Pedantic

pedantic: an adjective that describes words, phrases, or general tone that is overly, scholarly, academic, or bookish. Pedantry (n.) is a display of narrow-minded and trivial scholarship or arbitrary adherence to rules and forms

"On the door-step, she met the little urchin whose marvelous feats of gastronomy have been recorded in the earlier pages of our narrative."
                                                                          -The House of the Seven Gables
                                                                                 by Nathaniel Hawthorne

The only information that this sentence conveys is that "Phoebe met the child who always ate the gingerbread on her way out the door." However, the use of the scholarly tone is necessary to keep with the atmosphere of the rest of the book. The House of the Seven Gables is an extremely poetic novel, the language used is extravagant, not to mention the work is a work of romanticism. Hawthorne used these words because they fit in with thew rest of the novel. They may seem overly complicated, but they are necessary for the novel to flow. The use of the academic vocabulary also injects some humor into a somber book. Nathaniel Hawthorne used the pedantic to insert humor while not breaking with the tone and overall mood of the piece.