Four Elements of Style Diction Diction Word Choice
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Four Elements of Style: Diction
Diction: Word Choice • To analyze diction is to look at how a writer uses words for a distinct purpose and effect. • There are several ways to characterize diction: connotative/denotative, formal/informal, abstract/concrete, objective/subjective, hyperbolic/understated, literal/figurative.
Connotation and Denotation • Connotation represents the social, cultural, or emotional meanings associated with a word. Ex. “Hollywood” connotes glitz, glamour, celebrity, stardom. • Denotation represents the explicit, literal meaning or dictionary definition. Ex. “Hollywood” denotes an area of Los Angeles, known as the center of the movie industry.
Ways to Characterize Diction (cont. ) Denotative (dictionary): • Journalist • Law Officer • Intelligence analyst • Soldier of fortune Connotative (emotion): • Newshound • Cop • Spy • Hired killer
Ways to Characterize Diction (cont. ) Informal (personal writing): • Bug • Folks • Job • Kid • Boss • Get across Formal (academic or literary writing): • Germ/virus • Relatives • Occupation/Career • Child • Superior • C 0 mmunicate
Examples: • The respite from study was devoted to a sojourn at the ancestral domicile. (formal) • I spent my vacation at the house of my grandparents. (informal) • I endeavored to peruse the volume. (formal) • I tried to read the book. (informal) • The dog ate my homework (informal). • Formal?
Take it another step… • Informal: – Colloquial: conversational language, such as dialect • Y’all, Wanna, go nuts – Slang: words not part of standard language. • Third degree, kick the bucket, photo bomb, hater • Formal: – Jargon: special language of a profession or group • Educational: anecdotal records, benchmark, cooperative learning • Technical: bandwidth, hot spot, surf
Ways to Characterize Diction (cont. ) Objective (impersonal, unemotional, unbiased): • The room was about the size of a small airplane cabin. • A dog was sleeping in the corner. Subjective (personal, emotional, biased): • The room was cramped and claustrophobic. • The party was so boring that even the dog in the corner couldn’t stay awake.
Ways to Characterize Diction (cont. ) Abstract (Not material; representing an idea or thought): • Beauty • Patriotism • Pleasant-tasting Concrete (Real, actual; specific; not general): • Girl • Flag • Sour
Ways to Characterize Diction (cont. ) Literal (accurate language without embellishment): • Frugal Figurative (comparative language for a pictorial effect): • Tight as bark on a tree • Simile, metaphor, personification • Paradox, oxymoron • Sound: alliterative, onomatopoeic
Ways to Characterize Diction (cont. ) Hyperbolic (Overstated; misrepresents as more): • “It rained enough yesterday to float a steel mill. ” Understated (misrepresents as less): • You might say Albert Einstein had a good head for numbers.
Tropes • Trope: any artful variation from the typical or expected way a word or idea is expressed. • Analogy: extended comparison of two dissimilar things for special effect, such as the heart to a pump.
Tropes • Metonymy: an entity is referred to by something associated with it. Ex. The White House announced… • Synecdoche: a part of something is used to refer to the whole. Ex. I have a new set of wheels.
Allusion • A reference in a literary work to art, other literature, or a historical or religious event or person. • Example: “The secretary and I were like Hamlet and Laertes in the final scene, where, because of harm done by one ancestor to another, we were bound to duel to the death. (Maya Angelou, “Occupation: Conductorette”)
