The Writer's Craft and Narrative Irony

The Writer's Narrative and Market Demands

1.1. A writer used to writing long narratives used to fill pages and more pages without having to worry about expurgating them. This is the responsibility of a writer commissioned by a daily to write a short story that must have no less than thirty lines. In fact, the same story by Monzó, which lasts exactly thirty lines and thus fulfills the condition of the story, is simply a description, ironically demonstrative of the fact that a writer, having nothing to say, is nevertheless capable of writing a very measured tale on the subject of having nothing to say.

Irony in the Short Story Format

1.2. Insofar as the story goes, the writer in principle does not resemble the author of the story, but in fact, it conforms to a rule that formally remains ironic. The narrator follows this, and Monzó seems to laugh kindly at himself because it is natural in such a case to identify author and narrator. However, he also takes the opportunity to laugh at a similar kind: the authors whose preferred activity is writing longer novels. In short, the text may be taken as an intelligent, slightly sarcastic irony about the writer's craft, generally subjected, like everyone else, to the laws of the market.

Material Size versus Aesthetic Greatness

1.3. a) Large size refers to the strictly material extent (number of pages) of the writer's work. Greatness, however, refers to an aesthetic quality, and possibly the moral dimension of this work. b) The narrator continues to see little sense in considering the justified feeling of failure of the writer for the simple reason that, from the standpoint of the craft, which is embodied, for example, by the manager of the newspaper, the poor man has acted as a responsible professional writer.

Vocabulary and Synonyms

1.4. Hates: flare, detests, loathes, execrates, cannot endure.
Set: has, orders, still, appeared.
Get: reach, attains, arrives.
Expurgate: cut, clean, cleaning, reduces the number.

Grammatical and Syntactic Analysis

Adverbial Subordinate Clauses

• a) Conditional subordinate adverbial
• b) Subordinate adverbial infinitive of purpose
• c) Subordinate adverbial modal
• d) Causal subordinate adverbial
• e) Subordinate adverbial infinitive of time
• f) Subordinate adverbial concessive

Sentence Components

3.2. Subjects: A velvet voice that has phoned the Sunday supplement and has asked for the story.
Direct Objects (CDs): "Between one and thirty lines" — the story.
Indirect Objects (ICs): He (said) to you; (have phoned) you; (asked) you.

Relative and Interrogative Pronouns

3.3. Where (relative), what (interrogative); It is, God is. [As before, each wrong answer, if there are any, will neutralize a correct one. We continue, therefore, using the notion of response.]

3.4. The correct answer is c), which functions as the CRV (Prepositional Complement) and CD (Direct Object).

Phonetic Transcription and Rules

3.5. j: [Z] — Palatal fricative.
gu: [w] — Velar approximant.
x (tension): [ks] — Velar occlusive + alveolar voiceless fricative.
b (surd): [p] — Voiceless lip occlusive.
c (incap): [s] — Alveolar fricative.