Five Elements of Style: Diction Imagery Details Syntax Tone AP Language and Composition
Diction: Word Choice “The difference between the right word and almost the right word is like the difference between lightning and the lightning bug.” Mark Twain
Diction: Word Choice A study of diction is the analysis of how a writer uses language for a distinct purpose and effect, including WORD CHOICE and FIGURES OF SPEECH.
Ways to Characterize Diction Formal (academic or literary writing) Germ Relatives Position Child Superior Communicate Informal (personal writing) Bug Folks Job Kid Boss Get across Ex. He is two fries short of a Happy Meal. (slang=highly informal) He’s crazy. (informal) He’s schizophrenic or insane. (formal)
Examples: The respite from study was devoted to a sojourn at the ancestral mansion. (formal and artificial) I spent my vacation at the house of my grandparents. (informal and natural) I endeavored to peruse the volume. (formal and artificial) I tried to read the book. (informal and natural)
Ways to Characterize Diction General Look Walk Sit Cry Throw Dog Boy Specific Gaze, stare, peer, ogle Stride, slink, trot, shuffle Slump, squat. Lounge Weep, sob, bawl Hurl, pitch, toss, flip Black Labrador retriever Tall lanky boy Ex. The dishes fell to the floor with a loud noise (crashed or clattered). He walked along slowly (ambled, sauntered). He looked at her in an angry way (glowered, glared).
Ways to Characterize Diction Denotative (Referential-dictionary) Public servant Financier Law Officer Legislative consultant Investigator Soldier of fortune Connotative (Emotive-emotional) Bureaucrat Speculator Cop Lobbyist Spy Hired kill
Ways to Characterize Diction Euphonious (Pleasant Sounding) …Through the drizzling rain on the steamy street breaks the morning sun Liquid infection Tinkle Butterfly Cacophonous (Harsh Sounding) …their loud songs bang and grate nerves of the wretched listeners Pus Pee Maggot
Imagery Imagery (verbal representation of sense experience) brings the immediacy of sensory experience to writing and gives voice a distinctive quality. Does the passage use unusual images or patterns of imagery?
Details Detail (facts, observations, and incidents) is used to develop a topic, shaping and seasoning voice. -This can include statistics given to the reader.
Syntax Syntax (grammatical sentence structure) controls verbal pacing and focus.
Syntax: Sentence Structure Examine sentence patterns and variety for an effect. Function: What is the function of the sentence? Declarative (statement) Interrogative (question) Imperative (command) Exclamatory (exclamation)
Simple Compound Complex Compound-Complex Grammatical: Which type is the sentence? Simple Sentence (one subject, one verb) The singer bowed her head to her adoring audience. Compound Sentence (two independent clauses joined by a conjunction or a semicolon) The singer bowed to the audience, but she sang no encores. Go and speak.
Syntax Continued Juxtaposition-a poetic and rhetorical device in which normally unassociated ideas, words, or phrases are placed next to one another, creating an effect of surprise The apparition of those faces in the crowd; Petals on a wet, black bough… Repetition- a device in which words sounds, and ideas are used more than once for the purpose of enhancing the rhythm and creating emphasis. …government of the people, by the people, for the people… Rhetorical Question-a question which expects no answer used to draw attention to a point and is usually stronger than a direct statement. If Chase is always right, as you have said, why did he fail the writing exam?
Syntax Review Are the sentences simple and direct or complex and convoluted? Are there rhetorical questions in the passage? Is there variety in the sentence patterns? Does the author use repetition (words, sounds, ideas more than once for effect)? Does the author use parallel structure (similarity in words or phrases)? Does the author use antithesis (contrasting images presented with a balanced word or phrase)? Does the author use juxtaposition (unrelated ideas, words, phrases placed together for emphasis or surprise)?
Tone The manner of expression showing the author’s attitude toward characters, events,or situations. Tone is reflected in the author’s “voice.”
Words to Describe Tone Pedantic Euphemistic Pretentious Sensuous Exact Cultured Plain Literal Colloquial Artificial Detached Poetic Moralistic Slang Idiomatic Esoteric Symbolic Simple Complex Figurative Vulgar Scholarly Insipid Precise Learned Picturesque Trite Obscure Bombastic Grotesque
Tone Passage from James Ramsey Ullman’s “Kilimanjaro” It has been called the House of God. It has been called the High One. The Cold One. The White One. On close acquaintance by climbers, it has been called a variety of names rather less printable. But to the world at large it is Kilimanjaro, the apex of Africa and one of the great mountains on the earth. What is the author’s attitude toward Kilimanjaro? How does the sentence structure help establish this tone?
Tone Review What seems to be the speaker’s attitude in the passage? Is more than one attitude or point of view expressed? Does the passage have a noticeable emotional mood or atmosphere? What effect does tone have on the reader?