Chapter 18:

Summary

Sacred Center:Clark begins the chapter on Yeat's poem "The Second Coming" by focusing on word choice and the writing strategies that you should use when using particular words in writing. Some strategies listed by Clark are:

1. Never be afraid of using an unfamiliar word. 2. Develop context for challenging words in your writing to lead the reader to the meaning. 3. Check on the literal and figurative meanings of words through multiple sources.

Words at Work:In this section of the chapter Clark focuses on how many different ways words in particular writing can be used. For his specific example through Yeats he uses the word Gyre. Clark then explores the different definitions of the word as well as the context in which the word is used and what it implies. This example is meant to show the reader how to use and research particular words in their own writing.

Action Words:This section focuses on the balancing of words and discusses the context clues used in Yeats poem "The Second Coming". Clark points out that Yeats develops the context clues for gyre based on the previous line where he speaks of a falcon "turning and turning".

Subtle Changes in Language:The changes in language that Clark focuses on in this section are dealing with the line structure of Yeats poem. Words that would generally not be inserted in between subjects are done by Yeats to create an effect of emphasis. This section also focuses on the repetition of certain words in the poem, such as "loosed" and how repetition can change the effect of words.

Say It Like You Mean It:Surprisingly this section has a touch of rhetorical emphasis. Clark speaks of how certain lines in "The Second Coming" create the weight of aphorism. Yeats uses short statements in his poetry that are impossible to prove or disprove, lending to their weight.

Inverting the Familiar:This sections focuses on Yeats ability to take commonly thought of Catholic words an ideas in the poem and invert them to be references to his occult leanings. The use of particular words puts the a spin on their own context in Yeats writing, thus furthering the idea that word choice is extremely important.

Writing Lessons

1. Never be afraid to use and unfamiliar word, such as gyre, even one that your readers might not understand. If you think a strange word will not be understood create a context to guide the reader toward meaning.
2. Repeating a word in close proximity - as in "down, down" and "slow, slow" - creates the effect of continuous action. Words can be linked together by repetition, as in the vowel sounds of Widening and gyre and in the endings of turning and widening. Words that end in "ing" contribute to that sense of continuous action.
3. Simple and common words can be used to generate the most powerful ideas, as in "Things fall apart; the center cannot hold". Yeats uses the semicolon as a singing gate, a mark that separates equal elements, but he lets the reader pass from one to the other.
4. Stick to your guns. Don't be afraid to make a statement, as in "The best lack all conviction". As Tom Wolfe advises, short statement and sentiments have the feel of gospel truth.
5. Don't be afraid to surprise readers by frustrating their expectations. Choose a common phrase or symbol, such as "The Second Coming", and re purpose it for a radically different interpretation.

Critique

The writing lessons in this section focus mostly on word choice. The problem with this is you do not want novice writers to think that word choice conveys what "good" writing is. In Nancy Sommers' "Across the Drafts" she discusses how novice writers already overly stress the lexical choices in their work. Clark's lessons in this chapter would only reinforce the struggle most emerging writers have according to Somers. There are some lessons in this section that could be headed to assist students with writing. Clark points out the importance of the use of Yeats punctuation for effect. While this echoes formalist ideas of the importance of grammar it is manipulation of the grammatical structure of the language that is able to give it the proper effect. When Clark speaks of the research of particular words and the frustration of both writer and reader in this chapter, it makes one think of "persistence" in the NCTE's eight habits of mind from "Framework for Success in Postsecondary Writing.