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Unneeded Edits to "Beggar Prince" Formatting


Kirbonated_Beverage

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A number of books in skyrim have feature dialog from a single character that extends for multiple paragraphs.
an example from "Beggar Prince":
 

Quote

"It would seem you have completed your apprenticeship to me after all," Namira declared. "I shall grant your request."

Wheedle was overjoyed.

"I grant you the power of disease. You may choose to be afflicted with any disease you choose, changing them at will, so long as it has visible symptoms. However, you must always bear at least one.

"I grant you the power of pity. You may evoke pity in anyone that sees you.

"Finally, I grant you the power of disregard. You may cause others to disregard your presence."

Notice some of Namira's lines are not closed with a quotation mark. USSEP adds quotation marks to those lines, but it actually Shouldn't. Namira's last three lines are actually one instance of dialog that has been split across multiple lines to make it easier to read. When you do this, you should format it like the above example, only placing the closed quotation mark at the last line of the dialog, as to avoid identity confusion.

Here are some details about the Grammar rule in question: https://lasteditorstanding.blogspot.com/2016/08/multiple-paragraphs-in-single-instance.html

EDIT: While multiple books use this formatting style, only Beggar Prince appears to be incorrectly edited by the patch

Edited by Kirbonated_Beverage
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The following example is acceptable:

"I grant you the power of disease. You may choose to be afflicted with any disease you choose, changing them at will, so long as it has visible symptoms. However, you must always bear at least one."

"I grant you the power of pity. You may evoke pity in anyone that sees you."

"Finally, I grant you the power of disregard. You may cause others to disregard your presence."

The text inside the enclosed quotes represents a continuity in the flow of thoughts of the speaker. It's obvious from the context that all those words are spoken by Namira, and each new set of quotes implies a change either in the meaning, delivery, or timing of her dialogue.

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On 7/20/2020 at 12:56 AM, lmstearn said:

The following example is acceptable:

"I grant you the power of disease. You may choose to be afflicted with any disease you choose, changing them at will, so long as it has visible symptoms. However, you must always bear at least one."

"I grant you the power of pity. You may evoke pity in anyone that sees you."

"Finally, I grant you the power of disregard. You may cause others to disregard your presence."

The text inside the enclosed quotes represents a continuity in the flow of thoughts of the speaker. It's obvious from the context that all those words are spoken by Namira, and each new set of quotes implies a change either in the meaning, delivery, or timing of her dialogue.

It's actually not grammatically correct though. You only close a quotation when you switch speaker or when you interrupt the quote with narration.

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Quote

It's actually not grammatically correct though. You only close a quotation when you switch speaker or when you interrupt the quote with narration.

This may be a valid point. We're going to need to go back and review the original ticket before I can say one way or another whether reversing the added quotation marks is appropriated in this case.

 

Edit: Okay, yeah. Those two edits I made back in USSEP 4.1.5 were unnecessary (as outlined in the quote in the original post). Although not every English style guide may agree, this is the way it is handled in U.S. English. Since Bethesda is a company based in the United States, we'll go that route. Additionally, other books in the game appear to follow this rule as well.

They will be reversed in the next update, whenever that may be.

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