Download as pdf or txt
Download as pdf or txt
You are on page 1of 48

M Advertising 3rd Edition Schaefer

Solutions Manual
Go to download the full and correct content document:
https://testbankdeal.com/product/m-advertising-3rd-edition-schaefer-solutions-manual
/
More products digital (pdf, epub, mobi) instant
download maybe you interests ...

M Advertising 3rd Edition Schaefer Test Bank

https://testbankdeal.com/product/m-advertising-3rd-edition-
schaefer-test-bank/

M Advertising 2nd Edition Arens Solutions Manual

https://testbankdeal.com/product/m-advertising-2nd-edition-arens-
solutions-manual/

M Advertising 2nd Edition Arens Test Bank

https://testbankdeal.com/product/m-advertising-2nd-edition-arens-
test-bank/

M Advertising 1st Edition Arens Test Bank

https://testbankdeal.com/product/m-advertising-1st-edition-arens-
test-bank/
M Management 3rd Edition Bateman Solutions Manual

https://testbankdeal.com/product/m-management-3rd-edition-
bateman-solutions-manual/

M Marketing 3rd Edition Grewal Solutions Manual

https://testbankdeal.com/product/m-marketing-3rd-edition-grewal-
solutions-manual/

M Finance 3rd Edition Cornett Solutions Manual

https://testbankdeal.com/product/m-finance-3rd-edition-cornett-
solutions-manual/

M Organizational Behavior 3rd Edition McShane Solutions


Manual

https://testbankdeal.com/product/m-organizational-behavior-3rd-
edition-mcshane-solutions-manual/

M Information Systems 3rd Edition Baltzan Solutions


Manual

https://testbankdeal.com/product/m-information-systems-3rd-
edition-baltzan-solutions-manual/
Chapter 09—Creative Execution: Art and Copy

CHAPTER NINE
CREATIVE EXECUTION: ART AND COPY

This chapter introduces the role of art and copy—the nonverbal and verbal elements of message
strategy—in print, radio, television, and on the Web. It also describes the artists, copywriters, and a
variety of specialists who follow specific procedures for conceptualizing, designing, writing, and
producing IMC messages. To be successful, creatives must be conversant with copywriting and
commercial art terms and formats used in the business. They must also develop an aesthetic sensitivity
so they can recognize, create, evaluate, or recommend quality work.
Learning Objectives:
LO 09-01 Describe the factors involved in creating print ads.
LO 09-02 List the types of copy and explain how great copy is created in print ads.
LO 09-03 Outline how great copy is created in electronic ads.
LO 09-04 Discuss the role of art in electronic ads.
LO 09-05 Review the unique requirements in writing for the Web.

What’s New?

Our new opening vignette gives the background behind McCann’s “Dumb Ways to Die”
safety PSA for the Australia Metro Trains network. The award-winning campaign uses a
highly creative approach to reduce unsafe behaviors around trains. This chapter features seven
“My Ad Campaign” boxes. The first helps students understand the importance of product
facts. The second offers advice from industry legend George Felton about how to write great
headlines and copy. “My Ad Campaign” box number three discusses the chief focus for
visuals. Box number four gives practical tips about layout and design. Box five gives advice
for writing effective copy, and box six provides similar advice for composing radio
commercials. The last box provides advice for creating television commercials.

Application Exercises

Ad Creation Process
Identify the Types of Headlines
Creating TV Commercials
Dumb Ways to Die
Electronic Creativity: Bleachable Moments

9-1
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 09—Creative Execution: Art and Copy

TEACHING TIPS AND STRATEGIES

Using the Opening Vignette in the Classroom

If you have Internet access in the classroom, show students the “Dumb Ways to Die” spot
(https://youtu.be/IJNR2EpS0jw). If not, ask your students to watch it at home. The ad nicely
demonstrates how creativity and a big idea come together. The point is to illustrate the
creative aspects of advertising deployed on a very serious subject. Ask students to identify
and discuss the creative elements of the spot (copy, art, music, etc.). Then ask them if they
believe it would be effective in changing people’s behaviors. Can creativity sometimes get in
the way of a message? This is a good entry point for discussion of the creative work in
advertising.

Other Tips and Strategies

In this chapter, students are introduced to how ads are created. In television, storyboard scripts are
used to design commercials. Some DVDs have “special features” that show storyboards and the scene
concurrently. I have a couple of movies that I show the class to demonstrate the phenomenon. By
watching the storyboard and the resulting scene, the students get a good idea of why storyboards are so
important in setting up a commercial. A useful DVD for this concept is the special edition of the
movie Suicide Kings (Artisan Home Entertainment, 1998).
Technology and software allow graphic designers to create more effective ads for print. I like to divide
students into groups and have them use different programs to create an ad (usually for the advertising
campaign). Students are amazed at how easy it is to add effects such as darkness or stars to pictures.
They also have fun adding text to pictures. I have had students create animated images. Students enjoy
being creative while simultaneously learning the benefits that software brings to creative departments.
In-class activities can include creating a copy platform for a brand (real or imagined) or pairing up
students as copywriters and art directors and having them work on a rough layout.

Web Resources for Enhancing Your Lectures:

AdWorks http://www.adworkscorp.com

Right Brain Works www.gocreate.com

B Creative www.bcreative.com

Design & Publishing Center www.graphic-design.com

Art Directors Club http://www.adcglobal.org/

American Institute of Graphic Arts www.aiga.org

Copy Chef www.copychef.com

9-2
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 09—Creative Execution: Art and Copy

Ads of the World http://adsoftheworld.com/

Video Resources:

Dumb Ways to Die ad https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJNR2EpS0jw&feature=youtu.be

Lubriderm alligator https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8mrWAkUM2Y


commercial, 2015
Flo / Progressive https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PFebslqRiI
(presenter
commercial)
Dyson vacuum https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaQ_c1UoXF8
(demonstration
commercial with
humor
The Tissue Test https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AP3sCUbChlI
(Slice-of-life
commercial)
Android Friends https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnVuqfXohxc
Furever (most shared
viral ad of 2015)
Will It Blend? iPhone https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBUJcD6Ws6s
6 Plus (viral ad for
BlendTec)

My Ad Campaign [9-A]: Product Facts for Creatives

My Ad Campaign [9-B]: Creating Great Headlines and Copy

My Ad Campaign [9-C]: Determining the Chief Focus for Visuals

My Ad Campaign [9-D]: Design Principles

Ethical Issues: Imitation, Plagiarism, or Flattery?

My Ad Campaign [9-E]: Writing Effective Copy

My Ad Campaign [9-F]: Creating Effective Radio Commercials

My Ad Campaign [9-G]: Creating Effective TV Commercials

9-3
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 09—Creative Execution: Art and Copy

LECTURE OUTLINE

I. Vignette—The story of how McCann’s Melbourne, Australia, office developed a creative PSA
campaign called “Dumb Ways to Die” to reduce fatal accidents around trains.

II. Delivering on the Big Idea: Integrating the Visual and the Verbal
A. The “Dumb Ways to Die” ad demonstrates that what’s shown is just as important as
what’s said.
B. The nonverbal aspect of an ad carries at least half the burden of communication. It helps
position the product and create personality for the brand. It creates the mood of the ad.

III. The Art of Creating Print Advertising


A. Designing the Print Ad
1. Design refers to how the art director chooses and structures the artistic elements of an
ad. A director sets a style—the manner in which a thought or image is expressed—by
choosing particular artistic elements and blending them in a unique way.
2. Clean lines, formally composed photographs, and sparse copy give ads the breathing
room needed to draw the reader’s eye from one element to the next. Sufficient white
space gives and ad unity and balance.
B. The Use of Layouts
A layout is an overall orderly arrangement of the elements of an ad: visual(s), headline,
subheads, body copy, slogan, seal, logo, and signature. The layout serves several
purposes.
1. It helps both the agency and the client anticipate how the ad will look and feel. This
provides the client a tangible item to review, correct, change, and approve.
2. It helps the creative team develop the ad’s psychological elements: the nonverbal and
symbolic components. Advertisers want their ads to create brand personality, build
brand equity, and create an image or mood that reflects and enhances the advertiser
and the product.
3. Once the best design is chosen, it serves as a blueprint.
C. Advertising Design and Production: The Creative and Approval Process
The design process serves as both a creative and an approval process. In the creative
phase, designers use preliminary versions of the art to establish the ad’s look and feel. The
approval process takes place at each step of the entire design process.
1. Thumbnail Sketches—The thumbnail sketch (or thumbnail) is a very small, rough,
rapidly produced drawing the artist uses to visualize layout approaches without
wasting time on details.
2. Rough Layout—In a rough, the artists draw to the actual size of the ad.
3. Dummy—A dummy presents the handheld look and feel of brochures, multipage
materials, or point-of-purchase displays.
4. Comprehensive and Mechanical—The comprehensive layout, or comp, is a highly
refined facsimile of the finished ad. Copy for the comp is typeset on a computer and
positioned with the visuals, and the ad is printed as a full-color proof. At this stage, all
the visuals are final.

9-4
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 09—Creative Execution: Art and Copy

5. Approval—The work of the copywriter and art director is always subject to approval.
The larger the agency and the larger the client, the more formidable this process
becomes.

