Linkology: The Best of the Internet for 5/20/11
Metadiscourse is writing about writing or talking about talking; it’s the metadata of discussion. You’ve probably never heard of it, but you probably do it. Anytime you preface a thought with “I think” or opinion with “in my opinion” or belief with “I believe” you are engaging in metadiscourse. If you use phrases such as “frankly” or “on the other hand,” you’re guilty too.
Back in my AP English and Composition classes, my teachers and professors got hold of our metadiscourse habits real quick and drilled most of them out of us. (Not everything, however: good writing needs some
level of metadiscourse. Too much, though, gunks up the works.) Our papers would come back slathered in red ink — I often wondered how many pens died grisly deaths during a regular evening of correcting a batch of wordy, over-intellectualized essays by zitty, author-aspiring students — and focused on how often we put little meta statements all over the very thoughts we were communicating. Example:
If I wrote, “I believe” before professing a belief, the teacher would write in scraggly, clearly-frustrated scrawl: “Of course you believe it. You’re writing the paper!” If I said, “In my opinion,” he’d come back with “Who else’s opinion could it be?” If I said, during a speech, “I would like to take a second to thank the review board,” he’s say, “Stop telling me what you’re about to do and do it!”
So pretty quickly, we all got the message and our unnecessary metadiscourse pretty much got conquered early on. Which is good, because when you’re 16 and think you’re the next Philip Roth and you get all cutesy with your writing, you need to be yanked back into reality pretty hard.
But lately, though, my long-dead metadiscourse habit is coming back, and I can’t figure out why. It’s not via my reading. I’m not consciously trying to do it. They say bad habits once buried are unlikely to come back, but if that’s the case, there’s all sorts of bad news going on, because I have a literary backyard full of zombies.
What’s my point? Good question. I guess it’s one of exorcism and/or catharsis: now that I’ve acknowledged the problem, it has nowhere to hide. I’m conscious of it. Angry at it. And this meandering, lazy Friday post is several paragraphs of me telling you so.
But if there’s a PSA to be had, it’s this: don’t you go and get all metadiscoursey on your colleagues and family. Most people do this unconsciously, or, in some cases, to even weaken their own statements if they feel what they’re saying is too bold. But pay attention: you might see and hear some things in your writing and speech that smack of metadiscourse and you’ll recognize them now. And then, naturally, you’ll think of this blog post and thank me profusely, maybe even monetarily.
In my opinion.
Let’s hit the links and then get on with the weekend:
It’s almost summer, and you want cheeseburgers. And by ‘you’ I mean ‘me’. So which is the best? Here’s the ultimate shootout: Steak Shack vs. Five Guys vs. In-N-Out.
Here Be Monsters: a story of three friends who, on a drunken dare, set out in a dinghy for a nearby island. But when they run out of gas and drift into uncharted territory, the biggest threat they faced wasn’t the water: it was each other.
9-eyes: Google Street View’s most disturbing (and sometimes beautiful) images.
Finally, here’s the ultimate dog tease. If you watch any web video this week, make it this one. I am not kidding.
Have a good weekend, everyone.
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More links:
MIPRO Consulting main website.
