Hey Jude ...
A look at nouns and naming
What can you tell me about this figure? Do they have a name? If so, what might it be?
It’s hard to point something out without having a word to describe it - a word other than ‘thing’ or ‘thingamajig’ - imagine if things didn’t have names. How could you say anything precisely? Might the figure in the picture be Jude? Or Judas? (See, I’ve had to invoke some proper nouns here - quite properly.)
Or perhaps it’s a nameless face, a mask, a model? The figure’s hair (if it is hair, that is) is purple - what if every single strand of hair had its own name? (It’s no wonder we have things like common nouns - to describe common things like these.)
What if I wanted to point out that the figure’s split - divided - and the two halves come together as a pair. There are two pairs of lips; a bunch of spherical blobs, a mass of plasma. (Lucky for me I have a load of collective nouns I can use!)
I could point to the objects in the illustration (using concrete nouns), or to its features - its abstraction, surrealism, or it being a product of Carol’s imagination. (Yup, I had to draw on some abstract nouns there - words that describe things we can only know through our intellect.)
There are things I can count like rectangles, or eyes; things that are uncountable like plasma, skin, lighting.
Personally speaking, although nouns aren’t my absolute favourite part of speech, I appreciate the role they play in helping us communicate. They’re important - very important. We couldn’t do without them.
So as I’m running both a free course on here as well as a competition, here are some questions about nouns to spark some creative juices, drawn from my forthcoming book Master the Art and Craft of Writing which is due out in 2023 …
Shylock, in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice changes a proper noun to a common noun when he refers to the lawyer representing Antonio as A Daniel come to judgment! yea, a Daniel! What shifts for you in your thinking when you reflect on the change from Daniel to a Daniel? Share your thoughts below.
If you think about giving each of the dining plates in a set you own a proper name, what changes come about in you as a result? The set of buttons on a garment you own, or the blades of grass in a square half-centimetre of lawn would also work - come up with your own set of common things to work with. Share your thoughts below.
Think of a few things that are uncountable, like sugar, water, tea - shift to thinking of them as countable. What changes in your mind as a result? Conversely, shift from count noun (a glass, a grain, a book) to uncountable essence (glass, grain, book) - for me, the first two work, but the last grates - if you felt the same, can you tell why? Share your thoughts below.
Lastly, focus on abstract nouns (e.g., justice, imagination, creativity, marriage) and try to think of them in concrete terms, as count nouns, uncount nouns, and then give them proper names. What do you notice as a result? Share your thoughts below.
Here’s a reminder of this month’s competition task:
What's your favourite part of speech?
How might you relate it to Carol Michelon’s illustration, above?
Write a short piece inspired by these questions that includes all 9 parts of speech in less than 100 words.
Full rules here.
Deadline: Midnight on Wednesday 25th May 2022 BST
Upload your submissions here and share them on social media with the hashtags #unknownstoryteller #carolmichelon #leonconrad #artandcraftofwriting
What's your favourite part of speech?
How might you relate it to Carol Michelon’s illustration, above?
Write a short piece inspired by these questions that includes all 9 parts of speech in less than 100 words.
Full rules here.
Deadline: Midnight on Wednesday 25th May 2022 BST
Upload your submissions here and share them on social media with the hashtags #theunknownstoryteller #carolmichelon #leonconrad #artandcraftofwriting
This Course and Competition is part of The Unknown Storyteller project, focusing on the art and craft of how to tell a story, Master the Art and Craft of Writing is the counterpart to Story and Structure: A complete guide. The book explains how to structure the story you want to tell in the first place and will help you shape great stories to tell. It’s due out later this year, in the second half of 2022.
Stay connected! 🔗
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Medium: Leon Conrad
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