Sharaai's blog

“American character is alive in syntactical breaks.” – Smith, pg xl

This quote really stuck with me after finishing Smith’s article and then proceeding to Cliff’s article. The idea of character being part of the “syntactical breaks” in our dialogue provokes me to think about the words and silence in everyday conversation. It also brings me back to yesterday’s first Silence class. Breaks are such an important part of conversation and they can greatly affect how dialogue impacts the listener. These breaks can occur because the speaker is thinking, the speaker would like for the listener to think or they simply need to rest their voice. A syntactic break can have layers to it and this is something that I feel shouldn’t be forgotten as we proceed through this 360 course. When speaking of voice, we cannot forget of silence and vice versa. And with this in mind, we cannot forget the affect the two have on each other and on those parts of the dialogue.

As I was looking for images of silence, I began to think about the moments in time when I appreciated a specific sense of silence. Images of schoolwork, sunsets and sleeping ran through my mind but one that stood out for me is the feeling I look for when I am reading for enjoyment. When I am reading to get away from my surroundings and am attempting to surround myself in a while new world; when I am reading for pleasure, I often hope to become completely involved in the book to point that my surroundings become silenced by the words I'm reading and the worlds I am throwing myself into. Though reading a good book brings a sense of silence over me, the image I chose doesn't necessarily pour out the feeling of silence. It has books everywhere, sticking out randomly from the shelves, stacked vertically, horizontally and all the ways possible. But when you look to the back of this image, you see a man looking at a book very intently. He seems so concentrated and enthralled in his reading that the mess of books around him fades away. This is the silence I love to see. Silence on the outside but the inner workings of the mind still seem to be hard at work.  

As I was looking for images of silence, I began to think about the moments in time when I appreciated a specific sense of silence. Images of schoolwork, sunsets and sleeping ran through my mind but one that stood out for me is the feeling I look for when I am reading for enjoyment. When I am reading to get away from my surroundings and am attempting to surround myself in a while new world; when I am reading for pleasure, I often hope to become completely involved in the book to point that my surroundings become silenced by the words I'm reading and the worlds I am throwing myself into. Though reading a good book brings a sense of silence over me, the image I chose doesn't necessarily pour out the feeling of silence. It has books everywhere, sticking out randomly from the shelves, stacked vertically, horizontally and all the ways possible. But when you look to the back of this image, you see a man looking at a book very intently. He seems so concentrated and enthralled in his reading that the mess of books around him fades away. This is the silence I love to see. Silence on the outside but the inner workings of the mind still seem to be hard at work.