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Ella Minnow Pea
- 174 statements
- 33 feature instances
- 4 referencing feature instances
| Ella Minnow Pea | type |
TVTItem | |
| Ella Minnow Pea | label |
Ella Minnow Pea | |
| Ella Minnow Pea | page |
EllaMinnowPea | |
| Ella Minnow Pea | comment |
Ella Minnow Pea is a progressively lipogrammatic epistolary fable written by Mark Dunn in 2001. The novel is set on the fictional island nation of Nollop off the coast of South Carolina. The nation is named for Nevin Nollop, who created the sentence "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog," which contains all 26 letters of the alphabet in just 35 letters total.note In Real Life, the pangram was first published in The Boston Journal in 1885, though its actual creator is unknown. Mr. Nollop is revered by the inhabitants for this magnificent contribution to the English language—after all, on this island, linguistics is Serious Business.At the center of Nollopton, capital of Nollop, sits a large monument to Mr. Nollop. Thirty-five tiles are attached at the top, each bearing a letter to spell out his remarkable sentence. But one day, one of these tiles—the one with letter Z—falls off the monument and shatters on the ground. The High Island Council, Nollop's governing body, takes this as a sign from Nollop that the letter Z should be outlawed in both speech and writing. This seems somewhat manageable, apart from a great many books now being illegal to own. But then another tile falls, and another…The story is told as a series of letters and notes sent among the various characters—chiefly, the titular Ella and her family. As letters (of the alphabet) are banned one by one, they stop appearing in the book. | |
| Ella Minnow Pea | fetched |
2023-11-03T14:15:51Z | |
| Ella Minnow Pea | parsed |
2023-11-03T14:15:51Z | |
| Ella Minnow Pea | processingComment |
Dropped link to elvispresley: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
| Ella Minnow Pea | isPartOf |
DBTropes | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_15b2cab3 | type |
Tempting Fate | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_15b2cab3 | comment |
Tempting Fate: Knowing full well that the letter D is banned, Gwenette writes the word "diminished" in her letter to Mittie anyway, hoping she'll just get off with first offense. It fails, as the double-use of that letter gets her second offense. | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_15b2cab3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_15b2cab3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea | hasFeature |
Ella Minnow Pea / int_15b2cab3 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_1c398324 | type |
Death from Above | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_1c398324 | comment |
Death from Above: When the tile with X falls, it hits a man directly on the head, injuring him severely. | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_1c398324 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_1c398324 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea | hasFeature |
Ella Minnow Pea / int_1c398324 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_259d5879 | type |
Anachronism Stew | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_259d5879 | comment |
Anachronism Stew: The novel takes place in the year 2000, but Nollopian culture is very slow to embrace technology. Everyone communicates by mail. There used to be some degree of telephone service, but it's been out of order for over a year. | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_259d5879 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_259d5879 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea | hasFeature |
Ella Minnow Pea / int_259d5879 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_2dd590cb | type |
Title Drop Chapter | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_2dd590cb | comment |
Title Drop Chapter: Chapters aren't titled, but each is headed by the alphabet, with banned letters replaced by asterisks. Given the titular protagonist's Punny Name, it's not hard to foresee the arrival of a chapter headed by ***LMNOP***. | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_2dd590cb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_2dd590cb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea | hasFeature |
Ella Minnow Pea / int_2dd590cb | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_2eac5753 | type |
Narrative Profanity Filter | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_2eac5753 | comment |
Narrative Profanity Filter: | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_2eac5753 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_2eac5753 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea | hasFeature |
Ella Minnow Pea / int_2eac5753 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_3a98aac8 | type |
Epunymous Title | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_3a98aac8 | comment |
Epunymous Title: Due to being a Punny Name-d Protagonist Title: "Ella Minnow Pea" sounds like the sequence of letters L-M-N-O-P. She lampshades this by signing one of her last letters as "LMNOP". | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_3a98aac8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_3a98aac8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea | hasFeature |
Ella Minnow Pea / int_3a98aac8 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_42cc824b | type |
Constrained Writing | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_42cc824b | comment |
Constrained Writing: Lipogrammatic writing (i.e. deliberate avoidance of letters of the alphabet) is invoked by the High Island Council. Enterprise 32 entails a different constraint: using all 26 alphabetical letters in as short a sentence as possible. | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_42cc824b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_42cc824b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea | hasFeature |
Ella Minnow Pea / int_42cc824b | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_479d4e5a | type |
Would Hurt a Child | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_479d4e5a | comment |
Would Hurt a Child: The punishment for a second offense—choice of headstock or whipping—is doled out equally on anyone older than seven. | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_479d4e5a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_479d4e5a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea | hasFeature |
Ella Minnow Pea / int_479d4e5a | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_55ec42d7 | type |
Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_55ec42d7 | comment |
Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe: Ella does this out of necessity, using thee as a general replacement for you (even as a subject) after the letter U is banned. | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_55ec42d7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_55ec42d7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea | hasFeature |
Ella Minnow Pea / int_55ec42d7 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_617f0563 | type |
Heel–Face Turn | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_617f0563 | comment |
