Language

Style of language

The language of the short story “The Idea” by Raymond Carver is generally easy to follow and understand. The author uses the standard dialect of the English language as spoken and written in the United States of America.

The choice of words indicates an informal style of writing. Certain informal expressions, such as “I had the house blazing” (p. 66, l. 36) or “ ‘What the hell would you do that for?’ ” (p. 65, l. 26), are used. Contractions such as “we’d”, “I’m”, “don’t”, etc. are present throughout the text. They are mainly used in dialogue, giving it authenticity and conveying a feeling of familiarity between the characters.

Certain words are written in italics to show emphasis. “ ‘Maybe he has something there’ ” (p. 65, l. 38).

Descriptive language

The author often makes use of vivid and descriptive language which appeals to human senses to add depth to the story.

For example, the narrator describes Vern coming out of the shower like this: “Vern came out in his robe and flannel pajamas. His hair was wet and slicked down over the back of his head, and he smelled of toilet water” (p. 66, ll. 7-8). Here, the narrator combines a description of movement (“Vern came out”) appearance (“in his robe and flannel pajamas”), touch (“His hair was wet”) and  smell (“he smelled of toilet water”). In combination, this description provides the reader with a...