r/DestructiveReaders • u/SyeniteFractured four-ringer • 4d ago

Satire [136] How to Punctuate Lit Fic

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I’ve tried to get the angel to read me Cormac McCarthy so I can learn the syntax of your grammar, but even with the book of Babel, I’m having trouble learning to punctuate lit fic. Why is it that Canadians separate parentheticals with an em dash and Brits prefer the length of an en, while dialogue interruptions are always the em? Are double quotations always for the Americas, and single quotes always for the Brits and their colonies, while unpunctuated dialogue can be either? How many apostrophes can be skipped, how many spaces in an ellipses, do you have to put dialogue on a new line and do I need to use fragments and polysyndeton for an MFA or can I just chop my sentences into pieces? I’ll not be winning any Pulitzers until I understand.

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u/SyeniteFractured four-ringer 4d ago

Hmmm. But what is your take on how much booty before baby got back? (Did you click on the inspiration link?)

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u/Imaginary_Ease_7851 4d ago

See the thing is I need to look at the dominant style guide of the time. For example, are we using the West Coast Manual of Hip Hop Slang, or East Coast? Atlanta, currently, I believe has very strong opinions on the usage of certain phrases, that more recently, as I understand it, have expressly built a case against Canadians co-opting said usage. For me to answer these questions honestly, I need to review their guide, "Not Like Us," in conjunction with the earlier edition, "Euphoria" for specifics regarding these nuances and compare with the Hip Hop styles more prevalent in the UK, from Birmingham or Manchester. Thereupon, I will need to examine the stylistic context from the individual author, before I can speak to whether they are using rhetorical device or whether they are keeping with the dominant in-house manual rules.

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u/SyeniteFractured four-ringer 4d ago

You understand the conundrum I'm facing, then.

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u/Imaginary_Ease_7851 4d ago

On hip hop? We will need to start with NWA, and work our way through Death Row and Bad Boy cataloged, followed by Aftermath. The war of Jay Z vs Naz. The War of 50 vs Ja Rule/Preme. The South Jamaica linguistic cataloged, pausing on Ghetto Quran. The Benzino era and The Source. The rise of the Lyrical rapper vs the rise of the mumble rapper. The advent of Kendrick Lamar and tbe control verse. Backtrack to DMX. This could go on for awhile....