Heel–Face Turn: Georgeanne Towgate, who reported Mittie's first two violations, later apologizes deeply and begs to be allies. | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_617f0563 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_617f0563 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea | hasFeature |
Ella Minnow Pea / int_617f0563 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_63fa5d78 | type |
Cult of Personality | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_63fa5d78 | comment |
Cult of Personality: The High Island Council tries to establish one centered around Nevin Nollop. Given the rapid deterioration of the island's social structure and widespread hostility toward the Council at that point, they don't get much support. | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_63fa5d78 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_63fa5d78 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea | hasFeature |
Ella Minnow Pea / int_63fa5d78 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_6977c45e | type |
Purple Prose | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_6977c45e | comment |
Purple Prose: Toward the beginning of the book, when the characters' vocabularies are unmarred. Justified, as Nollopians consider language the highest form of art. | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_6977c45e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_6977c45e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea | hasFeature |
Ella Minnow Pea / int_6977c45e | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_6b35bdff | type |
Serious Business | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_6b35bdff | comment |
Serious Business: Nollop is where letters of the alphabet are likely valued the most, and everyone hopes and prays that their favorite letter isn't the next one banned. | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_6b35bdff | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_6b35bdff | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea | hasFeature |
Ella Minnow Pea / int_6b35bdff | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_6d7026fa | type |
Punny Name | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_6d7026fa | comment |
Ella's Punny Name foreshadows the fact that the last remaining legal letters are L, M, N, O, and P. | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_6d7026fa | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_6d7026fa | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea | hasFeature |
Ella Minnow Pea / int_6d7026fa | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_72e1bd14 | type |
Bungled Suicide | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_72e1bd14 | comment |
Bungled Suicide: After the success of Enterprise 32, Harton Mangrove of the High Island Council attempts suicide twice, both rather clumsily. | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_72e1bd14 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_72e1bd14 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea | hasFeature |
Ella Minnow Pea / int_72e1bd14 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_7464705c | type |
Arc Words | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_7464705c | comment |
Arc Words: "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." The sentence drives the plot, even if it's never written out in full after the first few pages. | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_7464705c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_7464705c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea | hasFeature |
Ella Minnow Pea / int_7464705c | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_7560d8dd | type |
Computers Are Fast | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_7560d8dd | comment |
Computers Are Fast: The idea of employing the aid of a certain computer programmer to complete Enterprise 32 is discussed, but ultimately rejected, as doing so would ruin the point. In the last few pages, after the fact, said programmer is contacted out of curiosity. He produces four suitable sentences—one of which, coincidentally, is the exact one that solved Enterprise 32 just a few days before. | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_7560d8dd | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_7560d8dd | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea | hasFeature |
Ella Minnow Pea / int_7560d8dd | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_7ac5c1de | type |
Unishment | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_7ac5c1de | comment |
Unishment: The intent of putting second-offenders in headstock is public humiliation. Except nobody jeers, and instead people come to offer consolation and food to those restrained. The worst of the punishment is a stiff neck. | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_7ac5c1de | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_7ac5c1de | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea | hasFeature |
Ella Minnow Pea / int_7ac5c1de | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_80a247a9 | type |
Breather Episode | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_80a247a9 | comment |
Breather Episode: Downplayed. The Council announces that sound-alike misspellings are legal in writing. The extremely harsh restrictions on vocabulary are loosened, and people no longer have to strain for substitute words, but that doesn't stop the crumbling of Nollopian society. | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_80a247a9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_80a247a9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea | hasFeature |
Ella Minnow Pea / int_80a247a9 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_8e20979 | type |
Wham Episode | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_8e20979 | comment |
Wham Episode: Eight tiles fall in a single night. Ella bids each one "so lon", and is left with only (what else?) L, M, N, O, and P. | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_8e20979 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_8e20979 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea | hasFeature |
Ella Minnow Pea / int_8e20979 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_91e894b4 | type |
Apocalypse How | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_91e894b4 | comment |
Apocalypse How, Class 0: Regional societal collapse, brought on by the deportation of nearly everyone. Even after Enterprise 32 succeeds, it's unclear whether Nollop will have a working society again. | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_91e894b4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_91e894b4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea | hasFeature |
Ella Minnow Pea / int_91e894b4 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_96a2363c | type |
Bathos | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_96a2363c | comment |
Bathos: Despite the downward spiral that Nollop's social structure is on, it's quite amusing to see the substitutes people invent for months and days of the week once their proper forms are illegalized, such as "Riggy-roo, Octopus 20"note Friday, October 20. | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_96a2363c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_96a2363c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea | hasFeature |
