These do not cumber his narrative; they
contribute to its purpose and add to its effectiveness. In this selection
(Appendix 5) observe how plausible are such homely details as Crusoe's
seeing no sign of his comrades "except three of their hats, one cap, and
two shoes that were not fellows"; as his difficulty in getting aboard the
ship again; and as his having his clothes washed away by the rising of the
tide. Find half a dozen other such incidents that You consider especially
effective.
We may pitch our talk or our writing in almost any I key we choose. Our
mood may be dreamy or eager or hilarious or grim or blustering or somber
or bantering or scornful or satirical or whatever we will. But once we
have established the tone, we should not--except sometimes for broadly
humorous effects--change it needlessly or without clear forewarning. If we
do, we create a one or the other of two obstacles, or both of them, for
whoever is trying to follow what we say. In the first place, we obscure
our meaning. For example, we have; been speaking ironically and suddenly
swerve into serious utterance; or we have been speaking seriously and then
incongruously adopt an ironic tone.
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