Wednesday, September 25, 2013

The Use of Quotations and the Art of Sarcasm

The use of quotations is just a simple part of reading that often times, people do not think twice about. Underlying this neglected art of the use of quotation marks is just as mysterious as it is complex. Take the sentence for example: John did his homework. With a simple addition of quotation marks around the verb causes the entire sentence almost change in meaning: John "did" his homework. This becomes an art to some extent, letting an author portray a false positive in a sense. Placement is key, never following a certain formula, equation, or outline. The quotation mark is a very intricate part of literature.Why would the author intend to do such a thing?

The root of using can be traced into an area of speech, a more learned type of language often misjudged and ignored, called sarcasm. Now why do humans use sarcasm? From a more psychological stand point sarcasm can be very beneficial. Sarcasm can be achieved by the use of an infliction or exaggeration of speech can be used to say one thing but mean the opposite. This causes the speaker to say, for various reasons, something that a listener would want to hear without actually meaning the connotation, almost in fact meaning the complete reverse. This can be a way to express thoughts or opinions without the punishment or recoil that follow the statement. Put into different words, it is a way to shroud or hide our true feelings. The use of quotations is similar, and used in part with presenting sarcasm through text, to sarcasm because it allows the author to share this infliction in the voice to display a different meaning.


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