Length as action [closed]
Closed by System on Feb 2, 2018 at 13:52
This question was closed; new answers can no longer be added. Users with the reopen privilege may vote to reopen this question if it has been improved or closed incorrectly.
I was wondering if using length in this sentence would add to take away from the message. Also am I constructing the sentence correctly.
A sudden outburst drew my gaze from lazy sky to chalk drenched room as the teacher took length to the couple’s quarrel.
This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/32877. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
1 answer
With others, I cannot even be sure what the "take away message" is supposed to be. "took length to" does not make sense. "length" is a form of measurement, applied to an argument, "length" implies a duration of time. Is the teacher measuring the length of the argument? That is not a plausible action for a teacher.
So no, I don't think the word 'length' is helping you at all, it is just confusing.
I will also agree with Morgan that 'chalk drenched' sounds wrong; 'drenched' is for something in which a liquid drenching is a an appropriate metaphor, and chalk is a particularly dry and dusty solid. Unrelated to your question, I would suggest you DO increase the length of the passage, perhaps to multiple sentences, to convey the message you want.
Namely, I think the message is: Your pleasant daydream was interrupted by a quarrel, forcing your attention back to the tedium of blackboards covered with notes and equations as dry as the chalk that wrote them, and waited for the teacher to resolve this annoyance.
0 comment threads
0 comment threads