Nabokov's lecture, titled "Good Readers and Good Writers", adopts a tone that is both personal and informal. This is apparent through his consistent usage of first person pronouns throughout the piece. For example, in the beginning of this lecture he states, "my plan is to deal lovingly, in loving and lingering detail, with several European Masterpieces." It is significant that Nabokov uses words like 'lovingly' in his lecture because it reveals a passion that gives the piece a personal feel to it and draws the reader in. Nabokov even includes a personal experience in his lecture in which he tells the reader of a quiz he once gave out to his students which included a list of several possible answers to the question, "What should a reader be to be a good reader?" This quiz that Nabokov inserts into his lecture lightens the tone of the piece a considerable bit and also keeps the reader intrigued.
Another way that Nabokov reveals the light tone of his lecture is through his bright vocabulary and vivid descriptions. For example, this passage shows one of these powerful descriptions in this quote: "That mist is a mountain-and that mountain must be conquered. Up a trackless slope climbs the master artist, and at the top, on a windy ridge, whom do you think he meets? The panting and happy reader, and there they spontaneously embrace and are linked forever if the book lasts forever."
Nabokov, Vladimir. "Good Readers and Good Writers." Lecture. 1948. Lectures on Literature. Print.
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