1. Day 3 – Diction, Syntax & Film
TKAM
Day 3 – Diction, Syntax & Film

2. LG & Agenda
LG: As a litterateur, I can identify plot, characters, and examples of diction and syntax in a nonprint text to support my comprehension of To Kill A Mockingbird.
Agenda:
Energizer
Diction & Syntax Notes
Film
Discuss Imagery, Diction & Syntax
Exit Slip
Book distribution

3. Entering the Classroom
Take out your PreNB, a writing utensil, TKaM viewing guide and your research questions.
Take out your outside reading book and your TKaM film viewing notes.
Write down the independent practice.
Please put away any electronic devices.

4. Good Morning!
Learning Goal: As a litterateur, I can identify plot, characters, and examples of diction & syntax in a nonprint text to support my comprehension of To Kill A Mockingbird.
Energizer:
In the film, what characters have we met? What similarities are you seeing between Maple Valley & Maycomb? What exposition have we seen so far?
Decide which definition of imagery fits the movie. Bullet 3-4 specific details from the film to support your conclusion.

5. Theme + Tone = Literary Analysis
Oh yea…
Our approach to literary analysis:
Theme + Tone = Literary Analysis
Today = Diction and Syntax
Plot + Tone
Diction + Syntax + Imagery

6. Diction
Narrowly defined, diction is simply the speaker or author’s word choice.
Diction is then typically divided into two components: vocabulary and syntax.

7. What the Smartypants means by vocabulary…
Vocabulary, in connection to diction, means:
The degree of difficulty
The complexity of the words
How abstract the words are
The formality of the chosen words
The origin of words chosen (native/foreign, Latin/Germanic, etc)
Some critics describe this “vocabulary” in terms of the “level” of the language used.
How would you characterize the diction in your last outside reading book? In your current ORR book? How about in Curious Incident?

8. And how exactly is diction different than syntax?
Syntax is the arrangement –
the ordering, grouping, and placement –
of words within a sentence.
When we talk about syntax, we generally talk about two things:
How complex the sentence is
How fragmented the sentence is

9. “I rode across the meadow” “Across the meadow I rode”
Examples
“I rode across the meadow”
“Across the meadow I rode”
What is different between these two sentences? What is the same?

10. “I rode across the sea of grass.” “I rode across the meadow.”
What have I altered?
“I rode across the sea of grass.”
“I rode across the meadow.”
Diction has been altered.

11. Round two: What’s altered?
“I rode across the meadow.”
“Rode I across the sea of grass?”
How are both syntax and diction being altered here? How do we know?

12. Different Diction & Syntax = Different Types of Literature
“Rode I across the sea of grass”
“I rode across the meadow.”
This combination of unusual syntax and diction is a feature that often differentiates poetic diction from that of prose.
When authors use such diction and syntax, that’s when a novel is referred to as “poetic.”

13. Partner Discussion Share your notes:
What new characters did we meet today? What are they like?
What did you add to your notes about the characters we met last class?
What rising action has occurred in the film so far?
Discuss the diction and syntax the characters use in the script:
What did you hear in the film that sounds strange or different to you?
What words do they say that are different from ones we use today?

14. Independent Practice
You should have been reading your new outside reading book this weekend – keep that reading up!
Start (slowly) reading To Kill a Mockingbird.
You’ll need to T2T TKaM, so that means…
One T2T per page
Don’t be lazy and only mark/highlight.
These are going in the grade book.
Mention next class is research sharing and SSR since I’m going to be gone.