Literary notes about Speaking (AI summary)
The term "speaking" in literature is remarkably versatile, functioning both as a literal reference to verbal communication and as a symbolic means of expressing deeper ideas. In some works, it marks the straightforward act of dialogue and the conveyance of opinions or emotion, as seen when characters insist on speaking their truths or engage in argument or confession [1], [2], [3], [4]. In other instances, authors employ "speaking" in a more abstract or reflective tone, using it to underline philosophical reflections or to emphasize how language shapes thought—whether it be the natural ease of expression contrasted with the contemplative silence necessary for understanding [5], [6], [7]. Moreover, “speaking” can encapsulate the art of oratory and the performance inherent in public address, as well as the nuanced interplay between private revelations and public declarations [8], [9], [10]. Across genres and epochs, the varied usage of "speaking" enriches narrative depth and character development, offering both clarity and complexity to the act of communication itself.
- She would not speak to him, but he insisted on speaking to her.
— from The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham - “I am speaking to you, my friend!”
— from A Hero of Our Time by Mikhail Iurevich Lermontov - At length he turned to her, and speaking very gently, hoped she would say a prayer that night for a sick child.
— from The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens - They dropped their voices, but Amy knew they were speaking of her, hearing one side of the story and judging accordingly.
— from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott - Speaking comes by nature, silence by understanding.
— from A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs - Mankind has still much before it—how, generally speaking, could the ideal be taken from the past?
— from The Genealogy of Morals by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche - [Pg 183] We have been speaking of life in its lowest terms—as a physical thing.
— from Introduction to the Science of Sociology by E. W. Burgess and Robert Ezra Park - Public Speaking.
— from The Art of Public Speaking by Dale Carnegie and J. Berg Esenwein - She's been speaking with power this forenoon from the words, 'I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.'
— from Adam Bede by George Eliot - The executor has the legal title to the whole of the testator's personal estate, and, generally speaking, the power of alienation.
— from The Common Law by Oliver Wendell Holmes
