Life, 1899-01-05 · page 9 of 20
Life — January 5, 1899 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Page Analysis: Life Magazine, Page 9 This page critiques the *New York Evening Post* for excessive use of quotation marks around words it deems improper. The large editorial illustration shows a grandfather clock—symbolizing tradition and authority—suggesting the Post positions itself as an arbiter of "correct" language. The cartoon above depicts two figures by a log, with dialogue suggesting someone was pushed underwater. The exact narrative is unclear, but it appears illustrative of the editorial's broader point. The text argues the *Evening Post* pedantically polices language and "bad words," using quotation marks to highlight perceived indulgences. The author contends this approach lacks genuine moral force—merely showing disapproval without addressing root problems. Teachers especially shouldn't rely on such superficial methods to influence young writers. The satire targets linguistic prescriptivism masquerading as moral instruction.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“ARE YE SURE IT WAS MICKEY WHO WINT T’nOvGU THE o1cR?" “POSITIVE; I SEEN HIM GO UNDER. BUT TBE SCUMELL O' THIS'LL BRING HIM TO THE sumrace.” HAT clever and highly “educated vehicle of re- buke, the New York Ece- ning Post, is open to the imputation of being the greatest corrupter of literary style in all the land. It is given over to the habit of using bad words, trite ex- pressions, and all manner of deleterious combinations of language. It puts quota- tion marks around these indulgences, thinking apparently that by so doing it takes the curse out of them and shows that it is better than its habits. The quotation marks show nothing of the sort. They merely show that the Post likes slang, but has not the manhood to use it on its own responsibility. Its- editorial page vexes the eye and offends the moral sense, and all along of those wretched quote-marks, which are sent to ery “Scholarship!” but {incontinently bawl “Hypocrisy!” Teachers, especially teachers of rhet- oric, should see that their young charges do not read the Evening Pvst. Once let a young person imagine that words putin quotation marks don’t count, and it is all up with the hope of teaching that young person to be a writer. SANGER SM - comicbooks.com