1. DIRECTIONS: Read through the notes on diction. You can print them off or copy into your class notes. Go back through your annotations and apply to “The Masque of the Red Death.” Be prepared to discuss notes on Thursday.

2. PAGE 197 DICTION ANALYSIS

3. DICTION Author’s strategic word choice that 1) creates meaning or conveys an author’s view of truth to the reader, and 2) produces intentional effects (tone, appeal)

4. LEVELS OF DICTION

5. Refers to the overall view of an author’s word choice which includes Vocabulary (# of syllables per word) Standard/non-standard language use contractions

6. LEVELS OF DICTION: FORMAL Creates elevated tone Pretentious, academic, elitist, pompous, objective, condescending, sarcastic Free of slang, idioms, colloquialisms and contractions Polysyllabic words Elegant vocabulary

7. LEVELS OF DICTION: INFORMAL Language of everyday use Creates tones of: Relaxed and conversational, familiarity, nostalgic, ignorant, immature, regional (pride in culture), Includes common and simple words, idioms, slang, colloquialism, jargon and contractions

8. LEVELS OF DICTION: NEUTRAL Standard language and vocabulary without elaborate words; may include contracts Creates tone of: objectivity, indifference, neutrality, apathy, disconnect, indifference, confusion, detachment

9. TYPES OF DICTION

10. DICTION TYPE Refers to categories of diction

11. SLANG Group of recently coined words used in informal situations Come and go quickly Passing in/out of usage within months or years

12. COLLOQUIAL EXPRESSIONS Nonstandard language Often regional Ways of using language appropriate to informal or conversational speech/writing

13. JARGON Words and expressions characteristic of a specific trade, profession or pursuit

14. DIALECT Nonstandard subgroup of a language with its own vocabulary and grammatical features Dialects reveal person’s region and/or economic or social class

15. CONCRETE VERSUS ABSTRACT DICTION Concrete Describes physical qualities or conditions of something Abstract Denotes ideas, emotions, conditions or concepts that are intangible

16. DENOTATION VERSUS CONNOTATION Denotative Diction Exact, literal definition of a word independent of any emotional association or secondary meaning Connotative Diction Implicit rather than explicit meaning of a word Consists of suggestions, associations and emotional overtones attached to a chosen word

17. PURPOSES OF DICTION PURPOSE: TONE & APPEALS allude to __________ analyze a process argue classify/divide compare/contrast define describe exemplify inform narrate persuade reveal cause/effect

18. EFFECTS OF DICTION WHY X TONE/WHY X APPEAL (AUDIENCE?) amuse bolster or diminish the speaker’s ethical appeal convince create an atmosphere/moo d entertain evoke _____________ emotion in the reader narrow the intended audience outrage persuade surprise

19. FINDING DICTION “THE RATTLER”

20. “THE RATTLER” PAGE 198 Annotate for diction (already established U.T.!) Strongly connotative diction Identify connectivity between words Consider words to describe both elements of the contrast Must identify shift (tonal shift) Consider words before and after shift

21. CONNECTING DICTION (FOR EVIDENCE AND COMMENTARY) Tone (purpose of diction) & Tonal Shift Subject Speaker/Author’s Purpose Occasion Audience

22. ORGANIZING COMMENTARY FOR DICTION FOR EVIDENCE, COMMENTARY AND ORGANIZATION OF BODY PARAGRAPHS

23. CHUNKING DICTION Tone (purpose of diction) & Tonal Shift Subject Speaker/Author’s Purpose Occasion Audience

24. BRAINSTORMING: CHUNK 1 Word for Word Cluster: Words Chosen based on SUBJECT (“the rattler”) that also represents one side of contrast and lends itself to UT discussion PURPOSE & Effect of specific word in the “cluster” Live Wire adversary meets adversary, contrast and primary conflict Emphasizes conflict that underscores UT electric feeling, potential danger TONE: dangerous and ominous Little Tocsin an alarm, a warning bell on a ship; a signal  reinforces “little” – insignificant COMPARED to the speaker’s duty or obligation to kill the snake

25. BRAINSTORMING: CHUNK 2 W ord for Word Cluster: Words Chosen based on SUBJECT (“the rattler”) that also represents one side of contrast and lends itself to UT discussion PURPOSE & EFFECT of specific word in the “cluster” Arrestedfrozen in time, caught by a force stronger than the snake; punishment; fear; cacophonous Sunsetinsinuates the end of the day, completion of the day's tasks (literal) (figuratively) symbolizes the end of a journey; reinforces that his “task” or “duty” was to kill the snake and marks the finality of life and his decision

26. ORGANIZATION AND COMMENTARY DICTION BODY PARAGRAPH

27. TOPIC SENTENCES No direct quotations Topic Restatement of UT Purpose verb Hint at examples What does diction do? Describes, heightens, underscores, elaborates, narrates, emphasizes, etc.

28. EXAMPLES: In "Letter from Birmingham Jail," Martin Luther King, Jr., writes in a relatively denotative formal style which thus contributes to a dignity of tone, while the lack of euphemism underscores the seriousness of his intention.

29. “RATTLER” EXAMPLES The author’s diction heightens the power and force behind the snake as it responds to the man, first placidly, then aggressively, thereby highlighting the animalistic nature of not just the snake, the humanity as well. The author’s electric diction, such as when the narrator describes the snake and then when the snake attacks the narrator, heightens the power and force behind the snake as it responds to the man, first placidly, then aggressively, thereby highlighting the animalistic nature of not just the snake, the humanity as well.

30. EVIDENCE Incorporate direct quotations from the passage Integrate diction choices (words or short phrases) smoothly into your own sentences Do not merely list words Connect words based on subject, audience, tonal and/or tonal shift, contrast, speaker.

31. EXAMPLE The snake“lay rigid,”“arrested” in time and place in the “thinning” light of the desert’s “sunset”. Standard Organization: Set up a contrast and/or tonal shift Chronological: focus on highlighted words as foreshadowing element; underscores contrast.

32. EXAMPLE 2 “Arrested,” the snake becomes a “live wire” after he shakes his “little tocsin” at the narrator.

33. INTEGRATING DICTION INTO YOUR OWN SENTENCES If you change the form of a word when you quote or add words of your own to the original citation, you must enclose those words in brackets to show your reader what you did. The snake “lay rigid,” “arrested” in time and place as the light “[thinned]” in the desert.

34. COMMENTARY PURPOSE & EFFECT

35. SAMPLE PARAGRAPH: STANDARD ORGANIZATION The author’s diction heightens the power and force behind the snake as it responds to the man, first placidly, then aggressively.“Arrested,” the snake becomes a “live wire” after he shakes his “little tocsin” at the man. Unmoving at first, the snake plays a waiting game as adversary meets adversary across an imaginary line drawn in the desert. Then a feeling of electricity jolts the reader, heart beating faster from the noise of the warning that, like battle stations aboard a ship, calls all to readiness. Yet it must lose; despite its attempts to retreat to a “paper-bag bush,” the snake knows its life has been “dearly sold,” but it remains “sinuous and self-respecting” in the man’s mind. The hiding place is an illusion, and a costly one. The snake’s valiant behavior adds dignity to its last moments. All involved recognize the strength of both the man and the almost-human snake but know that responsibility and commitment to others make the killing necessary.