APPLICATION EXERCISE: Ad Creation Process

Activity Summary: In this activity, students are reminded that the ad creation process begins
with abstract ideas and then goes through a series of steps leading to a finished advertisement.
In the exercise, students click and drag steps in this process into columns that identify if they
are part of the first, second, or third stage of ad development. (Note: A keyboard accessible
version of this activity is also available.)
Type: Click and Drag
Learning Objectives:
Learning Objective: 09-01 Describe the factors involved in creating print ads.
Difficulty Level: 1 Easy
Blooms: Analyze
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Follow-Up Activity: Instructors could ask students to produce thumbnails for an
advertisement for a common household product, such as soap.

My Ad Campaign [9-A]: Product Facts for Creatives


Art directors and copywriters must have a thorough understanding of the brand to create
advertising that resonates. Make sure your creatives have the information that will help them
write copy that sizzles and create layouts that stop consumers dead in their tracks.

• Proprietary information
Product’s trade name.
Trademark.
Product symbol.
Other copyrighted or patented information.
• History
When was the product created or invented?
Who introduced it?
Has it had other names?
Have there been product changes?
Is there any “romance” to it?
• Research
Are research results available?

9-5
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 09—Creative Execution: Art and Copy

What research about the product does the supplier have?


Which research will be most useful for each medium?
• Life cycle
What is the product’s life or use span?
What stage is it in now and what style of copy should be used for that stage?
What stages are competitors in?
• Market position
What is the product’s share of the total market?
Does its market share suggest a positioning strategy?
What position does the company wish to occupy?
• Competitive information
Who are the product’s competitors?
Does the product have any advantages over them?
Does it have any disadvantages?
Are they all about the same?
Do rival products present problems that this one solves?
• Product image
How do people view the product?
What do they like about it?
What do they dislike about it?
Is it a luxury?
Is it a necessity?
Is it a habit?
Is it self-indulgent?
Do people have to have it but wish they didn’t?
• Customer use
How is the product used?
Are there other possible uses?
How frequently is it bought?
What type of person uses the product?
Why is the product bought?
Personal use.
Gift.
Work.
What type of person uses the product most (heavy user)?
How much does the heavy user buy?

9-6
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 09—Creative Execution: Art and Copy

Where do the best customers live?


• Performance
What does the product do?
What might it be expected to do that it does not?
How does it work?
How is it made or produced?
What’s in it?
Raw materials.
Special ingredients.
Preservatives.
Chemicals.
Nutrients.
• What are its physical characteristics?
Smell.
Appearance.
Color.
Texture.
Taste.
Others.
• Effectiveness
Is there proof the product has been tested and works well?
Do any government or other regulations need to be mentioned or observed?
How does it work compared to its competitors?
• Manufacturing
How is the product made?
How long does it take?
How many steps are in the process?
How many people are involved in making it?
Are any special machines used?
Where is it made?
• Distribution
How widely is the product distributed?
Are there exclusive sellers?
Is there a ready supply or a limited amount?
Is it available for a short season?
What channels of distribution must be reached?

9-7
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 09—Creative Execution: Art and Copy

• Packaging
Unit size or sizes offered.
Package shape.
Package design.
Styling.
Color.
Special protection for product.
A carrier for product.
Package label.

D. Principles of Design: Which Design Formats Work Best


The advertiser has only a second or two to grab the reader’s attention. Studies show large
numbers of people ignore ads. Good design not only commands attention but also holds it.
1. Advertisers use many types of layouts. Traditionally, the highest scoring ads employ a
standard, poster-style format (also called a picture-window layout or Ayer No. 1 in
the trade), which features a single dominant visual that occupies most of the ad’s total
area.
2. Advertising research indicates the following:
a. Ads scoring in the top third have visuals averaging 82 percent of the space.
b. Next in ranking, ads feature one large picture and two smaller ones.
c. Visuals can stop the reader and arouse interest, so their content must be
interesting.
d. Headlines also stop the reader and may actually contribute more to long-term
memory than the visual.
e. When the headline appears below the illustration, the ad typically gains about 10
percent more readership.
f. Readership can drop if ads have more than 50 words.
g. Copy blocks should be kept to 20 percent of the ad.
h. Ads for high-involvement products do better with long, informative copy when
the advertiser is more interested in quality of readership rather than quantity.
i. For best results, company signatures and logos should be placed in the lower
right-hand corner or across the bottom of the ad, but need not occupy more than 5
to 10 percent of the area.
3. Advertising author Roy Paul Nelson points out that principles of design are to the
layout artist what the rules of grammar are to the writer. Basic rules of design include
the following:
a. The design must be in balance.
b. Space within the ad should be broken into pleasing proportions.
c. A directional pattern should be evident so the reader knows what sequence in
which to read copy.
d. Some force should hold the ad together and give it unity.

9-8
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 09—Creative Execution: Art and Copy

e. One element, or one part of the ad, should have enough emphasis to dominate all
others.
E. The Use of Visuals in Print Advertising
Artists who paint, sketch, and draw in advertising are called illustrators. The artists who
produce pictures with a camera are photographers. Together they are responsible for all
the visuals, or pictures, we see in advertising.
1. Purpose of the Visual—Because it carries so much responsibility for an ad’s success,
the visual, or picture, should be designed with several goals in mind:
a. Capture the reader’s attention.
b. Clarify claims made by the copy.
c. Identify the brand.
d. Show the product actually being used.
e. Qualify readers by stopping those who are legitimate prospects.
f. Convince the reader of the truth of copy claims.
g. Arouse the reader’s interest in the headline.
h. Emphasize the product’s unique features.
i. Create a favorable impression of product or advertiser.
j. Provide continuity for the campaign by using a unified visual technique in each
ad.
2. Selecting the Visual—The kind of picture used is often determined during the
visualization process. Selecting an appropriate photo or visual is a difficult creative
task. Art directors deal with several basic issues:
a. Is a visual needed for effective communication?
b. If a visual is required, how many should there be?
b. Should the visual be black-and-white or color? Is this a budgetary decision?
c. What should the subject of the picture be? Is that subject relevant to the
advertiser’s creative strategy?
d. Should the ad use a hand-rendered illustration, a photograph, or a computer-
generated illustration?
e. What technical and budgetary issues must be considered?

My Ad Campaign [9-B]: Creating Great Headlines and Copy


George Felton, in his book Advertising Concept and Copy, offers the following suggestions
for aspiring copywriters:

Headlines
 “Achieve synergy, not redundancy.” The headlines and artwork should work together to
create an idea, but not be completely redundant.
 “Let the consumer do some of the work.” Avoid ads that insult the audience’s intelligence.
 “Combine overstatement and understatement.” If the visual is BIG, make the headline
small. And vice versa.
 “Emphasize one idea per ad.” If you have several ideas, show how they are linked to make
them one.
9-9
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 09—Creative Execution: Art and Copy

Copy
Freelance copywriter John Kuraoka offers some excellent advice for new copywriters at
http://www.kuraoka.com/how-to-write-better-ads.html.
Here are summaries of his recommendations for your visuals:
 Capture the reader’s attention.
 Clarify copy claims.
 Let the reader know the ad is directed at him or her.
 Show the product in use.
 Offer evidence for copy claims.
 Emphasize the product’s unique features or benefits.
 Unify the different ads in the campaign.

 Check Yourself 9–1


1. What is a layout? What purposes does it serve in the process of print ad development,
approval, and production?
A layout provides for an orderly arrangement of the needed elements in an ad: visuals,
headline, subheads, body copy, and slogans. It allows the agency and client to develop
the ad and agree to its content.
2. How does an art director choose from among design formats?
Art directors choose design formats that attract customers and draw them into the ads.
A poster style format with a single, dominant visual has proven to be effective.
3. What is the purpose of the visual in a print ad?
A visual must capture the reader’s attention, demonstrate the product being used, and
emphasize the product’s unique features.

IV. Producing Great Copy in Print Advertising


In print advertising, the key format elements are the visual(s), headlines, subheads, body copy,
slogans, logos, and signatures. Copywriters can correlate the visual and headline to the
attention step of the creative pyramid. The interest step typically corresponds to the subhead
and the first paragraph of body copy. Body copy handles credibility and desire, and the action
step takes place with the logo, slogan, and signature block.

My Ad Campaign [9-C]: Determining the Chief Focus for Visuals


Selecting the focus for advertising visuals is a major step in the creative process. It often
determines how well the big idea is executed. Print advertising uses many standard subjects
for ad visuals, including
1. The package containing the product. Especially important for packaged goods, it helps the
consumer identify the product on the grocery shelf.
2. The product alone. This usually does not work well for nonpackaged goods.
3. The product in use. Automobile ads typically show a car in use while talking about its
ride, luxury, handling, or economy. Cosmetics ads usually show the product in use with a
close-up photo of a beautiful woman or a virile man.

9-10
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 09—Creative Execution: Art and Copy

4. How to use the product. Recipe ads featuring a new way to use food products have
historically pulled very high readership scores.
5. Product features. Computer software ads frequently show the monitor screen so the
prospect can see how the software features are displayed.
6. Comparison of products. The advertiser shows its product next to a competitor’s and
compares important features.
7. User benefit. It’s often difficult to illustrate intangible user benefits. However, marketers
know that the best way to get customers’ attention is to show how the product will benefit
them, so it’s worth the extra creative effort.
8. Humor. If used well, a humorous visual can make an entertaining and lasting impression.
But it can also destroy credibility if used inappropriately.
9. Testimonial. Before-and-after endorsements are very effective for weight-loss products,
skin care lotions, and bodybuilding courses.
10. Negative appeal. Sometimes visuals point out what happens if you don’t use the product.
If done well, that can spark interest.

