Here's to the Dash! Post a Great Sentence!

Lima_dat · 04-24-2009, 07:12 PM

Post examples of exemplary use of the dash from works of literature.

Please include the sentence itself, the author and title of the work, as well as the page number (if possible).

As hard as we work to keep the dash in our e-books when formatting them, we should at least see what all the fuss is about!

Lima_dat · 04-24-2009, 07:28 PM

"Actually, we did not have the feelings we said we had until we spoke them—at least I didn't; to phrase them was to invent them and own them."

Phillip Roth, Goodbye, Columbus, p. 19

Lima_dat · 04-24-2009, 11:04 PM

"He was horrified at himself, unable to believe his member should betray him—not then, of all times."

Larry McMurtry. The Last Picture Show. p. 183

"And that neck—that neck; and the blanket she wore over her head—ragged and filthy."

Aldous Huxley. Brave New World. p. 119

"Like Calcutta, which she'd visited throughout childhood, Rome was a city she knew on the one hand intimately and on the other hand not at all—a place that fully absorbed her and also kept her at bay."

Jhumpa Lahiri. Unaccustomed Earth. p. 299

I used the phrase "social responsibility" and they yelled:
"What's that word you say, boy?"
"Social Responsibility," I said.
"What?"
"Social . . ."
"Louder."
". . . responsibility."
"More!"
Respon—"
"Repeat!"
"—sibility."

Ralph Elisson. The Invisible Man. p. 31

"And with this sense of dispossession came a pang a vague recognition: this junk, these shabby chairs, these heavy, old-fashioned pressing irons, zinc wash tubs with dented bottoms—all throbbed within me with more meaning than there should have been: And why did I, standing in the crowd, see like a vision my mother hanging wash on a cold windy day, so cold that the warm clothes froze even before the vapor thinned and hung stiff on the line, and her hands white and raw in the skirt-swirling wind and her gray head to the darkened sky—why were they causing me discomfort so far beyond their intrinsic meaning as objects?"

Ralph Ellison. The Invisible Man. p. 273, Emphasis in Original.

"He'd be on his station in five days, in less time if the engine plant held together and Marko wasn't in too much of a hurry—and he wouldn't be."

Tom Clancy. The Hunt for Red October. p. 114

"You have the same eyes as your Abuelo, his Nena Inca had told him on one of his visits to the DR, which should have been some comfort—who doesn't like resembling an ancestor?—except this particular ancestor had ended his days in prison."

"Oscar had always been a young nerd—the kind of kid who read Tom Swift, who loved comic books and watched Ultraman—but by high school his commitment to the Genres had become absolute."

Junot Diaz. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. p. 20

"She was ten when this happened and she described the event in a run-on convergence, an intimacy of clean physical detail and dreamy reminiscence that had no seeming connection—radio programs, cousins named Luther, two of them, and a dress her mother wore to somebody's wedding, and they listened to her read in a half whisper, one arm missing, and Benny in the next chair closed his eyes and rocked all through the telling."

Don Delillo. Falling Man. p. 30

"Underneath the robe he expects to find some racy lingerie—back in New York he'd glimpsed the pile of things she'd received for her shower in the corner of her bedroom."

Jhumpa Lahiri, The Namesake, p. 226

"It looked strangely at home there, for all the things in the tank—the coral, the vegetation, the sand, even the fish—had looked unreal in the first place."

Jamaica Kincaid. Lucy. pp. 101-102

"Gamblers in the old days kept a powder of human bones—dried, crushed, pounded fine—to rub on their hands."

Louise Erdrich. The Bingo Palace. p. 143

And for the finale, a sentence where the author not only sucks the reader in, but at the same time calls him out, a sentence that blends two voices: the author's which is unheard, but screaming at you to notice it over the character's which is so over-the-top and effervescent that it hides the deeper meaning of the whole book under its enchanting rhythm and southern charm. Craft.

"That's his big gray Stetson hanging on the rack right over your head—see what a large head size he wears?"

Eudora Welty, The Ponder Heart, p. 1

HarryT · 04-25-2009, 03:41 AM

"My dear, dear Lydia!" she cried. "This is delightful indeed!—She will be married!—I shall see her again!—She will be married at sixteen!—My good, kind brother!—I knew how it would be.—I knew he would manage every thing!

Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Vol 3, Ch 7.

I love the way that the dashes are used to convey Mrs. Bennet's breathless excitement, and jumping from one subject to another.

