What cultural and worldbuilding information is embedded within the smallest of word choices? Today, we dive into three specific sections from throughout Martine’s “A Memory Called Empire”: the word for empire, assimilation and naming, and learning the word for bomb. We unpack how Martine uses language to establish important principles of how the world works.

Thing of the Week:

The Gilded Age - Created and Written by Julian Fellowes Julian Fellows (on HBO Max)

Homework:

Write a scene that describes a fictional piece of literature— whether that's a poem, a song, or a story— that means something to the people in the story you’re telling.

Here’s a link to buy your copy of “A Memory Called Empire” if you haven’t already:

https://bookshop.org/lists/close-readings-season-19

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Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson.

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19.21: Language as a Tool (A Close Reading on Worldbuilding)

Writing Excuses