Semantic+Gestures

 Semantic gestures place stress on a certain event that is happening in the plot. This can be indicated through...

Word Choice or Syntax: Syntax and word choice are very similar in the way that they noticed. Certain words are added to sentence to place emphasis. Words that grab the reader’s attention with reference to time, such as "immediately” and “suddenly" are typically indicate word choice. A dding extra words to a sentence or phrase to place emphasis is how syntax is a semantic gesture. The main difference between these two indicators of sematic gestures are which words are chosen. The examples below are demonstrations.

Example: “Then the Republicans nominated Lindbergh and everything changed.” (__Plot Against America__, pg. 5)  The "then" grabs the reader's attention by progressing time. (word chioce)

Example: "It was in November 1938-the darkest, most ominous year for the Jews of Europe in eighteen centuries-that the worst pogrom in modern history, Kristallnacht, was instigated by the Nazis all across Germany: synagogues incinerated, the residences and businesses of Jews destroyed, and, throughout a night presaging the monstrous future, Jews by the thousands forcibly taken from their homes and transported to concentration camps." (__Plot Against America__, pg. 6) “It was” draws the attention of the reader by placing more emphasis on the November in 1938, where one of the first publicized pogrom event’s by Hitler occurred. (syntax)  As it can be seen in the examples, there is little obvious difference between sytax and word choice. However, "then" is a progresson of time, whereas "it was" is verbage that is the time, which is the past. Syntax can include this or it can be other types of words that do not make time move.

Demonstration: the character in the book does what the author wants the reader to do, such as re-read a section by saying “he re-read the passage”  Example:media type="youtube" key="KzqXT2D_2Q0&hl=en&fs=1" height="344" width="425" In this video we see an example of demonstration. The situation with an innocent pigeon, brutally killed by a tennis ball, is repeated showing the audience different views of the death. The producer wants the viewer to rewatch the killing of the pidgeon, so there is a slow-motion replay of the scene, which can be watched many times as this video clip is so short. A better version of demonstration would be to have the tennis players taking double-takes of the pidgeon. The producer would like the viewer to watch the pidgeon, either lying on the ground or the murder. Lacking the ability to make live athletes take double-takes, the method of demonstration is to have the scene replayed.