There's plenty of healthy debate on the subject of the increasingly popular young-adult genre and its place in the literary canon. Whether or not The Hunger Games, Harry Potter, and Twilight belong on the same shelf as the classics you read in English 101 doesn't change the fact that analyzing them can still yield very interesting discussions. There is insight to be had, whether about modern literary trends or our society's current perceptions about things like gender and politics. Ben Blatt took that fervent discussion and ran with it for a truly fascinating feature for Slate, in which he dives deep into the work of Suzanne Collins, J.K. Rowling, and Stephenie Meyer with a full-blown textual analysis.
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There is some seriously fascinating stuff in here, and it is a very worthy Sunday read. We will further pique your interest by pulling out the below information, which highlights the most common phrases used in each series.
Image: Ben Blatt/via Slate.
Amazing. Just amazing. Poetic, actually. These three columns basically illustrate the entirety of their respective series. In The Hunger Games, Katniss is continually torn and confused about her identity and goals. In Harry Potter, tension abounds, and Harry is perpetually on tenterhooks, knowing that danger is never far (and, usually, conveniently waiting at the very end of each school term). In Twilight, nobody really does anything except sigh and mope around, with the occasional epic battle sprinkled throughout. And, as Blatt points out, this tells you a lot about these authors' respective writing styles and their very different approaches to plot development and action scenes.
Blatt also compiled the most common adjectives, -ly adverbs, and sentence openings. And, that's just the tip of the iceberg, here. Read it. Enjoy it. And, then call your mom and demand she dig your copies of Harry Potter out of storage and mail them immediately. (Slate)