discuss the biographical techniques employed by boswell in his life of johnson
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Boswell's style in the biography is to establish a setting in which he can show Johnson in the best light, using dialogue that the reader feels like an eavesdropper at a private conversation. One of the results of this technique is that Boswell becomes the authoritative keeper of Johnson's actions and words across a wide range of Johnson's later life. Our understanding of Johnson, therefore, is a carefully crafted memory recorded and created by Boswell himself.
Boswell's prose can be relatively ponderous, solemn--slow--but when he recounts scenes in which Johnson acts or speaks, the style is lively, replicating the cadence of conversation and creating a picture of Johnson's interaction with friends and acquaintances.
Boswell's narrative technique, for the most part, centers on the alternation of quoting lengthy passages from Johnson's voluminous writings and the inclusion of Boswell's own authorial interpretations of Johnson's life.
Boswell's prose can be relatively ponderous, solemn--slow--but when he recounts scenes in which Johnson acts or speaks, the style is lively, replicating the cadence of conversation and creating a picture of Johnson's interaction with friends and acquaintances.
Boswell's narrative technique, for the most part, centers on the alternation of quoting lengthy passages from Johnson's voluminous writings and the inclusion of Boswell's own authorial interpretations of Johnson's life.
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