Some acronyms to help you delve into a text quickly and accurately!

How to analyze diction to find tone

* Informal diction represents the plain language of everyday use, and often includes idiomatic expressions, slang, contractions, and many simple, common words. * That is a groovy sweater!

* Formal diction consists of a dignified, impersonal, and elevated use of language; it follows the rules of syntax exactly and is often characterized by complex words and lofty tone. * FYI -- Middle diction maintains correct language usage, but is less elevated than formal diction; it reflects the way most educated people speak.

* Language that describes qualities that cannot be perceived with the five senses. * For instance, calling something pleasant or pleasing is abstract, while calling something yellow or sour is concrete. The word domesticity is abstract, but the word sweat is concrete.

* Denotation refers to the literal meaning of a word, the "dictionary definition." * For example, if you look up the word snake in a dictionary, you will discover that one of its denotative meanings is "any of numerous scaly, legless, sometimes venomous reptiles; having a long, tapering, cylindrical body and found in most tropical and temperate regions." * Connotation, on the other hand, refers to the associations that are connected to a certain word or the emotional suggestions related to that word. The connotative meanings of a word exist together with the denotative meanings. * The connotations for the word snake could include evil or danger.

* Tone - a literary technique which encompasses the attitudes toward the subject and toward the audience implied in a literary work * Tone and purpose are entertwined! * Tone is an attitude, so when you find a tone, it must be an attitude you could have! * Think when mom says “Don’t take that tone with me!”

* "Goddamn money. It always ends up making you blue as hell." * "Catholics are always trying to find out if you're Catholic." * "If a girl looks swell when she meets you, who gives a damn if she's late? Nobody." * "People never believe you." * "All morons hate it when you call them a moron."

How to clean up on the AP test!

* What is the text about? * May not be exactly the content, it may be more than that * Box Man? Is it just about a homeless guy collecting boxes?

* What prompted the writing of the text? * The exigence of a piece!

* Who is the intended audience? * Remember to be VERY specific

* What is the author attempting to do? * Why is s/he writing?

* What is the persona of the author? * Not the same as the author always! * Playing devil’s advocate * Begging the question * Reducing the argument to simpler terms * Adopting the attitude of another person

* The author’s implicit attitude toward the reader or the people, places, and events in a work as revealed by the author’s style. Tone may be characterized as serious or ironic, sad or happy, private or public, angry or affectionate, bitter or nostalgic, or any other attitudes and feelings that human beings experience.

A way to focus on style

* What kind of words? * Think back to the questions in LEAD

* Any type of image * Figurative language * Imagery

* What specific details add or detract from the text? * Consider the differences in the 2 passages about the swamp

* What can you say overall about the language in the piece?

* Sentence Structure! * What about the structure of the sentences?