"Every Sentence has a truth waiting at the end of it and the writer learns how to know it when he finally gets there."(Mao II, p.48). This is true of every written work however obscure, but it is even more so with the works that we have read in Contemporary Literature. The author's stylistic uses of diction and syntax in the novels prescribed are unique in different ways, but I think that they also have the same basic aims. That is to create a unique story that both pleases and educates the reader in some way.
             Peter Matthiessen's Far Tortuga is a great novel to analyze when it comes to diction and syntax. Matthiessen uses diction to keep the reader immersed in the characters conversations, and to give the reader a feel of actually interacting with speakers of a different dialect of English. Matthiessen is aware that words alone do not make up a good novel, and shows readers that he knows this by having his characters speak in their native dialects. Also, Matthiessen's selected diction helps give the novel a sense of realism and excitement. The novel would not be believable if the characters, who are from the Caribbean region, spoke American English. Instead, Matthiessen gives them the proper accent, which further immerses the reader into the novel. Matthiessen also uses syntax to add to the novel's realism. The character's in Far Tortuga are probably of a lower income and lower education background than the readers of the novel. The men in the novel are simple sailors, and they speak like simple sailors.
             After reading a little about Peter Matthiessen as a man, I began to think about how the syntax in Far Tortuga reflects upon its author.
             The nature of the tale is very adventurous, but for some reason Matthiessen doesn't come off as an adventurous individual.
             In the novel, the speech is often clipped and precisely to the point. If this syntax says anything about the man, then it says tha...