May 9, 2005

Befriending the Colon: Carter's Rule of Entitlement

So you want to write a snappy, clever, memorable title--just like Joe Carter? You're in luck, friend, because I can show you how. I'm practically a Carter expert, having culled through the last couple months' worth of titles to figure out how he does it. There's one simple rule: always use a colon.

Consider these examples.
  • Dawkin’s Apparent Absurdities: Richard Dawkins and the Hermeneutic of Atheism
  • Of Theocrats and Theophobes: Carter’s Law of Political Rhetoric
  • The Embryo Eaters: A Bioethical Thought Experiment
  • Insurance Regulation: Say’s Law and the Demand for Abortion
  • The One-Flesh Union: An Evangelical View of Sex and Marriage
  • Industrialized Sex: How Christians Can Restore True Intimacy
  • Chappe’s Progeny: In Praise of Linkers
  • Monkeyfishing, Miracles, and the Media: Why Do We Trust the Press?
  • Info-Techno Sabbath: Unplugging the God of Information Technology
  • Positively Illogical: The Absurdity of Naturalistic Ethics
  • Noses Pressed Against Mirrors: Recovering Wisdom in the Blogosphere
  • Experts in Stupidity: Conservatism and the Moral Intelligence of Society
  • Other People’s Navels: Bloggers on Blogging
  • Naturalism for Dummies: Contradictions, Causal Connections, and the Center for Naturalism
  • God’s Refrigerator: Can Christians Save the Visual Arts (Part II)
  • More Than Many Sparrows: The Limits of Empiricism
  • Truly Catholic: Reflections on the Death of John Paul II
  • Soul Time: Temporality and the Intermediate State


It's that simple. But there's more. Corrolaries include, but are not limited to...

alliteration
  • Apparent Absurdities
  • Theocrats and Theophobes
  • Embryo Eaters
neologism
  • exnihilating
  • info-techno

the ______ of _______
  • The Hermeneutic of Atheism
  • the Moral Intelligence of Society
  • The Limits of Empiricism


Bonus Quiz: Real Carter Title or Clever Imitation?

a) Real Carter Title
b) Clever Imitation

1. Selling the Farm: Conservatism and the Ethics of Subsidies

2. Deadwood in the Pews: the Trouble with Church

3. The EGGs in the Mystic's Basket: Physicalism and the Global Consciousness Project

4. Kinkade's Cottage Fantasy: The Dispiriting Art of Thomas Kinkade

5. Here's MUD in Your Eye: A Christian View of Online Gaming

6. Taming Tom Sawyer: Ritalin as a Substitute for Character

7. Down the Up Staircase: Architecture as a Moral Concern








answers:
1. b
2. a
3. a
4. a
5. b
6. a
7. b

No comments: