Little Cat came home from his travels in the big city rocking a Cuban accent. He thinks it sounds sulty but really it sounds annoying. Big Cat started calling him “gringo.” It’s really getting to be too much.
How Much is too Much with Accent?
What do you think? As a writer, do you use accents and dialects of English (or another language) in your writing? How much is too much? Do you succumb to the pitfall of using a hayseed-type accent (Southern, Appalachian, etc.) to show that someone is foolish or stupid or poorly educated?
To be sure, someone with a rural accent can indeed be any of those things. But more likely they are educated in a way that befits their path in life. There’s a wonderful illustration of this in The Sworn Sword by George R. R. Martin. The two main characters, Dunk and Egg, discuss a Prince’s relationship with commoners. Dunk cautions Egg: These commoners might not know about the history of the Kings and Queens of the Seven Kingdoms, but you probably don’t know every species of wildflower or how to plow a row. And even the lowest farmers have their pride.
Cinematography by Erika Grumet
Executive Producer: Rocket
Starring Frob as Big Cat and Widget as Little Cat.
Description
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A large orange and a small grey are sitting on a cushion. The small grey looks… angry. The large orange radiates the joy of the unquestioned life. The grey asks: “How was England?” The orange responds: “Oh, it was smashing, innit?” The grey cuts in: “Oh God. Forget I asked.”