A. Headlines
The headline contains the words in the leading position of the advertisement. These are
the words that will be read first and are situated to draw the most attention. Headlines
usually appear in larger type than other parts of the ad.
1. Role of Headlines
a. Effective headlines do the following:
i. Attract attention to the ad.
ii. Engage the audience.
iii. Explain the visual.
iv. Lead the audience into the body of the ad.
v. Present the key benefit.
b. Headlines should engage the reader—fast—and give a reason to read the rest of
the ad.
c. Ideally, headlines should do the following:
i. Present the complete selling idea. Three to five times as many people read the
headline as read the body copy. Most headlines average eight words.
ii. Offer a benefit that is apparent to the reader and easy to grasp.
iii. Present product news.

My Ad Campaign [9-D]: Design Principles


Make sure your layout follows these rules of thumb for creating attractive, informative ads.
Balance
The optical center is the reference point that determines the layout’s balance. The optical
center is about one-eighth of a page above the physical center of the page. Balance is achieved
through the arrangement of elements on the page—the left side of the optical center versus the
right, above the optical center versus below.
9-11
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 09—Creative Execution: Art and Copy

___Formal balance. Perfect symmetry is the key to formal balance: matched elements on
either side of a line dissecting the ad have equal optical weight. This technique strikes a
dignified, stable, conservative image.
___Informal balance. A visually balanced ad has elements of different size, shape, color
intensity, or darkness at different distances from the optical center. Like a teeter-totter, an
object of greater optical weight near the center can be balanced by an object of less weight
farther from the center. Many ads use informal balance to make the ad more interesting,
imaginative, and exciting.
Movement
Movement is the principle of design that causes the audience to read the material in the
desired sequence. It can be achieved through a variety of techniques.
___People or animals can be positioned so that their eyes direct the reader’s eyes to the next
important element.
___Devices such as pointing fingers, boxes, lines, or arrows (or moving the actors or the
camera or changing scenes) direct attention from element to element.
___Design can take advantage of readers’ natural tendency to start at the top left corner of the
page and proceed in a Z motion to the lower right.
___Comic-strip sequence and pictures with captions force the reader to start at the beginning
and follow the sequence in order to grasp the message.
___Use of white space and color emphasizes a body of type or an illustration. Eyes will go
from a dark element to a light one, or from color to noncolor.
___Size itself attracts attention because readers are drawn to the biggest and most dominant
element on the page, then to smaller elements
Proportion
___Elements should be accorded space based on their importance to the entire ad. Attention-
getting elements are usually given more space. Avoid the monotony of giving equal
amounts of space to each element.
White Space (Isolation)
___White space is the part of the ad not occupied by other elements (note that white space
may be some color other than white). White space helps focus attention on an isolated
element—it makes the copy appear to be in a spotlight. White space is an important
contributor to the ad’s overall image.
Contrast
___An effective way of drawing attention to a particular element is to use contrast in color,
size, or style; for example, a reverse ad (white letters against a dark background) or a
black-and-white ad with a red border.
Clarity and Simplicity

9-12
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 09—Creative Execution: Art and Copy

___Any elements that can be eliminated without damaging the overall effect should be cut.
Too many type styles; type that is too small; too many reverses, illustrations, or boxed
items; and unnecessary copy make for an overly complex layout and an ad that is hard to
read.
Unity
___Unity means that an ad’s many different elements must relate to one another in such a way
that the ad gives a singular, harmonious impression. Balance, movement, proportion,
contrast, and color may all contribute to unity of design. Many other techniques can be
used: type styles from the same family, borders around ads to hold elements together,
overlapping one picture or element on another, judicious use of white space, graphic tools
such as boxes, arrows, or tints.
Continuity
___Continuity is the relationship of one ad to the rest of the campaign. This is achieved by
using the same design format, style, and tone; the same spokesperson; or the same graphic
element, logo, cartoon character, or catchy slogan.

Ethical Issues: Imitation, Plagiarism, or Flattery?


1. Some art directors claim that “coincidental invention” explains why many ads look the
same. Do you think that’s really possible?
Answer guidelines:
Plagiarism is, in essence, using another’s idea or product and trying to pass it off as one’s
own original idea or product. A freelance artist created an illustration using Photoshop
software that distorted a photograph, found in a promotional brochure, of a man with a
clock face for a head. The photographer then saw the illustration published in Newsday, a
Long Island, New York, newspaper (tabloid size) and sued the publication.
In another case, a historian was sued and his credibility was damaged when a few
paragraphs of his book used some of the same words and short phrases from a footnoted
source.
When an ad “borrows” a concept or “look” (by modifying an existing model), the
advertiser can usurp the creativity of others and pay a big price. In addition, today’s
software can more easily create distorted images that mislead—and that’s illegal.
Defenses to claims of plagiarism include:
a. It is possible, although not probable, that two or more similar executions could be
developed by different advertisers at the same time, particularly in the same product
category.
b. Intent is a key issue that must sometimes be proven in law. People often get a hot idea,
not realizing that they actually saw something like it in the media a few months
earlier—they just forgot what they had seen and lacked true “intent” to actually steal
the idea.
c. Courts will ask: Is the initial idea original enough to be plagiarized?
d. The law will seek proof that a chain of events existed for the alleged pirate to have
had access to the idea.

9-13
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 09—Creative Execution: Art and Copy

There is no denying that success breeds imitation, and not just in ad agencies. Alfred
Whitehead contended a hundred years ago that the history of Western philosophy was one
long footnote to Plato, and, indeed, his basic ideas do form the foundation of some of
contemporary philosophy. “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” It is almost
impossible to get an imitator to admit copycat advertising, let alone pull it from the
marketplace. Once an advertising campaign is out there, millions of dollars have probably
been committed to executing it, but a successful lawsuit can stop it from running.
2. Who wins and who loses when advertising is imitated? Do you believe that it’s actually an
advantage to be copied?
Answer guidelines:
The crux of the problem may be that imitation is an accepted part of the business, at least
unofficially. Clients tend to avoid the debate, perhaps because they’re more comfortable
with well-worn ideas than with bold, original concepts. Many art directors and writers
collect competitive ads for inspiration. And advertising is such a highly collaborative
process that it’s often difficult to determine each individual’s creative contribution.
Few art directors and writers are likely to say it’s an advantage to be copied. They are
least likely to be concerned when the ads in question are for non-competing products and
therefore are aimed at different consumer bases.
3. What would you do if a client asked you to copy an ad that was already running? Is it
acceptable to plagiarize advertising ideas, as long as they are recycled “in a useful way”?
Client awareness of the issue can be raised by reminding them of the consequences of
legal action and consumer backlash that may occur from plagiarizing.
Sometimes clients even request that a competitor’s advertising be copied. That is also why
there are so many voice-over announcers who mimic famous voices and announcing
styles. The creative person who goes along with the client’s request to imitate a successful
campaign jeopardizes his or her financial future and career. The only way to avoid
compromising personal ethics is to come up with something better, and then convince the
client to run it instead. However, that can be a very dicey proposition.
4. Is plagiarism justified by the contention that “there are very few original ideas”?
Answer guidelines:
Yes: “There are very few original ideas,” according to Philip Circus, an advertising law
consultant to the Newspaper Society in London. “Plagiarism is the name of the game in
advertising. It’s about recycling ideas in a useful way.”
No: Jim Golden, executive producer of DMH MacGuffin, says, “All we have in this
business are creativity and ideas. The moment someone infringes on that, they’re reaching
into the very core of the business and ripping it out.” Ultimately, advertisers must stop
“borrowing” ideas from each other and demand greater creativity from themselves.

2. Types of headlines—Copywriters use many variations of headlines depending on the


advertising strategy. Typically, they use the headline that presents the big idea most
successfully. Headlines may be classified by the type of information they carry:
a. Benefit headlines promise the audience that experiencing the utility of the
product or service will be rewarding.
b. News/information headlines announce news or promise information.
c. Provocative headlines provoke the reader’s curiosity.
9-14
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 09—Creative Execution: Art and Copy

d. Question headlines ask a question, encouraging readers to search for the answer
in the body of the ad.
e. Command headlines order readers to do something; sometimes this might seem
negative, but readers pay attention to such headlines.

APPLICATION EXERCISE: Identify the Types of Headlines

Activity Summary: This activity tests student knowledge of the different types of headlines
used in advertising. In the exercise, students click and drag sample headlines to the boxes that
identify what type of headline each one exemplifies. (Note: A keyboard accessible version of
this activity is also available.)
Type: Click and Drag
Learning Objectives:
Learning Objective: 09-02 List the types of copy and explain how great copy is created in
print ads.
Difficulty Level: 1 Easy
Blooms: Analyze
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Follow-Up Activity: Instructors could ask volunteers to suggest headlines that could be used
in an advertising campaign aimed at convincing more people to ride the bus. Instructors
should challenge students to use all of the different types of headlines.

