The State of Obviousness
Have you ever had a moment in a book where suddenly everything makes sense? Well, that
could be because of The State of Obviousness. This is a term I'm using to describe when the
guts of a book is made explicit. The State of Obviousness helps sharpen the focus of a novel,
helps marry emotional and intellectual responses, and makes reading a more accessible
process. It punches you in the gut, or puts the light in your bulb, or makes you go 'ohhh,
that's what they meant.'
Young Adult author John Green is characterised by his fresh voice, his quirky plots and
characters, and his strong, well-developed themes. He also uses The State of Obviousness in
most of his novels. It's partly what makes him so quotable. It's also what makes Green's
work feel focused, and a little more intellectual than typical young adult romance novels.
Run-on Sentences, Asyndeton and Polysyndeton
There are five key parts in creating The State of Obviousness. The first four parts work on
giving an impression of theme. The first technique we'll look at is run-on sentences,
asyndeton and polysyndeton. These techniques create longer, less ridged sentence structures
and foreground important thematic concepts. They also mimic speech patterns, and
individually, have different effects.
A run-on sentence is when either a comma splits two independent clauses or when two main
clauses are joined without punctuation in one sentence (reference). They're useful if you want
to repeat important details or copy speech patterns. However, use them sparingly as they can
make a work feel unfinished and confused. Polysyndeton is when a sentence uses a
conjunction instead of a comma. They create rhythm, and are lyrically grandiose.
Stylistically, they make a sentence feel more poetic. Asydenton is when a sentence doesn't
use conjunctions. If you're interested in a staccato pacing, or juxtaposing different concepts,
then this is your guy.
Take this quote from Paper Towns, a novel about the danger of making people into ideas.
'"Like each of us starts out as a watertight vessel. And then things happen - these people
leave us, or don't love us, or don't get us, or we don't get them, and we lose and fail and
hurt one another. And the vessel starts to crack in places. And I mean, yeah once the
vessel cracks open, the end becomes inevitable. Once it starts to rain inside the Osprey, it
will never be remodeled. But there is all this time between when the cracks start to open
up and when we finally fall apart. And it's only that time that we see one another, because
