Language

Style of writing and choice of words

The choice of words in the short story “How to Lose” by Victoria Patterson is quite informal and casual, using common expressions and simple sentence structures:“ ‘I wish,’ says Natalie. ‘He says the sound underwater has an emptiness that’s going to swallow him. So I bought earplugs’ ” (ll. 106-107). The author often uses contractions in dialogue to make it sound authentic and natural: “ ‘A month from now, he won’t remember,’ Phil says. ‘It won’t matter’ ” (l. 105). At one point in the story, the author uses italics to show text that is written by Natalie on a form. (ll. 79-89)

The author chooses certain negative words to accentuate the characters’ emotions or opinions. For example, we know AJ dislikes swimming lessons to some extent, because he calls practice day “Bad Luck Thursday” (l. 11). Furthermore, he hates the idea of being separated from the other kids in his class: “This is his last chance or else he’s a Guppy again, quarantined to the wading pool blowing bubbles with the toddlers” (ll. 12-13). The negative sounding words are almost offensive and...