B. Subheads
1. A subhead is an additional smaller headline that may appear above or below headline.
A subhead above the headline is called a kicker (or overline), while those below the
headline are called underlines. Subheads may also appear in body copy.
2. Subheads are usually set smaller than the headline but larger than the body copy.
Subheads generally appear in boldface type, italic type, or a different color. Most
people only read the headline and subhead. Subheads usually support the interest step
best.
3. Subheads are longer and more like sentences than headlines.
C. Body Copy
The advertiser tells the complete story in the body copy, or text. The body copy
comprises the interest, credibility, desire, and often even the action steps. It is a logical
continuation of the headline and subheads, set in smaller type. It must speak to the
reader’s self-interest, explaining how the product or service satisfies the customer’s need.
1. Body Copy Styles—Experienced copywriters look for the technique and style with the
greatest sales appeal for the idea being presented. Common copy styles include the
following:
a. Straight-sell copy immediately explains or develops the headline and visual in a
straightforward, factual presentation that appeals to the prospect’s intelligence.

9-15
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 09—Creative Execution: Art and Copy

b. Institutional copy promotes a philosophy or extols the merits of an organization


rather than product features.
c. Narrative copy tells a story. Ideal for the creative writer, narrative copy sets up a
situation and then resolves it at the last minute by having the product or service
come to the rescue. Allows for emotional appeals.
d. Dialogue/monologue copy adds the believability that narrative copy sometimes
lacks. The characters portrayed in a print ad do the selling in their own words.
e. Picture-caption copy uses illustrations and captions to tell the story. It is
particularly useful for products that have a number of different uses or come in a
variety of styles or designs.
f. Device copy may be used to enhance attention, interest, and memorability. Device
copy uses figures of speech as well as humor and exaggeration. These can help
people remember the brand and tend to affect attitudes favorably. Humor comes
with certain issues:
i. Humor should always be used carefully and never be in questionable taste.
ii. Humor grows old very quickly.
iii. Some believe humor distracts readers.

My Ad Campaign [9-E]: Writing Effective Copy


 Get to the main point—fast.
 Emphasize one major idea simply and clearly.
 Be single-minded. Don’t try to do too much. If you chase more than one rabbit at a time,
you’ll catch none.
 Position the product clearly.
 Keep the brand name up front and reinforce it.
 Write with the consumer’s ultimate benefit in mind.
 Write short sentences. Use easy, familiar words and themes people understand.
 Don’t waste words. Say what you have to say—nothing more, nothing less. Don’t pad,
but don’t skimp.
 Avoid bragging and boasting. Write from the reader’s point of view, not your own.
Avoid “we,” “us,” and “our.”
 Avoid clichés. They’re crutches; learn to get along without them. Bright, surprising words
and phrases perk up readers and keep them reading.
 Write with flair. Drum up excitement. Make sure your own enthusiasm comes through in
the copy.
 Use vivid language. Use lots of verbs and adverbs.
 Stick to the present tense, active voice. It’s crisper. Avoid the past tense and passive
voice. Exceptions should be deliberate, for special effect.
 Use personal pronouns. Remember, you’re talking to just one person, so talk as you
would to a friend. Use “you” and “your” whenever appropriate.
 Use contractions. They’re fast, personal, natural. People talk in contractions (listen to
yourself).

9-16
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 09—Creative Execution: Art and Copy

 Don’t overpunctuate. It kills copy flow. Excessive commas are the chief culprits. Don’t
give readers any excuse to jump ship.
 Read the copy aloud. Hear how it sounds; catch errors. The written word is considerably
different from the spoken word so listen to it.
 Rewrite and write tight. Edit mercilessly. Tell the whole story and no more. When
you’re finished, stop.

2. Formatting Body Copy—The keys to good body copy are simplicity, order,
credibility, and clarity. Four basic format elements are used to construct body copy:
a. The lead-in paragraph is a bridge between the headline and the sales idea
presented in the text. It is part of the interest step.
b. Interior paragraphs develop credibility by providing proof for claims and build
desire by using language that stirs the imagination.
c. A trial close can be interspersed in the interior paragraphs with suggestions to act
now. The trial close encourages a consumer to make the buying decision early.
d. The close is the real action step. A good close asks consumers to do something
and tells them how. The close can be direct or indirect. A direct close seeks
immediate response in the form of a purchase, a store or website visit, or a request
for further information.
D. Slogans
1. Many slogans (also called themelines or taglines) begin as successful headlines, and,
through continuous use, become standard statements (not only in advertising but also
for salespeople and company employees, e.g., “Diamonds are forever” or “Reach out
and touch someone”).
2. Slogans have two purposes:
a. Provide continuity to an ad series.
b. Reduce an advertising message strategy to a brief, repeatable, and memorable
positioning statement.
E. Seals, Logo, and Signatures
1. A seal is awarded only when a product meets standards established by a particular
organization, such as the Good Housekeeping Institute or Underwriters Laboratories.
Because these organizations are recognized authorities, their seals provide an
independent, valued endorsement for the advertiser’s product.
2. Logotypes and signatures are special designs of the advertiser’s company name or
product name. Like trademarks, they give the product or company individuality and
quick recognition.

 Check Yourself 9–2


1. What are the key format elements in a print ad?
Key format elements include the use and placement of visuals, headline, body copy,
slogan, seal, logo, and signature.
2. What are some important types of headlines?

9-17
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 09—Creative Execution: Art and Copy

Important types of headlines are benefit headlines (which promise that experiencing
the utility of the product or service will be rewarding), news/information headlines
(which announce news or promise information), provocative headlines (which
provoke curiosity), question headlines (which encourage readers to search for the
answer in the body of the ad), and command headlines (which order the reader to do
something).
3. When would an advertiser use straight-sell copy rather than device copy?
Straight-sell copy works with concise facts and is good for high think-involvement
products or products that are difficult to use, while device copy opts for figures of
speech, humor, and exaggeration, and is good for building brand recognition.

V. Creating Great Copy in Electronic Media


For electronic media, the fundamental elements—the five steps of the creative pyramid—
remain the primary guides, but the copywriting formats differ. Radio and television writers
prepare scripts and storyboards.
A. Writing Radio Copy
1. A script resembles a two-column list. On the left side, speakers’ names are arranged
vertically along with descriptions of any sound effects (SFX) and music. The right
column contains the dialogue, called the audio.
2. Radio listeners usually decide within five to eight seconds whether to pay attention;
thus, radio copy must be intrusive (people listen while doing something else).
2. Scripts must fit time slots. With electronic compression, ads can now include 10 to 30
percent more copy than text read live. The following is a good rule of thumb:
10 seconds = 20–25 words
20 seconds = 40–45 words
30 seconds = 60–70 words
60 seconds = 130–150 words
3. Radio writing must be clear because the listener cannot refer back to clarify meaning.
B. Writing Television Copy
1. Radio’s basic two-column format also works for television, but in a TV script, the left
side is titled “Video” and the right side “Audio.”
a. The video column describes the visuals and production: camera angles, action,
scenery, and stage directions.
b. The audio column lists spoken copy, sound effects, and music.
2. The writer sets the tone and the language that determines the visuals.

My Ad Campaign [9-F]: Creating Effective Radio Commercials


Writing for radio takes a sharp ear, empathy for the listener, and the ability to create pictures
inside the consumer’s head. These tips will help you create great radio spots.
 Make the big idea crystal clear. Concentrate on one main selling point. Radio is a good
medium for building brand awareness, but not for making long lists of copy points or
complex arguments.
 Mention the advertiser’s name early and often. If the product or company name is
tricky, consider spelling it out.

9-18
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 09—Creative Execution: Art and Copy

 Take time to set the scene and establish the premise. A 30-second commercial that
nobody remembers is a waste of money. Fight for 60-second spots.
 Use familiar sound effects. Ice tinkling in a glass, birds chirping, or a door shutting can
create a visual image. Music also works if its meaning is clear.
 Paint pictures with your words. Use descriptive language to make the ad more
memorable.
 Make every word count. Use active voice and more verbs than adjectives. Be
conversational. Use pronounceable words and short sentences.
 Be outrageous. The best comic commercials begin with a totally absurd premise from
which all developments follow logically. But remember, if you can’t write humor really
well, go for drama.
 Ask for the order. Try to get listeners to take action.
 Remember that radio is a local medium. Adjust your commercials to the language of
your listeners and the time of day they’ll run.
 Presentation counts a lot. Even the best scripts look boring on paper. Acting, timing,
vocal quirks, and sound effects bring them to life.

 Check Yourself 9–3


1. From the writer’s perspective, what are the important differences between a radio
listener and a print ad reader?
Radio copywriting must be clear and concise. The listener can’t refer back to previous
words, as one might while reading a print ad. Also, the English language has a variety
of homonyms—words that sound alike and can cause problems in an audio format.
2. What is the approximate word limit of a 30-second radio ad?
A 30-second radio ad can feature a maximum of 60 to 70 words.
3. What are the two columns labeled in a TV script?
In a TV script, the left side is “video” and the right side is “audio.”

