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Akdom Posted 17 years ago
Vocabulary

A SPRAWLING narrative

"With Pox Americana, Fenn crafts a sprawling narrative detailing the overlooked smallpox epidemic of 1775-1782 in the Americas and the tumultuous times of revolution that surrounded it."

What does a " sprawling" narrative mean? overextended? too complexed? unorganized? random?

Does it have a negative connotation[N]? ...he gave a sprawling narrative of the story, spraying frivilous details all over the place...
  

Top answer

"overextended" is probably the best approximation. "very extensive" in any case. Yes, it has at least a slightly negative connotation.

— CalifJim

  • "overextended" is probably the best approximation.
  • "very extensive" in any case.
  • Yes, it has at least a slightly negative connotation.
  • In some cases -- and it depends, as always, on context -- it has a very negative connotation when applied to literature.
  • The verb sprawl has a more neutral connotation when used in other contexts: Jake was sprawled all over the couch, watching TV.
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1 Answers
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"overextended" is probably the best approximation. "very extensive" in any case. Yes, it has at least a slightly negative connotation. In some cases -- and it depends, as always, on context -- it has a very negative connotation when applied to literature.

The verb sprawl has a more neutral connotation when used in other contexts:

Jake was sprawled all over the couch
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