Tuesday, August 23, 2005

Curious about Grammar...

Whatever happened to grammar? I started a new novel written from the perspective of a teenager growing up in a Mennonite community. And I can't help but find the punctuation (or lack of) very interesting. Here's an example:

When I got home my dad was on the roof. Feel safe up there, I asked. He shook his head. He was crouching and looking at something.
I put my fist around my mouth like a bullhorn and said please come down from the roof. I repeat, come down from the roof now.


Does anyone else wonder what happened to the traditional dialogue markings. For example: He said, "I'm cleaning out the eavestroughs." Have the rules changed?

Just curious.

BTW the excerpt is taken from "A complicated kindness" by Miriam Toews.

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