VI. The Role of Art in Radio and TV Advertising


A. Developing the Artistic Concept for Commercials
Creating the concept for a radio or TV commercial is similar to creating the concepts for
print ads.
1. The first step is to determine the big idea.
2. Then the art director and copywriter must decide what commercial format to use.
3. The next step is to write a script containing the necessary copy or dialogue plus a
basic description of any music, sound effect, and/or camera views.
4. In both radio and TV, the art director assists the copywriter in script development.
Artistic development in television is much more extensive. Using the TV script, the
art director creates a series of storyboard roughs to present the artistic approach, the
action sequences, and the style of the commercial.
B. Formats for Radio and TV Commercials
Similar to print advertising, the format for a broadcast ad serves as a template for
arranging message elements into a pattern. Eight common commercial formats can be
used for either radio or television:
9-19
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 09—Creative Execution: Art and Copy

1. The straight announcement is the oldest and simplest type of radio or TV


commercial, and is probably the easiest to write. One person, usually a radio or TV
announcer, delivers the sales message.
a. In radio, a straight announcement can also be designed as an integrated
commercial—that is, it can be woven into a show or tailored to a given program.
b. For TV, an announcer may deliver the sales message on camera or off screen, as
a voice-over, while a demonstration, slide, or film shows on screen.
2. Presenter commercials use one person or a character to present the product and carry
the sales message. Some presenters are celebrities, like Brad Pitt for Calvin Klein. A
radio personality (such as Rush Limbaugh or Howard Stern) may ad-lib an ad
message live in his or her own style.
3. Testimonial ads allow a satisfied user to tell how effective the product is; this can be
highly credible in both TV and radio advertising.
4. Demonstration spots are especially suitable for television. Products can be
demonstrated in use, in competition, or before and after.
5. Musical commercials (or jingles), if done well, can have an enormous impact on the
success of a commercial. Done poorly, they can waste the advertising budget and
annoy audiences.
6. Slice-of-life (problem-solution) ads are a dramatization of a real-life situation where
an issue is discussed and resolved with a successful trial use of the product. The key to
effective slice-of-life commercials is simplicity. Often a mnemonic device can
dramatize the product benefit and trigger instant recall; e.g., the Aflac duck reminds
users that Aflac is there to pay bills if you get hurt and can’t work.
7. The lifestyle technique presents a user rather than presenting the product, showing
characters working in various occupations and participating in many pastimes. For
example, the person who drinks the product would be more strongly presented than
the product’s features.
8. Animation, such as cartoons, puppet characters, and demonstrations (e.g., pounding
headache) with computer-generated graphics are very effective for communicating
difficult messages or for reaching specialized markets (e.g., children).

My Ad Campaign [9-G]: Creating Effective TV Commercials


 Begin at the finish. Concentrate on the final impression the commercial will make.
 Create an attention-getting opening. An opening that is visually surprising or full of
action, drama, humor, or human interest sets the context and allows a smooth transition to
the rest of the commercial.
 Use a situation that grows naturally out of the sales story. Avoid distracting gimmicks.
Make it easy for viewers to identify with the characters.
 Characters are the living symbol of the product. They should be appealing, believable,
nondistracting, and most of all, relevant.
 Keep it simple. The sequence of ideas should be easy to follow. Keep the number of
elements in the commercial to a bare minimum.
 Write concise audio copy. The video should carry most of the weight. Fewer than 2
words per second is effective for demonstrations. For a 60-second commercial, 101 to 110
words is most effective; more than 170 words is too talky.
 Make demonstrations dramatic but believable. They should always be true to life and
avoid the appearance of camera tricks.
9-20
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 09—Creative Execution: Art and Copy

 Let the words interpret the picture and prepare viewers for the next scene. Use
conversational language; avoid “ad talk,” hype, and puffery.
 Run scenes five or six seconds on average. Rarely should a scene run less than three
seconds. Offer a variety of movement-filled scenes without “jumping.”
 Keep the look of the video fresh and new.

C. Outlining a TV Commercial
After the creative team selects the big idea and format, the art director and the writer
develop the script. The art director’s role is important, for he or she must work with a
variety of professionals in producing the spot (producers, directors, lighting technicians,
and set designers).
1. Storyboard Design
a. Once the basic script is completed, the art director must turn the video portion of
the script into real images. This is done with a storyboard, a sheet preprinted with
a series of 8 to 20 blank windows (frames) in the shape of TV screens.
b. Like a rough layout in print advertising, the storyboard works like a comic strip to
portray how each scene will appear and in what sequence. It helps executives,
clients, and creatives visualize the action and story.
2. To supplement the storyboard or pretest a concept, a commercial may be taped in
rough form using the writers and artists as actors.
3. Alternatively, an animatic may be shot. This is a filmstrip composed of the sketches
in the storyboard accompanied by the audio portion of the commercial synchronized
on tape.

APPLICATION EXERCISE: Creating TV Commercials

Activity Summary: In this activity, students demonstrate their knowledge of broadcast


commercials. The exercise presents students with a case study about a creative team at an
advertising agency that is developing a new commercial for a client. It then asks students
multiple choice questions about different types of commercials and how commercials are
developed.
Type: Case Analysis
Learning Objectives:
Learning Objective: 09-03 Outline how great copy is created for electronic ads.
Difficulty Level: 1 Easy, 2 Medium
Blooms: Analyze, Remember
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Follow-Up Activity: Instructors could show students commercials and ask them to identify
what type each one is an example of. Alternatively, instructors could as volunteers to describe
examples of the various types of broadcast commercials that they have encountered in their
own lives.

9-21
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 09—Creative Execution: Art and Copy

APPLICATION EXERCISE: Dumb Ways to Die

Activity Summary: In this activity, students are instructed to review the text, paying
particular attention to the opening vignette about Metro Trains' "Dumb Ways to Die"
campaign. They then view a commercial from that campaign and answer multiple choice
questions about how it was created, the format it uses, and why the ad takes the form that it
does.
Type: Video Case
Learning Objectives:
Learning Objective: 09-03 Outline how great copy is created for electronic ads.
Learning Objective: 09-04 Discuss the role of art in electronic ads.
Difficulty Level: 1 Easy, 2 Medium
Blooms: Apply, Remember
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Follow-Up Activity: Instructors could propose other common formats for commercials (e.g.,
straight announcement, demonstration) and ask students whether or not they would be suitable
for Metro Trains' campaign. Students should be pressed to explain why the various formats
are, or are not, suitable.

APPLICATION EXERCISE: Electronic Creativity: Bleachable Moments

Activity Summary: This activity teaches students about the use of creativity in electronic
media with a real-life example, the "Bleachable Moments" campaign for Clorox. In the
exercise, students view a video that describes the development of the campaign and shows
examples of how it deployed creativity. They then answer multiple choice questions about the
campaign.
Type: Video Case
Learning Objectives:
Learning Objective: 09-03 Outline how great copy is created for electronic ads.
Learning Objective: 09-06 Differentiate the important print and broadcast production methods.
Difficulty Level: 1 Easy, 2 Medium
Blooms: Evaluate, Remember, Understand
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Follow-Up Activity: Instructors could assign students into small groups and task them with
creating a television script for a new ad in the "Bleachable Moments" campaign. Students
should be instructed to maintain the style and approach of the real campaign, and also
encouraged to use creativity in their commercial.

9-22
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 09—Creative Execution: Art and Copy

 Check Yourself 9–4


1. What is a storyboard?
A storyboard is a preprinted sheet with 8 to 20 blank frames, which can be used to
illustrate the text, sound effects, and camera angles for a TV commercial.
2. What is the oldest and simplest radio or TV commercial format?
The oldest format is the straight announcement, where a radio or TV announcer
delivers the sales message.
3. What TV format would help present the user rather than the product?
The lifestyle technique positions the user in an attractive lifestyle as the primary
selling point of the ad.

VII. Writing for the Web


Digital media are young, and advertisers and agencies are still learning how best to use
these platforms. Research is beginning to offer concrete suggestions that can help a
designer create more effective digital messages.
A. Interactivity
1. The interactive nature of the Internet creates opportunities for a mutually
satisfying dialogue between advertiser and consumer.
2. Ultimately, that dialogue can help build brand loyalty and lead to a sale.
3. Conversely, companies that use digital media ineffectively (or ignore the medium
altogether) may lose new customers or damage their relationships with existing
ones.
B. E-fluentials
1. Internet users are often important opinion leaders.
2. Burson-Marsteller, a New York PR firm, has published research indicating that
there is a small but highly influential group of heavy Internet users who are likely
to share their opinions with others.
3. These users are referred to as e-fluentials.
C. Company Websites
1. When designing a company website, it is important to understand why people
visit the site.
2. Effectively designed websites help visitors find information quickly and
efficiently. The layout of the site should match common scanning patterns.
3. Colors and photographs should be carefully chosen to enhance the layout, attract
Internet users, and guide their gaze through the page.
D. Banner Ads
1. The purpose of a banner ad is to bring Internet users to a website other than the
one they intended to visit.
2. Once the dominant advertising approach, banner ads now compete with many
other online forms.
3. Effective banner ads are simple, focused, and clear about a product’s benefit and
make use of a striking image and emphasize a palette of rich, powerful colors.
E. Viral Ads

9-23
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 09—Creative Execution: Art and Copy

Special video commercials on the Web are often called “viral” ads because they rely
on Internet users to spread messages to others. Viral ads must be entertaining and
informative or they won’t be passed along to others. Matthew Yeoman makes five
recommendations about creating a successful viral message:
1. Don’t be traditional: Messages that look like TV or print ads aren’t shared. Use a
big idea that captivates and motivates sharing.
2. Reality attracts: Use real people and real situations.
3. Push the envelope: People won’t watch a blender viral, unless the viral features a
blender shredding an iPhone, a paintball, or a DVD. BlendTec found success
doing just that.
4. Thank your users: Pepsi has created a game featured right on its vending
machines that offers free sodas for those who play and win.
5. Find partners: How could A&A’s The Walking Dead collaborate with UC Irvine?
My creating a MOOC about zombies, of course. And who can resist zombies?

