Four Elements of Style:DictionSyntaxTone

Point of View

Mrs. Stacey ReavesWilson HallSumter, SC

sreaves@ftc-i.net

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)

Take it another step…

•Colloquial—conversational language

•Dialect-is there dialect?

•Slang—highly informal and not appropriate for most writing

•Jargon—the special language of a profession or group (lawyer or teacher talk, medical terminology, technical words) that is usually formal

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

• Monosyllabic (Anglo-Saxon-think of the Germans who brought us the English language-kill and grunt story-curse words)-one syllable

• Polysyllabic (Latinate/Greek-think of Renaissance and beautiful words and adjectives)-many syllables

• The more polysyllabic words, the more difficult the text

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

Ways to Characterize Diction

• Abstract• Not material• Representing a

thought• Pleasant tasting

• Concrete• Real, actual• Specific, not general• Sour tasting

Diction Review

• Are the words monosyllabic or polysyllabic?

• Is the diction formal or informal? Which one? Colloquial (conversational)? Slang (highly informal)? Jargon (the special language of a certain group or profession)?

• Is the language concrete or abstract?• Is there a change in the level of diction in the

passage?

Figures of Speech• Does the passage use unusual images or patterns of imagery?• Does the author create analogies, like similes or metaphors?• Does the author use personification?• Is there deliberate hyperbole or understatement in the passage?• Does the author employ paradox or oxymoron to add

complexity?• What part do rhythm and sound devices, such as alliteration or

onomatopoeia, play in the passage?• What purpose do the figures of speech serve, and what effect

do they have on the passage?

Activity: Use a Diction Style Chart to analyze The Rattler and

one of your papers.

General Words

Specific Words

Formal Words

Informal Words

Euphonic Words

Cacophonic Words

Figurative Lang.

Other Notes

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.

Simple Compound Complex Compound-Complex

Complex Sentence (one independent, one or more subordinate clauses)When I heard the concert, I enjoyed it because she sang beautifully.

When I really understand grammar and when I actually put it to use, my grades in English will improve. (two dependent clauses, one independent clause)

Compound-Complex (two or more independent and one or more subordinate clauses)The singer bowed while the audience applauded, but she sang no encores.

Where you go I will go, and where you dwell I will dwell.

Loose Periodic BalancedLoose-main idea stated at the beginning of the sentence followed by additional

information. The sentence makes complete sense if brought to a close before the actual ending,

We reached Columbia/ that morning/ after a turbulent flight.He resigned after denouncing his accusers and asserting his own innocence time

and time again.Periodic-main idea withheld until the end of the sentence. It makes sense only

when the end of the sentence is reached, That morning after a turbulent flight, we reached Columbia.After denouncing his accusers and asserting his own innocence time and time

again, the State Department official resigned.Balanced/Parallel-the phrases or clauses balance each other in likeness or

structure, meaning, and/or length, He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; he leadeth me beside the still waters.To err is human, to forgive is divine.Together we planned the house, together we built it, and together we watched it go

up in smoke.He was walking, running, and jumping

Sentence Patterns:Natural, Inverted, Split Order

• Natural Order-the subject comes first followed by the predicate.– Oranges grow in California.

• Inverted Order (Sentence Inversions)-the predicate comes before the subject.– In California grow oranges.

• Split Order- the predicate is divided into two parts with the subject coming in the middle.– In California oranges grow.

(Syntax)

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 the sentences Loose/Cumulative (main idea at the beginning)

or Periodic (main idea withheld until end of sentence)?• 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 Ruth McKenny’s “A Loud Sneer for Our Feathered Friends”

We refused to get out of the bed when the bugle blew in the morning, we fought against scrubbing our teeth in public to music, we sneered when the flag was ceremoniously lowered at sunset, we avoided doing a good deed a day, we complained loudly about the food…and we bought some chalk and wrote all over the Recreation Cabin, “We hate Camp Hiwah.”

How does the author establish the negative attitude the campers have toward Camp Hiwah?

Does sentence structure also contribute to tone?

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?

Point of View

• First Person– Narrator uses first person pronouns (I, my, mine, we,

our, us, etc.– Access to the narrator’s consciousness– Story is told through the eyes of main character

(protagonist), minor character, or outside observer– Narrator is reliable when observer is used, but may

not be reliable when told by a character. The narrator may be naïve or biased

Point of View• Third Person Omniscient (all knowing)

– Third person pronouns (he, she) mostly– Access to consciousness of more than one character, perhaps all – Story seen through eyes of an outside observer– Reliable as implied author’s voice

• Third Person Limited Omniscient– Third person pronouns (he, she) mostly– Access to consciousness of one character – Story seen through eyes of an outside observer, protagonist, or

minor character whose presence dominates– Reliable when observer is used, less reliable when character used

or when narrator intrudes or comments

Point of View

• Stream of Consciousness– First or third person– Unbroken flow of perceptions, thoughts, and feelings– Narrator records in detail what passes through a character’s mind

List of Rhetorical Terms• Alliteration• Assonance• Consonance• Simile/ Metaphor• Conceit• Imagery• Personification• Onomatopoeia• Hyperbole• Understatement

• Paradox• Oxymoron• Pun• Irony• Antithesis• Apostrophe• Allusion• Symbolism• Synecdoche• Metonymy• Zeugma

• Anaphora• Asyndeton• Cacophony• Chiasmus• Epistrophe• Euphemism• Juxtaposition• Parallelism• Polysyndeton• Repetition• Rhetorical

Question

Activity: Read “The Rattler.” (p. 103 notebook)

Analyze elements such as diction, syntax, point of view,

and tone.