<p> Connelly 1</p><p>Amy Connelly Dr. Ostenson English 423 November 27, 2012</p><p>The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, Chapter 5 “Danse Macabre” Craft Moves Page Explanations Numbers Unconventiona 136T, 138T, Dashes are a confusing punctuation mark because l dash usage 138M, 140B, they appear to exist outside of the traditional rules of 145T, 151T grammar and usage. It maintains consistency only in the sense that writers tend not to have any consistency with the way they use it. Dashes, as with many other punctuation marks, are often employed to set off and add extra emotion to the syntax. Neil Gaiman is particularly adept at using dashes to suit his purposes. On page 138, he uses dashes in two entirely different ways on the same page. The first time a dash is used as a substitute for commas in an appositive. He renames Bod’s shoes, but he has them in a list of other items that Bod will wear. So, he chooses the dash as a way to set off the appositive without causing confusion. Without the dash, it would look as if the “shoes” and the “pale green trainers” were two separate items. In this way, he provides additional clarification, and the appositive seems to work as Bod’s mind processing the type of shoes he is seeing. Gaiman then goes on to use an appositive as a way to set off an interjected, side question in dialogue. Silas is chatting with Bod, but as he always does, his statements and information seem as if he is lost in thought. By setting off the question, “what are you, ten years old?” with dashes, Gaiman achieves a sense of pause and contemplation with Silas that would have been less powerful with commas. Gaiman utilizes dashes in a variety of ways, and many of these ways demonstrate a clear thought process in their purposeful usage. Colons in place 138T, 142M, Colons are most typically used to set off lists of of semi-colons 144T, 147M information in a sentence. They establish a pause in or periods the reading and then usually indicate that a list will follow. These lists can be composed of a variety of topics: single words, phrases, clauses, etc. However, modern usage has shown colons to also be effective as connectors for complete sentences and ideas. It adds a unique emphasis, different than a semi-colon, in that Connelly 2</p><p> it shows a more connected completion of the thought. It tells the reader that these two parts joined by a colon can stand alone, but that the writer wants them to note them as joint in purpose, most often the first building upon the second. Gaiman follows modern convention by using colons to connect complete sentences. On page 145, he adds this to the end of a piece of dialogue from Bod, “…but he knew that it was not: that this, whatever it was, was special.” This demonstrates that the first complete sentence before the colon leads into the idea of the second. He is talking about the Macabray tradition, and Gaiman wants to show the reader Bod’s thought process. He decides first that it is not typical of living people, but rather, it is special. And those two thoughts are most effectively tied together by a colon. He repeats this both inside and out of dialogue in many other places in his writing. Italicized 136M, 136B, Italicized words are usually proper nouns or titles that words 137M, 141M need to be set off from the rest of the information in the writing. Italicizing in a modern usage context, such as MLA, demonstrates a published source. It is also used in writing to show poetry, character’s thoughts, songs, and even dialogue from the past. Gaiman uses some of these conventional ideas like for poetry and songs, but he also uses italicizing in new and unique ways. He italicizes specific words in conversations or in plain text to show that they have particular meaning or emotion attached to them. One of the ghosts talks about the Macabray and says, “None of them…This one’s special.” Gaiman wants the reader to notice those words and to be particularly impressed with by those specific choices. This italicization also emphasizes that some important and special event is coming. It is especially impressive that Gaiman chooses to italicize pronouns and determiners more often than adjectives and nouns, which tends to be the preferred choice for some writers. Gaiman also uses italicization with onomatopoeia, as many writers do, in order to try to make the sound of “oomp” more realistic and understandable to the reader. Unconventiona 138T, 138B, Commas tend to have specific rules, such as to set off l comma usage 140T, phrases, appositives, lists, introductory clauses, etc. and omission 141T,143B- They are also used to identify two separate 144T independent clauses combined with a coordinating conjunction. These are usually considered solid rules, Connelly 3</p><p> but Gaiman ignores these in several instances. On the bottom of page 138, he writes two sentences that should follow the above rule of independent clauses with a coordinating conjunction. The first sentence breaks the rule, while the second sentence follows it. At first glance, it could appear to be a mistake. But a copy editor would have checked every sentence carefully. This was a conscious decision, especially indicated because one of the two follows the rule. The first sentence reads as follows: “The shoelaces gave him a little trouble and Silas had to teach him how to tie them.” These two ideas tie nicely together, and they do not need a comma to separate the two thoughts because the two parts have completely different subjects. The shoelaces and Silas are divergent subjects that indicate a new train of thought. It can be understood why a comma was not used. However, a word of caution should be inserted here. This particular comma rule tends to be hard and fast. Students should learn how to incorporate commas to set apart two complete clauses with a coordinating conjunction. This rule should be easily or cavalierly broken. From pages 143-144, Gaiman breaks a new rule, refusing to separate sentences with periods or semi-colons. Instead, he lets a sentence run on with several commas. These two unique instances demonstrate that Gaiman makes conscious grammar and usage choices. Run- 136B-137T, Many writers make strong efforts to break up the on/labyrinth 140T, 145T, sentence structure and patterns. One way to do that is sentences 145M, 147B to write strong run-on sentences and/or labyrinth sentences. Gaiman effectively uses this in many places, putting a paragraph-length sentence next to some shorter, simple sentences. This creates a more pleasurable reading experience, and it offers a break from long trains of thought. That is one of the great benefits of writing long sentences: they can function as a thought process, like stream of consciousness. Gaiman particularly uses this to demonstrate the thoughts and minds of his characters. This novel was written in an omniscient third person, so a stream of consciousness can really assist in this setting for helping the reader better understand the characters. His run-on sentences create some of the richest part of the novel, offering powerful imagery Connelly 4</p>