 Check Yourself 9–5


1. What should a web ad designer understand about the medium?
Web ad designers must write in a specific style:
 Information must be concise and comprehensive.
 Numbered lists and bulleted items are helpful.
 The Web provides space for in-depth elaboration where necessary.
 The text should be scannable.
 Text should be written in an objective rather than a promotional style.
2. In what ways are Internet users different from users of traditional media?
Internet users are interactive with their media and are often opinion leaders.

9-24
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
are some of the ancient stories that they remain models to-day.
Chiefly, then, the short fiction of the eighteenth century showed
progress over that of earlier centuries in that it was much more
consistently produced by a much greater number of writers—so far
as our records show.
Separately interesting studies of the eighteenth-century essay-
stories of Addison, Steele, Johnson and others in the English
periodicals, the Spectator, Tatler, Rambler, Idler, and Guardian might
well be made, for these forms lead us directly to Hawthorne and
Irving in America. Of almost equal value would be a study of Defoe’s
ghost stories (1727) and Voltaire’s development of the protean
French detective-story, in his “Zadig,” twenty years later.
With the opening of the nineteenth century the marks of progress are
more decided. The first thirty years brought out a score of the most
brilliant story-tellers imaginable, who differ from Poe and his
followers only in this particular—they were still perfecting the tale,
the sketch, the expanded anecdote, the episode, and the scenario,
for they had neither for themselves nor for their literary posterity set
up a new standard, as Poe was to do so very soon.
Of this fecund era were born the German weird tales of Ernst
Amadeus Hoffmann and J. L. Tieck; the Moral Tales of Maria
Edgeworth, and the fictional episodes of Sir Walter Scott in Scotland;
the anecdotal tales and the novelettes of Prosper Mérimée and
Charles Nodier in France; the tales of Pushkin, the father of Russian
literature; and the tale-short-stories of Washington Irving and
Nathaniel Hawthorne in America. Here too lies a fascinating field of
study, over which to trace the approach towards that final form, so to
call it, which was both demonstrated and expounded by Poe. It must
suffice here to observe that Irving preferred the easy-flowing essay-
sketch, and the delightful, leisurely tale (with certain well-marked
tendencies toward a compact plot), rather than the closely organized
plot which we nowadays recognize as the special possession of the
short-story.
In France, from 1830 to 1832, Honoré de Balzac produced a series
of notable short-stories which, while marvels of narration, tend to be
condensed novels in plot, novelettes in length, or expanded
anecdotes. However, together with the stories of Prosper Mérimée,
they furnish evidence for a tolerably strong claim that the modern
short-story was developed as a fixed form in France before it was
discovered in America—a claim, however, which lacks the elements
of entire solidity, as a more critical study would show.
From 1830 on, it would require a catalogue to name, and volumes to
discuss, the array of European and American writers who have
produced fictional narratives which have more or less closely
approached the short-story form. Until 1835, when Edgar Allan Poe
wrote “Berenice” and “The Assignation,” the approaches to the
present form were sporadic and unsustained and even unconscious,
so far as we may argue from the absence of any critical standard.
After that year both Poe and others seemed to strive more definitely
for the close plot, the repression of detail, the measurable unity of
action, and the singleness of effect which Poe clearly defined and
expounded in 1842.
Since Poe’s notable pronouncement, the place of the short-story as
a distinctive literary form has been attested by the rise and growth of
a body of criticism, in the form of newspaper and magazine articles,
volumes given broadly to the consideration of fiction, and books
devoted entirely to the short-story. Many of these contributions to the
literature of criticism are particularly important because their authors
were the first to announce conclusions regarding the form which
have since been accepted as standard; others have traced with a
nice sense of comparison the origin and development of those
earlier forms of story-telling which marked the more or less definite
stages of progress toward the short-story type as at present
recognized; while still others are valuable as characterizing
effectively the stories of well-known writers and comparing the
progress which each showed as the short-story moved on toward its
present high place.
Some detailed mention of these writings, among other critical and
historical productions, may be of value here, without at all attempting
a bibliography, but merely naming chronologically the work of those
critics who have developed one or more phases of the subject with
particular effectiveness.[10]
Interesting and informing as all such historical and comparative
research work certainly is, it must prove to be of greater value to the
student than to the fiction writer. True, the latter may profit by a
profound knowledge of critical distinctions, but he is more likely, for a
time at least, to find his freedom embarrassed by attempting to
adhere too closely to form, whereas in fiction a chief virtue is that
spontaneity which expresses itself.
But there would seem to be some safe middle-ground between a
flouting of all canons of art, arising from an utter ignorance and
contempt of the history of any artistic form, and a timid and tied-up
unwillingness to do anything in fiction without first inquiring, “Am I
obeying the laws as set forth by the critics?” The short-story writer
should be no less unhampered because he has learned the origin
and traced the growth of the ancient fiction-forms and learned to say
of his own work, or that of others, “Here is a fictional sketch, here a
tale, and here a short-story”—if, indeed, he does not recognize in it a
delightful hybrid.
By far the most important contribution to the subject of short-story
criticism was made by Edgar Allan Poe, when in May, 1842, he
published in Graham’s Magazine a review of Hawthorne’s Tales, in
which he announced his theory of the short-story—a theory which is
regarded to-day as the soundest of any yet laid down.
In 1876, Friedrich Spielhagen pointed out in his Novelle oder Roman
the essential distinction between the novel and the short-story.[11]
In 1884, Professor Brander Matthews published in the Saturday
Review, London, and in 1885 published in Lippincott’s Magazine,
“The Philosophy of the Short-story,” in which, independently of
Spielhagen, he announced the essential distinction between the
novel and the short-story, and pointed out its peculiarly individual
characteristics. In a later book-edition, he added greatly to the
original essay by a series of quotations from other critics and
essayists, and many original comparisons between the writings of
master short-story tellers.
In March 11, 1892, T. W. Higginson contributed to The Independent
an article on “The Local Short-Story,” which was the first known
discussion of that important type.
In 1895, Sherwin Cody published anonymously in London the first
technical treatise on the rhetoric of the short-story, “The Art of Story
Writing.”
In 1896, Professor E. H. Lewis instituted in Chicago University the
first course of instruction in the art of story-writing.
In 1898, Charles Raymond Barrett published the first large work on
Short Story Writing, with a complete analysis of Hawthorne’s “The
Ambitious Guest,” and many important suggestions for writers.
In the same year Charity Dye first applied pedagogical principles to
the study of the short story, in The Story-Teller’s Art.
In 1902, Professor Lewis W. Smith published a brochure, The
Writing of the Short Story, in which psychological principles were for
the first time applied to the study and the writing of the short-story.
In 1902, Professor H. S. Canby issued The Short Story, in which the
theory of impressionism was for the first time developed. In 1903,
this essay was included in The Book of the Short Story, Alexander
Jessup collaborating, together with specimens of stories from the
earliest times and lists of tales and short-stories arranged by periods.
In 1904, Professor Charles S. Baldwin developed a criticism of
American Short Stories which has been largely followed by later
writers.
In 1909, Professor H. S. Canby produced The Short Story in English,
the first voluminous historical and critical study of the origins, forms,
and content of the short-story.