04-24-2009, 07:12 PM	#1
Lima_dat English ppl ride potatoe? Posts: 40 Karma: 674 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Houston, TX Device: Kindle	Here's to the Dash! Post a Great Sentence! Post examples of exemplary use of the dash from works of literature. Please include the sentence itself, the author and title of the work, as well as the page number (if possible). As hard as we work to keep the dash in our e-books when formatting them, we should at least see what all the fuss is about!

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04-24-2009, 07:28 PM	#2
Lima_dat English ppl ride potatoe? Posts: 40 Karma: 674 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Houston, TX Device: Kindle	"Actually, we did not have the feelings we said we had until we spoke them—at least I didn't; to phrase them was to invent them and own them." Phillip Roth, Goodbye, Columbus, p. 19

04-24-2009, 11:04 PM	#3
Lima_dat English ppl ride potatoe? Posts: 40 Karma: 674 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Houston, TX Device: Kindle	"He was horrified at himself, unable to believe his member should betray him—not then, of all times." Larry McMurtry. The Last Picture Show. p. 183 "And that neck—that neck; and the blanket she wore over her head—ragged and filthy." Aldous Huxley. Brave New World. p. 119 "Like Calcutta, which she'd visited throughout childhood, Rome was a city she knew on the one hand intimately and on the other hand not at all—a place that fully absorbed her and also kept her at bay." Jhumpa Lahiri. Unaccustomed Earth. p. 299 I used the phrase "social responsibility" and they yelled: "What's that word you say, boy?" "Social Responsibility," I said. "What?" "Social . . ." "Louder." ". . . responsibility." "More!" Respon—" "Repeat!" "—sibility." Ralph Elisson. The Invisible Man. p. 31 "And with this sense of dispossession came a pang a vague recognition: this junk, these shabby chairs, these heavy, old-fashioned pressing irons, zinc wash tubs with dented bottoms—all throbbed within me with more meaning than there should have been: And why did I, standing in the crowd, see like a vision my mother hanging wash on a cold windy day, so cold that the warm clothes froze even before the vapor thinned and hung stiff on the line, and her hands white and raw in the skirt-swirling wind and her gray head to the darkened sky—why were they causing me discomfort so far beyond their intrinsic meaning as objects?" Ralph Ellison. The Invisible Man. p. 273, Emphasis in Original. "He'd be on his station in five days, in less time if the engine plant held together and Marko wasn't in too much of a hurry—and he wouldn't be." Tom Clancy. The Hunt for Red October. p. 114 "You have the same eyes as your Abuelo, his Nena Inca had told him on one of his visits to the DR, which should have been some comfort—who doesn't like resembling an ancestor?—except this particular ancestor had ended his days in prison." "Oscar had always been a young nerd—the kind of kid who read Tom Swift, who loved comic books and watched Ultraman—but by high school his commitment to the Genres had become absolute." Junot Diaz. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. p. 20 "She was ten when this happened and she described the event in a run-on convergence, an intimacy of clean physical detail and dreamy reminiscence that had no seeming connection—radio programs, cousins named Luther, two of them, and a dress her mother wore to somebody's wedding, and they listened to her read in a half whisper, one arm missing, and Benny in the next chair closed his eyes and rocked all through the telling." Don Delillo. Falling Man. p. 30 "Underneath the robe he expects to find some racy lingerie—back in New York he'd glimpsed the pile of things she'd received for her shower in the corner of her bedroom." Jhumpa Lahiri, The Namesake, p. 226 "It looked strangely at home there, for all the things in the tank—the coral, the vegetation, the sand, even the fish—had looked unreal in the first place." Jamaica Kincaid. Lucy. pp. 101-102 "Gamblers in the old days kept a powder of human bones—dried, crushed, pounded fine—to rub on their hands." Louise Erdrich. The Bingo Palace. p. 143 And for the finale, a sentence where the author not only sucks the reader in, but at the same time calls him out, a sentence that blends two voices: the author's which is unheard, but screaming at you to notice it over the character's which is so over-the-top and effervescent that it hides the deeper meaning of the whole book under its enchanting rhythm and southern charm. Craft. "That's his big gray Stetson hanging on the rack right over your head—see what a large head size he wears?" Eudora Welty, The Ponder Heart, p. 1

04-25-2009, 03:41 AM	#4
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	"My dear, dear Lydia!" she cried. "This is delightful indeed!—She will be married!—I shall see her again!—She will be married at sixteen!—My good, kind brother!—I knew how it would be.—I knew he would manage every thing! Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Vol 3, Ch 7. I love the way that the dashes are used to convey Mrs. Bennet's breathless excitement, and jumping from one subject to another.

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