Talk:Skin (short story)

Paraphrase vs Quotation

There has been some difference of opinion regarding the optimal balance of quotation vs paraphrase in describing how the story ends.

My preferred approach (see e.g. edit of 22 December 2009) involves a short paraphrase followed by a short quotation followed by another short paraphrase as follows:

• Paraphrase: [the narrator says that the evidence]
• Quotation: "causes one to wonder a little, and to the pray for the old man's health, and to hope fervently that wherever he may be at this moment"
• Paraphrase: [Drioli is indeed living the rich and comfortable lifestyle he was promised.]

Here, paraphrase is the dominant tool, with just enough direct quotation to convey the style and subtlety of the narrative.

A couple of editors (see edits of 8 November 2009 and 25 April 2010) misunderstood that blend of paraphrase and quotation, and assumed that the final paraphrase is meant to be part of the quotation. In my opinion, making such a presumptuous edit without reference to the story is a failing of common sense, but at least they probably acted in Good Faith.

The current version (see edit of 28 June 2010) circumvents the problem by including a longer direct quote, as follows:

• Paraphrase: [the narrator says that the evidence]
• Quotation: "causes one to wonder a little, and to the pray for the old man's health, and to hope fervently that wherever he may be at this moment, there is a plump attractive girl to manicure the nails of his fingers, and a maid to bring him breakfast in bed in the mornings."

This might be more stable, but comes at the cost (I would argue) of a greater-than-optimal amount of direct quotation.

What do you think?

125.168.127.32 (talk) 16:00, 9 September 2010 (UTC)