I have dwelt upon the history of the short-story thus in outline


because we often meet the inquiry—sometimes put ignorantly,
sometimes skeptically—What is a short-story? Is it anything more
than a story that is short?
The passion for naming and classifying all classes of literature may
easily run to extreme, and yet there are some very great values to be
secured by both the reader and the writer in arriving at some
understanding of what literary terms mean. To establish distinctions
among short fictive forms is by no means to assert that types which
differ from the technical short-story are therefore of a lower order of
merit. Many specimens of cognate forms possess an interest which
surpasses that of short-stories typically perfect.
Ever since Poe differentiated the short-story from the mere short
narrative we have come to a clearer apprehension of what this form
really means. I suppose that no one would insist upon the standards
of the short-story as being the criterion of merit for short fiction—
certainly I should commit no such folly in attempting to establish an
understanding, not to say a definition, of the form. More than that:
some short-stories which in one or more points come short of
technical perfection doubtless possess a human interest and a
charm quite lacking in others which are technically perfect—just as
may be the case with pictures.
Some things, however, the little fiction must contain to come
technically within the class of perfect short-stories. It must be
centralized about one predominating incident—which may be
supported by various minor incidents. This incident must intimately
concern one central character—and other supporting characters, it
may be. The story must move with a certain degree of directness—
that is, there must be a thorough exclusion of such detail as is
needless. This central situation or episode or incident constitutes, in
its working out, the plot; for the plot must not only have a crisis
growing out of a tie-up or crossroads or complication, but the very
essence of the plot will consist in the resolution or untying or
denouement of the complication.
Naturally, the word plot will suggest to many a high degree of
complexity; but this is by no means necessary in order to establish
the claims of a fictitious narrative to being a short-story. Indeed,
some of the best short-stories are based upon a very slender
complication; in other words, their plots are not complex.
Elsewhere[12] I have defined the short-story, and this statement may
serve to crystallize the foregoing. “A short-story is a brief,
imaginative narrative, unfolding a single predominating incident and
a single chief character; it contains a plot, the details of which are so
compressed, and the whole treatment so organized, as to produce a
single impression.”
But some of these points need to be amplified.
A short-story is brief not merely from the fact that it contains
comparatively few words, but in that it is so compressed as to omit
non-essential elements. It must be the narration of a single incident,
supported, it may be, by other incidents, but none of these minor
incidents must rival the central incident in the interest of the reader.
A single character must be preëminent, but a pair of characters
coördinate in importance may enjoy this single preëminence in the
story, yet no minor characters must come to overshadow the central
figure. The story will be imaginative, not in the sense that it must be
imaginary, or that the facts in the story may not be real facts, but
they must be handled and organized in an imaginative way, else it
would be plain fact and not fiction. The story must contain a plot; that
is to say, it must exhibit a character or several characters in crisis—
for in plot the important word is crisis—and the denouement is the
resolution of this crisis. Finally, the whole must be so organized as to
leave a unified impression upon the mind of the reader—it must
concentrate and not diffuse attention and interest.
All of the same qualities that inhere in the short-story may also be
found in the novelette, except that the novelette lacks the
compression, unity and simplicity of the short-story and is therefore
really a short novel. Both the novel and the novelette admit of sub-
plots, a large number of minor incidents, and even of digressions,
whereas these are denied to the short-story, which throws a white
light on a single crucial instance of life, some character in its hour of
crisis, some soul at the crossroads of destiny.
There is a tendency nowadays to give a mere outline of a story—so
to condense it, so to make it swift, that the narration amounts to
merely an outline without the flesh and blood of the true short-story.
In other words, there is a tendency to call a scenario of a much
longer story—for instance the outline of a novelette—a short-story.
This extreme is as remote from the well-rounded short-story form as
the leisurely novelette, padded out with infinite attention to detail.
The tale differs from the short-story in that it is merely a succession
of incidents without any real sense of climax other, for example, than
might be given by the close of a man’s life, the ending of a journey,
or the closing of the day. The tale is a chain; the short-story is a tree.
The links of the chain may be extended indefinitely, but there comes
a time when the tree can grow no longer and still remain a perfect
tree. The tale is practically without organization and without plot—
there is little crisis, and the result of the crisis, if any there be, would
be of no vital importance to the characters, for no special change in
their relations to each other grows out of the crisis in the tale.
A sketch is a lighter, shorter, and more simple form of fiction than the
short-story. It exhibits character in a certain stationary situation, but
has no plot, nor does it disclose anything like a crisis from which a
resolution or denouement is demanded. It might almost be called a
picture in still life were it not that the characters are likely to live and
to move.
In these introductory pages I have emphasized and reëmphasized
these distinctions in various ways, because to me they seem to be
important. But after all they are merely historical and technical. A
man may be a charming fellow and altogether admirable even if his
complexion quarrels with his hair and his hands do not match his
feet in relative size.

The present tendency of the British and American short-story is a


matter of moment because no other literary form commands the
interest of so many writers and readers. All literature is feeling the
hand of commerce, but the short-story is chiefly threatened. The
magazine is its forum, and the magazine must make money or
suspend. Hence the chief inquiry of the editor is, What stories will
make my magazine sell? And this is his attitude because his
publisher will no longer pay a salary to an editor whose magazine
must be endowed, having no visible means of support.
These conditions force new standards to be set up. The story must
have literary merit, it must be true to life, it must deal sincerely with
great principles—up to the limit of popularity. Beyond that it must not
be literary, truthful, or sincere. Popularity first, then the rest—if
possible.
All this is a serious indictment of the average magazine, but it is true.
Only a few magazines regard their fiction as literature and not as
merely so much merchandise, to be cut to suit the length of pages,
furnish situations for pictures, and create subscriptions by readers.
Yet somehow this very commercialized standard is working much
good in spite of itself. It is demanding the best workmanship, and is
paying bright men and women to abandon other pursuits in order to
master a good story-telling method. It is directing the attention of our
ablest literators to a teeming life all about them when otherwise they
might lose themselves in abstractions “up in the air.” It is, for
business reasons, insisting upon that very compression to which
Maupassant attained in the pursuit of art. It is building up a standard
of precise English which has already advanced beyond the best
work of seventy years ago—though it has lost much of its elegance
and dignity.
In a word, the commercialized short-story is a mirror of the times—it
compasses movement, often at the expense of fineness, crowds
incidents so rapidly that the skeleton has no space in which to wear
its flesh, and prints stories mediocre and worse because better ones
will not be received with sufficient applause.
But while the journalized short-story adopts the hasty standards of
the newspaper because the public is too busy to be critical, in some
other respects it mirrors the times more happily. The lessons of
seriousness it utters with the lips of fun. Its favorite implement is a
rake, but it does uncover evils that ought not to remain hidden.
Finally, it concerns itself with human things, and tosses speculations
aside; it carefully records our myriad-form local life as the novel
cannot; and it has wonderfully developed in all classes the sense of
what is a good story, and that is a question more fundamental to all
literature than some critics might admit.

Here then is a new-old form abundantly worth study, for its


understanding, its appreciation, and its practise. If there is on one
side a danger that form may become too prominent and spirit too
little, there are balancing forces to hold things to a level. The
problems, projects and sports of the day are, after all, the life of the
day, and as such they furnish rightful themes. Really, signs are not
wanting that point to the truth of this optimistic assertion: The mass
of the people will eventually do the right, and they will at length bring
out of the commercialized short-story a vital literary form too human
to be dull and too artistic to be bad.

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES FOR


CLASS
OR INDIVIDUAL STUDY OF A SHORT-STORY
1. Estimating from an average page, how many words has this
story?
2. What type of story is it chiefly?
3. Does it subordinately illustrate any other types also? If so, which?
4. Is the title adequate?
5. What is its theme?
6. Write out a brief scenario of the plot.
7. Are the incidents arranged in effective order?
8. How many characters (a) speak, (b) are present but do not speak,
(c) are referred to but are not present?
9. Are the characters idealized, or are they quite true to life?
10. Are the characters individualized? Point out how the author
accomplishes this result.
11. What is the author’s attitude toward his characters?
12. What is the proportion of dialogue to description and comment?
13. What do you think of the dialogue?
14. Do you regard this story as being realistic, romantic, idealistic, or
composite?
15. Is the author’s purpose apparent? If so, what is it?
16. Are there any weak points in the plot?
17. Is the introduction interesting and clear?
18. Does the story end satisfactorily?
19. Is the conclusion either too long or too short?
20. Would any parts of the story be improved either by shortening or
by expanding? Be specific.
21. Does the story arouse in you any particular feeling, or mood?
22. What are the especially strong points of the story?
23. Write a general appreciation, using about two hundred words.
24. What is the final impression the story makes upon you?

NOTE
Nine distinct methods for the study of a novel are outlined in the
appendix to The Study of a Novel, by Selden L. Whitcomb. Some of
these may be applied to the short-story. Some excellent study
methods and questions are given in The Writing of the Short Story,
by Lewis Worthington Smith.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Excellent and comprehensive works, dealing more especially
with the English novel, are: The English Novel, Sidney Lanier
(Scribners, 1883, 1897); The Development of the English Novel,
Wilbur L. Cross (Macmillan, 1899); The Evolution of the English
Novel, Francis Hovey Stoddard (Macmillan, 1900); A Study of
Prose Fiction, Bliss Perry (Houghton-Mifflin, 1902); The Study of
A Novel, Selden L. Whitcomb (Heath, 1905); The Technique of
the Novel, Charles F. Horne (Harpers, 1908); Materials and
Methods of Fiction, Clayton Hamilton (Baker-Taylor, 1908).
[2] Good collections arranged historically are, The Book of the
Short Story, Alexander Jessup and Henry Seidel Canby; and The
Short-story, Brander Matthews. The former contains lists of
stories short and long grouped by periods.
[3] A full study of this character has been attempted in the present
author’s Writing The Short-Story, Hinds, Hayden and Eldredge.
New York, 1909.
[4] Egyptian Tales, W. M. Flinders Petrie.
[5] Stories from Homer, Church.
[6] The Bible as English Literature, J. H. Gardiner.
[7] A History of Latin Literature, George A. Simcox.
[8] The fabliau, a French form adopted by the English, is an
amusing story told in verse, generally of eight-syllable line.
Another poetic form of the period is the lai, a short metrical
romance.
[9] The Italian novella was popular in England down to the late
Elizabethan period. It is a diverting little story of human interest
but told with no moral purpose, even when it is reflective. In
purpose it is the direct opposite of the exemplum, which is a
moral tale told to teach a lesson, and may be compared to the
“illustration” which the exhorter repeats in the pulpit to-day.
[10] For a fuller examination of the bibliography of the subject
refer to the bibliographical notes in the books by Matthews,
Baldwin, Perry, Jessup and Canby, Canby, Dye, C. A. Smith, and
the editor of this volume—all referred to in detail elsewhere
herein. A supplementary bibliographical note will also be found on
p. 433.
[11] For this important record of the discriminations of a critic little
known in America, we are indebted to Professor C. Alphonso
Smith’s work on The American Short Story.
[12] Writing the Short-Story, p. 30.
I
STORIES OF ACTION AND
ADVENTURE
Mateo Falcone.—Prosper Mérimée.
A Lodging for the Night.—Robert Louis
Stevenson.

