Top o' th'...
...Darn it. When you're not having a conversation with someone in real time, you can't exactly wish them a "top o' th' mornin'." I mean, heck, it isn't even morning over here right now, not to mention that I don't know what time zone you're reading this from, either.
Alas and forsoothishly alack, and etc.
Right. Anyway, I don't need to go into a deep explanation about this post, if you read its predecessor. If by chance you didn't, here you go; click here to read that one first.
Or, if you want the short of it: I really like a book called the Book of Mormon. I'd like you to try reading it, so you can see for yourself why I like it. It's not always easy to read, though, partly because it uses an English format we haven't used for over a century. So here is how I would paraphrase one of these chapters in my own writing voice. That way, you can see (more or less) how someone in the 21st century would write the same things.
I chose to write about this chapter not only because it is one of my favourite chapters in the book, but also because I think it offers some indispensable guidance about... well, actually, guidance about literally anything, once you understand what everything here means.
And with that spectacular build-up, off you go. Have fun, folks. 😇
P.S. It is helpful to know some of the historical context to this chapter, but you will still understand this chapter even if you don't. If you do want to learn more about the context, I'll drop you a link at the bottom of this post. Until then, though, have fun folks. "😇" < once more.
Moroni, Chapter 7
Hello again. It's Moroni. That hasn't changed since last time I wrote here.
Thursday, April 27, 2017
Wednesday, April 26, 2017
If I Wrote the Book of Mormon — Chapter 1
Ha ha, I make my titles way too ominous sometimes! Well, relax; this one isn't going to be a heavy thought.
I'm not about to write some treatise defending this book that I love so very much, nor am I going to criticize it. I just had an idea, and I thought I would share it today.
You see, I have asked some people ("some" people, he says) to try reading this book called the Book of Mormon. (Heh heh. "Some" people, he says. "A lot of" people, it should be. After all, what are our missionaries normally known for doing?) I've tried in the past, and try now, to get people to see why I love it: between the stories, the teachings, and the feeling of peace I always have when I consider the things that those writers said, it stands as one of my favourite books that I've read in my life.
But you know something? It is kind of hard to read sometimes.
One of the things that turns off a lot of people from reading things like the Bible, or the works of Shakespeare, is the old language. Elizabethan English (also known as "Early Modern English") doesn't always make the most sense to us. Sometimes it even says things that mean something drastically different, or even the complete opposite of what we would assume they mean.
And this Book of Mormon that I'm asking people to read, it holds that same problem for some people who read it. Not to mention that it wasn't originally written in English, and so some of the style and structure can be difficult to read through. (For instance, there's a sentence in there somewhere that contains the word "and" seven times in a row. That's not very good sentence structure in English, but apparently it's considered perfect grammar in Semitic languages.)
So, the thought that I had was, "What would it sound like if I were the one writing these stories?" I mean, some people tell me that they like reading what I write. Some people say that my writing voice is compelling. (Ha ha ha... I'm sure you so readily believe that. You'll have to trust me on this.)
With that in mind, I had an idea one day: if I were the one writing out the same ideas as the writers in the Book of Mormon... how would I put their words?
I'm going to try an experiment. I'm going to take the first chapter of the Book of Mormon and, changing the ideas as little as possible, show you how I would phrase those same ideas in my own writing voice. I hope that somehow or other, some good comes of this.
I'm not about to write some treatise defending this book that I love so very much, nor am I going to criticize it. I just had an idea, and I thought I would share it today.
You see, I have asked some people ("some" people, he says) to try reading this book called the Book of Mormon. (Heh heh. "Some" people, he says. "A lot of" people, it should be. After all, what are our missionaries normally known for doing?) I've tried in the past, and try now, to get people to see why I love it: between the stories, the teachings, and the feeling of peace I always have when I consider the things that those writers said, it stands as one of my favourite books that I've read in my life.
But you know something? It is kind of hard to read sometimes.
One of the things that turns off a lot of people from reading things like the Bible, or the works of Shakespeare, is the old language. Elizabethan English (also known as "Early Modern English") doesn't always make the most sense to us. Sometimes it even says things that mean something drastically different, or even the complete opposite of what we would assume they mean.
And this Book of Mormon that I'm asking people to read, it holds that same problem for some people who read it. Not to mention that it wasn't originally written in English, and so some of the style and structure can be difficult to read through. (For instance, there's a sentence in there somewhere that contains the word "and" seven times in a row. That's not very good sentence structure in English, but apparently it's considered perfect grammar in Semitic languages.)
So, the thought that I had was, "What would it sound like if I were the one writing these stories?" I mean, some people tell me that they like reading what I write. Some people say that my writing voice is compelling. (Ha ha ha... I'm sure you so readily believe that. You'll have to trust me on this.)
With that in mind, I had an idea one day: if I were the one writing out the same ideas as the writers in the Book of Mormon... how would I put their words?
I'm going to try an experiment. I'm going to take the first chapter of the Book of Mormon and, changing the ideas as little as possible, show you how I would phrase those same ideas in my own writing voice. I hope that somehow or other, some good comes of this.
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