life.

Using alliteration (or repeating the first word/word unit)

...laid-back but fashion-forward...super-sized, long-lasting...I’ve
been pre-wash, pre-cooked, pre-heated, pre-screened, pre-approved,
pre-packaged, post-dated...

Using rhymes

I’m a rude dude, but I’m the real deal. Lean and mean! Cocked, locked
and ready-to-rock. I take it slow, I go with the flow, I ride with the
tide. I’ve got glide in my stride. Drivin and movin, sailin and
spinin, jiving and groovin, wailin and winnin...

Am I in the right path? Do you have other suggestions?

Load Full (1)

Login to follow topic

More posts by @Smith147

Login to post a comment!

1 Comments

Sorted by latest first Latest Oldest Best

10% popularity

I suggest checking out 'Skippy's List', a modern classic of satire. One of the themes I see in it that's not on your list is repetition. List items will use a similar sentence structure with small variation, and these will be clustered together or spaced apart for greater effect. Using similar structure on items spaced far apart can act as a callback, and gives the list a greater sense of structure.

For example:


Not allowed to let sock puppets take responsibility for any of my actions.
Not allowed to let sock puppets take command of my post.

Another example:


Two drink limit does not mean first and last.
Two drink limit does not mean two kinds of drinks.
Two drink limit does not mean the drinks can be as large as I like.

The twitter account WorstMuse uses the second kind, especially with one or two word tweets. It references repeating, over-used concepts or words, like: "Plucky orphans" or "Tragic lesbians" or "Retrograde amnesia". The snappy style lets the ideas speak for themselves, and the short format is itself a recognizable rhetoric structure.

Load Full (0)

Back to top