Dear Miss Snark,
Do you use the Flesch Reading stuff in Word? Should we? I've looked through the archives and can't find anything on this subject. Thanks.
Nope. I trust my beady four eyes.
On the other hand, I don't work much with early reader and middle grade reader books where vocabulary levels are a real concern.
And I also think vocabulary isn't always the best measure of the complexity of a work. For that I offer this:
The Red Wheelbarrow by William Carlos Williams
so much depends
upon
a red wheel
barrow
glazed with rain
water
beside the white
chickens.
11 comments:
Or this:
This Is Just to Say by William Carlos Williams
I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox
and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast
Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold
so much depends
upon
a red stil-
etto
snarked with George
Clooney
beside the slush
pile.
so much depends
upon
a well-written
story
told in clear
language
and with a good
ending
As an editor of kids' books, I DO use the Flesch Reading scale, and not necessarily for the vocabulary (most--but not all--of our writers understand the age group we're targeting). Rather, it helps us figure out where sentences need to be cut from one to two; where a more concise explanation would be better than a longer one, etc. It's actually a really useful guideline. If I read through a chapter of a manuscript for 9-12 year olds and the Flesch score is for 15+, I know I have some serious work ahead of me.
I read those poems in a college poetry workshop, and just stared at them saying "How... how... HOW?" I still hope that someday I can write with such simplicity and power.
This Is Just To Say
I have drank
the gin
that was in
the pail
and which
you were probably
saving
for Miss Snark
Forgive me
it was delicious
so dry
and so cold
Read John Sladek's "A Game of Jump". He gets in a couple of murders, a child molesting and more. But he only uses the words in a "First Dictionary" for children.
I think this is a perfect example of why I don't write poetry...
We read To Kill a Mockingbird in 7th grade so I don't put a whole lot of stock into reading level being an accurate indication of the depth, power, and brilliance of a novel.
Hemingway
Tolstoy
Poems like this
are often
over-examined
by the eager eye.
And poetry
critics--
They are pretentious
snootbuckets.
*snaps his fingers as a way of clapping*
That is the most perfect poem in the English language.
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