Voices, Voices Everywhere

1862 Words4 Pages

Voices, Voices Everywhere

Having been told that her boyfriend had cheated on her, Marsha had come to a realization which she had always expected she would someday have to make: that being, the decision to end her relationship with Bobby, because she suspected that he could never commit himself to a monogamous relationship. She had previously dismissed her concerns about Bobby's fidelity after concluding that her "concerns" were just another example of her own insecurity.

Maybe her dad was right; maybe Bobby would never commit. "The only way that tomcat will come home is if he's neutered," he used to say in his stern, matter-of-fact voice. She resented her dad's advice at the time, but now she realized that he was probably right; Bobby wouldn't commit. He had advised her to break up with Bobby, but she didn't because she was in love...

She had loved him...she still loved him. How could she ever forget the "good times" they had together? The tender caresses, his hairy, sinewy arms, the long passionate nights, and the...

"Ion! Why are you writing this tawdry bosh?"

"Grandpa, it's not as it would seem. I'm not writing this stuff because I want to! I'm writing it for a class."

"Oh! I see. And what class is that? Is it the how to write a cheap, mawkish romance class?"

"It's for expository writing. I was trying to write a short piece of fiction in an effort to demonstrate that a writer can write from a great many perspectives without actually having experienced the trials and tribulations that her characters experience."

"What's this 'her' crap? When did you get the operation? Hey, that would explain the subject of your 'short piece of fiction'".

Voices. We hear them everyday when we watch television, r...

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...ck the man over the head with anything. What I would contend then is that we have affinities with certain voices, which we come to realize through experience, and that those voices which we feel an inherent attraction to are our "actual selves" expressing "themselves."

When we speak of "voice," I would propose that we look for "voices" in texts. We should listen for the naive child, the malcontent, the self-righteous pedant (that's me!), the beligerent father, and the whole host of other voices that an author might use in her writings, for it is these voices which are what truly compose "voice," and, assuming she is writing honestly, her "self." By looking at the different voices in a text, we enhance our ability to understand and appreciate the author's work, because we are cognizant of the plurality of voices that we have retained in our "mental receptacles."

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