Hooptedoodle is the extra descriptions or words in a story, but I
believe it still holds value. In Sweet Tuesday, Mack
says: “The guy’s writing it, give him a chance to do a little
hooptedoodle. Spin up some pretty words maybe, or sing a little song with
language. That’s nice.” Booth states: “If all art is trying for the same
effect-a kind of pure realization of another world or a disinterested contemplation
of pure form-then obviously music (or sometimes painting, the more abstract the
better) should be our model.” Hooptedoodle
is the art of the writer. It isn't necessarily needed to understand the story,
but it is what sets one author apart from another. Anyone can take a picture of
a scene, but it is the artist that paints a different way of looking at the
scene.
Too much of it becomes overwhelming, and begins
to be more for the sake of creativity than to actually tell a story. In Grapes
of Wrath, the intercalary
chapters were similar to the titles that Mack talks about:
Suppose there’s chapter one, chapter two, chapter three. That’s
all right, as far as it goes, but I’d like to have a couple of words at the top
so it tells me what the chapter’s going to be about. Sometimes maybe I want to
go back, and chapter five don’t mean nothing to me. If there was just a couple
of words I’d know that was the chapter I wanted to go back to.”
These chapters give the reader a chance to take
a peak at theme for the next chapter. It paints the picture, and provides one
with the angle used to look at the scene. I think every intercalary
chapter could also be skipped, and one could still read the rest of the
chapters, and be able to understand the whole story. This hooptedoodle is
Steinbeck’s signature for his artwork.
I like your redefinition of this as "the art of the writer. It isn't necessarily needed to understand the story, but it is what sets one author apart from another" -- those places where it's very clear and unfiltered authorial voice.
ReplyDeleteAre there non-intercalary examples in Grapes of hooptedoodle, or is it mostly restrained to those fifteen chapters?
Steinbeck does a great job of intertwining the intercalary chapters with the narrative chapters. He brings the turtle in the intercalary chapter into the narrative, by getting Tom to carry it. But I agree with you. The intercalary chapters could be skipped and still understand the story
ReplyDeleteSteinbeck starts off the novel with hooptedoodle when he is explaining the land of Oklahoma. He could of simply just said there was dust everywhere and everything was dried up, but instead he gave us a very descriptive picture by "spinning up some pretty words." I'm glad Steinbeck used just enough hooptedoodle and not too much because then the story could have easily been dragged on and a bore.
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