How things ended
Every era has its own style. Iβm particularly interested in the way articles end. It changes from decade to decade, but the desire to wrap a piece of text in a little bow is eternal.
I asked Claude to make a table of different article-ending styles through the decades.
The following text is completely synthetic. It may not be accurate, true, or kind. Rinse before using.
Era | Style | Example Ending |
---|---|---|
1930 | Authoritative, moralistic | A writer without a proper conclusion is like a ship without a rudder β adrift in a sea of words. |
1950 | Professional, objective | The data suggests writers will continue experimenting with various conclusion methods. Further research is needed. |
1970 | New Journalism, experiential | Iβm smoking a cigarette now, staring at my blank screen. The cursor blinks. I stop typing. Is that it? |
1980 | Ironic kicker | After spending $2 million on the perfect wedding, Sarah realized sheβd forgotten to invite the groom. |
2000 | Meta-commentary | Maybe the real ending was the conclusions we left behind along the way. |
2020 | Systems thinking | Our endings anxiety reveals how platform algorithms have trained us to think every piece must neatly click into place. |
- β to the past
Dahl-Beck Electric - to the future β
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