Ella Minnow Pea / int_96a2363c | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_9d12bbc1 | type |
Foreshadowing | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_9d12bbc1 | comment |
Foreshadowing: A cunning linguist may recognize the pangram in Amos's last note ("Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs") long before Ella does. Ella's Punny Name foreshadows the fact that the last remaining legal letters are L, M, N, O, and P. | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_9d12bbc1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_9d12bbc1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea | hasFeature |
Ella Minnow Pea / int_9d12bbc1 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_9d3f4777 | type |
My Nayme Is | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_9d3f4777 | comment |
My Nayme Is: As people's names become illegal, some choose to legalize their names with alternate spelling, such as "Tanea" for Tanya. Mittie learns the hard way that the fishmonger Zenia's name is not spelled with an X like she thought. | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_9d3f4777 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_9d3f4777 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea | hasFeature |
Ella Minnow Pea / int_9d3f4777 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_b1dde8fd | type |
Loophole Abuse | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_b1dde8fd | comment |
Loophole Abuse: Averted when the Council makes it quite clear that simply replacing a banned letter with an asterisk (e.g. la*y in lieu of lazy) is not acceptable. Later played straight when the Council decrees that approgsimate spelling is phine to yoose, tho only in writing. However, since the punishment for using illegal letters does not apply to children aged seven years or younger, the members of Enterprise 32 take advantage of this, and have the children write pangrams for them. | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_b1dde8fd | featureApplicability |
-1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_b1dde8fd | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea | hasFeature |
Ella Minnow Pea / int_b1dde8fd | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_c1832fcb | type |
Feet of Clay | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_c1832fcb | comment |
Feet of Clay: At the end of the book, it's made quite apparent that Nevin Nollop was not an ingenious linguist, and he may not have even written the "quick brown fox" sentence at all. | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_c1832fcb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_c1832fcb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea | hasFeature |
Ella Minnow Pea / int_c1832fcb | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_c75df49a | type |
Shout-Out | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_c75df49a | comment |
Shout-Out: A movement protesting the ban of the letter Q, where the Rasmussens wore duck masks and made quacking noises, is called the "Daffy and Donald Affair". When many letters are off limits, Ella refers to Monday, November 6 as "Monty, No No, Nanette 6". When the tile with the letter R falls, Ella's response is "So lon R! (Are ewe lonesome tonite?)" | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_c75df49a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_c75df49a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea | hasFeature |
Ella Minnow Pea / int_c75df49a | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_d6b5863 | type |
Driven to Madness | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_d6b5863 | comment |
Driven to Madness: Georgeanne Towgate goes loopy from loneliness after her family is gone. Eventually she paints her whole body from head to toe and dies from lead poisoning. | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_d6b5863 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_d6b5863 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea | hasFeature |
Ella Minnow Pea / int_d6b5863 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_d90ab0d2 | type |
Big, Stupid Doodoo-Head | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_d90ab0d2 | comment |
Big, Stupid Doodoo-Head: For lack of anything better, Ella expresses her frustration this way as the alphabet continues to fall. | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_d90ab0d2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_d90ab0d2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea | hasFeature |
Ella Minnow Pea / int_d90ab0d2 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_e567510d | type |
Determinator | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_e567510d | comment |
Determinator: Ella refuses to leave Nollop or give up on Enterprise 32, even after her friends and family have all left (or died). She even continues to write to herself when just five letters remain, and she resolves to learn sign language if necessary. | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_e567510d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_e567510d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea | hasFeature |
Ella Minnow Pea / int_e567510d | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_f511ea9b | type |
Product Placement | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_f511ea9b | comment |
Product Placement: The Purcy household has Special K cereal... or at least it did until the letter K was banned. | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_f511ea9b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_f511ea9b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea | hasFeature |
Ella Minnow Pea / int_f511ea9b | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_fea27091 | type |
Buffy Speak | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_fea27091 | comment |
Buffy Speak: As vocabulary begins to run thin, characters are often forced to resort to this in varying degrees. | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_fea27091 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_fea27091 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea | hasFeature |
Ella Minnow Pea / int_fea27091 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_name | type |
ItemName | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_name | comment |
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| Ella Minnow Pea / int_name | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_name | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ella Minnow Pea | hasFeature |
Ella Minnow Pea / int_name | |
| Ella Minnow Pea / int_name | itemName |
Ella Minnow Pea |
The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.
| Ella Minnow Pea | hasFeature |
Constrained Writing / int_7b34993f | |
| Ella Minnow Pea | hasFeature |
Epistolary Novel / int_7b34993f | |
| Ella Minnow Pea | hasFeature |
One-Paragraph Chapter / int_7b34993f | |
| Ella Minnow Pea | hasFeature |
Scrapbook Story / int_7b34993f |
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Copyright of data TVTropes.org contributors under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.