Exercise 1 - Lynda Barry

Lynda Barry's terse, colloquial language conveys a grating and bold tone towards the passage. Set on a "cruddy hill in the cruddiest part of a crudded-out town in a cruddy state, country, world, solar system, universe," the crude diction suggests that the author is younger and informal. The excessive repetition of "cruddy" creates a bold tone, as if that is the only word in the English language that would suffice to express the author's emotions. Capitalization throughout the passage also indicates an audacious tone while revealing a child-like voice. The brash, gauche diction underscores the author's steep attitude towards her current "cruddy" situation, leaving behind a robust tone and a frantic, wild mood.