But the great majority of novels and plays represent


human life in nothing more faithfully than in their
insistence upon deeds. It is through action—tangible,
visible action upon the stage, or, in the novel, action
suggested by the medium of words—that the characters of
the play and the novel are ordinarily revealed. In
proportion as high art is attained in either medium of
expression this action is marked by adequacy of motive,
by conformity to the character, by progression and unity.—
Bliss Perry, A Study of Prose Fiction.
Studying The Short-Story

STORIES OF ACTION AND ADVENTURE


Few words are needed to set forth the meaning of this caption, for
the designation is sufficiently explicit. One point, however, it will be
well to emphasize: In fiction all action worthy of the name is the
outward manifestation of an inward condition. There is a sense,
therefore, in which all stories that are not mere pictures of internal
states are stories of action; just as it may be said that all stories are
stories of thought, feeling, and resolve. The point of distinction lies
here: in which direction does the story tend?
In one class, outward action is seen to work profoundly upon the
inward life, and the story shows us the workings of this influence in
its final effect upon the inward man and his character. In another, an
inward state is the basis, the premise, the initial force, in the story,
and from that beginning the story goes on to show by a series of
outward movements just how this great inward force operates in and
upon conduct. In a third class, outward and inward action balance.
Now when the outward or visible action, prominently displaying
physical movement, becomes paramount, whether shown as cause
or as effect, we have the action-story, and sometimes the adventure-
story. And in proportion as the interest of the reader centers in what
the characters do instead of in what they are, the story departs from
the subtler forms, such as the character-study and the psychological-
study, and action or adventure becomes the type. Reverse these
conditions, and another sort is the result.
Naturally, many variations are possible with these two chief
ingredients ready for use. One story may begin with soul action, then
proceed to show us bodily action with great vividness, and end by
taking us back into the man’s inner life. Another may progress on
contrary lines; and so on, in wide variety. The final test as to what is
the predominating type lies in the appeal to the interest of the reader:
is it based chiefly on what the characters are or on what they do? Is
it the why, or the how, the motive or the happening, that is most
absorbing? The best stories, even the best action and adventure
yarns, are likely to show a fair proportion of both.
MÉRIMÉE AND HIS WRITINGS
Prosper Mérimée was born in Paris, September 28, 1803. His father,
a Norman, was a professor in the École des Beaux-Arts, and his
mother, Anne Moreau, who had English blood in her veins, was also
an artist. Prosper attended the Collège Henri IV, and in the home of
his parents met the literati of the day. He undertook the study of law,
but soon abandoned it, and spent some years in observing life while
journeying abroad. He made much of ancient and modern
languages, becoming especially proficient in Spanish. Upon his
return to Paris he served in public office, and held the post of
Inspector General of Public Monuments until declining health
compelled him to retire. He was elected to several learned societies
and became a commander of the Legion of Honor, and, in 1844, a
member of the French Academy. Nine years later he was made a
Senator of France, an honor he owed to the friendship of the
Empress Eugénie. He died at Cannes on the 23rd of September,
1870, at the age of sixty-seven.
Prosper Mérimée was a successful poet, translator, novelist, and
short-story writer. His translations of the Russian novelists have
been pronounced excellent. “Colomba” is a romantic novelette of
singular power and charm. His most famous short-stories are “The
Taking of the Redoubt,” “Tamango,” “Federigo,” “The Etruscan Vase,”
“The Vision of Charles XI,” “The Venus of Ille,” “The Pearl of Toledo,”
“Carmen” (on which Bizet’s opera is founded), “Arsène Guillot,” and
“Mateo Falcone”; which follows, in a translation by the editor of this
volume. It was first published in the Revue de Paris, May, 1829.

Among French masters of the short-story, Mérimée easily holds


place in the first rank. Both personality and genius are his, and both
well repay careful study. He was an alert student of history, to whom
its anecdotal side made strongest appeal. The detached,
impersonal, unprejudiced attitude of the historian is seen in his short-
stories, for he tells his narrative impartially, with a sort of take-it-or-
leave-it air, allowing the story to make its own appeal without any
special pleading on his part. His story-telling manner is, therefore,
one of ironical coldness. He delighted to tell his tales in the matter-
of-fact manner of the casual traveller who has picked up a good yarn
and passes it on just as it was told him. And this literary attitude was
a reflex of his personality. To him, to love deeply was to endure pain,
to follow impulse was to court trouble, to cherish enthusiasms was to
delude the mind, so he schooled himself to appear impassive. Yet
now and then in his lucid and clear-cut stories, as in his urbane life, a
certain sweetness is revealed which speaks alluringly of the tender
spirit within.

All my life I have sought to free myself from prejudices, to


be a citizen of the world before being a Frenchman, but
now all these garments of philosophy are nothing to me.
To-day I bleed for the wounds of the foolish French, I
mourn for their humiliations, and, however ungrateful and
absurd they may be, I love them still.—Prosper
Mérimée, letter to Madame de Beaulaincourt (Marquise
de Castellane), written, ten days before his death, on
hearing from his friend Thiers that the disaster of Sedan
was irreparable and that the Empire was a thing of the
past.

A gallant man and a gentleman, he has had the reward he


would have wished. He has been discreetly and intimately
enjoyed by delicate tastes.... It was his rare talent to give
us those limpid, rapid, full tales, that one reads in an hour,
re-reads in a day, which fill the memory and occupy the
thoughts forever.—Émile Faguet, quoted by Grace King,
in C. D. Warner’s Library of the World’s Best Literature.

Colomba, Mateo Falcone, La Double Méprise, La Vénus


d’Ille, L’Enlèvement de la Redoute, Lokis, have equals, but
no superiors, either in French prose fiction or in French
prose. Grasp of human character, reserved but masterly
description of scenery, delicate analysis of motive, ability
to represent the supernatural, pathos, grandeur, simple
narrative excellence, appear turn by turn in these
wonderful pieces, as they appear hardly anywhere else.—
George Saintsbury, A Short History of French
Literature.

While inferior to Stendhal as a psychologist,


notwithstanding the keenness of his analysis, he excels
him in opening out and developing action, and in
composing a work whose parts hang well together. In
addition he possesses a “literary” style,—not the style of
an algebraist, but that of an exact, self-sustained writer.
He attains the perfection of form in his particular line.
Nearly all his stories are masterpieces of that rather dry
and hard, though forceful, nervous, and pressing style,
which constitutes him one of the most original and most
characteristic novelists of the century.—Georges
Pellissier, The Literary Movement in France.

I do not scruple to apply the word great to Mérimée, a


word which is not to be used lightly, but of which he is
thoroughly deserving. His style is the purest and clearest
of our century; no better model could possibly be found for
our present generation. His prose, to my mind, together
with that of Musset, Fromentin, and Renan, is the most
beautiful modern prose which has ever been written in the
French language. Like the great classics of the 17th
century, he never wrote a passage merely to please the
eye or the ear; his sole aim was to express thought, and
the colour of his language, which is so pre-eminently true
to nature, is of a rare sobriety; he never studies effect,
and, nevertheless, invariably attains it.—Edouard
Grenier, Literary Reminiscences.
FURTHER REFERENCES FOR READING ON
MÉRIMÉE
Miscellaneous Studies, Walter Pater (1895); Modern French
Literature, Benjamin W. Wells (1896); Contes et Nouvelles, by
Prosper Mérimée, edited by J. E. Michell (1907); A Century of
French Fiction, Benjamin W. Wells (1898); Prosper Mérimée, Arthur
Symonds, in A Century of French Romance, edited by Edmund W.
Gosse (1901); Six Masters in Disillusion, Algar Therold (1909).

MATEO FALCONE
BY PROSPER MÉRIMÉE
Translation by The Editor
Note: The technical terms used in the marginal notes
explanatory of the short-stories throughout this work follow
the terminology used and treated fully in the present author’s
Writing the Short-Story.

As one comes out of Porto-Vecchio, and A story of local-color


turns northwest toward the center of the because the
Corsican customs
island, the ground is seen to rise quite determine the
rapidly, and after three hours’ walk by destinies of the
tortuous paths, blocked by large masses of characters. It is
equally a character-
rocks, and sometimes cut by ravines, the study and a
traveler finds himself on the edge of a very psychological study.
extensive maquis. This bush is the home of Note how
characters
the Corsican shepherds, and of harmonize with
whomsoever has come into conflict with the setting, throughout.
law. It is well known that the Corsican
laborer, to spare himself the trouble of fertilizing his lands,
sets fire to a certain stretch of forest; so much the worse if the
flames spread further than is needed; Setting is minutely
whatever happens, he is sure to have a given, yet not
diffusely.

You might also like