Voice in Literature Craft and Voice in literature can make anything happen!

Note to Students: “Voice” is a very special part of writing and reading. We recognize certain elements of voice when we read someone else’s words. When you write, you will eventually develop a unique voice of your own. So, what’s voice, anyway? Voice is what makes reading interesting. It’s what makes us say, “I’ll bet that story is by Edgar Allan or Karen Hesse.” Voice is what gives color annd texture to communication and keeps us involved. Voice is not only important in text, but it is important in visual arts and music. When you see a painting and know immediately that it is by Van Gogh or Picasso, you are tuning in to voice. When you hear a song and know who is singing in the first few seconds, you are paying attention to voice. Voice is the expression of personality, the fingerprint of creativity. Voice can be strong and distinctive or reserved and generic, but all communication has voice of some kind. Voice is created through conscious choices. In other words, the writer, painter, or musician purposefully chooses his or her “tools” (words, colores, instruments) and uses them in ways that create a certain effect. From Discovering Voice by Nancy Dean

FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELVES AS YOU CONSIDER THE CONSCIOUS CHOICES THAT WRITERS, PAINTERS OR MUSICIANS MAKE What is he/she (or the work) saying? (What does the work mean?) How do you know? (What evidence can you find in the work to determine the meaning?) How does he/she do that? (What tools does the writer/painter/musician use to create meaning, and how does he/she use these tools?)

Elements Of Voice Diction Detail Figurative Language Imagery Syntax Tone

Diction – refers to the choice of words and is the foundation in all good writing. Detail - refers to the facts, observations, and incidents that develop a topic. Writing can be flat and boring without detail. Figurative Language - the use of words in an unusual way to reveal new meaning, meaning that is not literal and makes the reader think critically and out of the box. Imagery - the use of words to capture a sensory experience (what you smell, hear, taste, or touch). Imagery brings to life what you write and makes it seem real. Syntax – includes sentence structure, word order and punctuation. Controlling syntax is one way to express ideas and thoughts in a fully developed and mature way. Tone - the expression of attitude in writing. The tone is expressed through the use of diction, detail, imagery, figurative language and syntax all put together.

In our analysis of the literature of Edgar Allan Poe, most of us will probably agree that he has a very unique voice in his writing. In our discussions we have analyzed his diction (word choices), detail, figurative language, imagery, tone and syntax to a certain degree…….

Continue to think further about the elements of voice as you read Poe’s story, The Black Cat.

Here is how the story begins……. For the most wild, yet most homely narrative which I am about to pen, I neither expect nor solicit belief. Mad indeed would I be to expect it, in a case where my very senses reject their own evidence. Yet, mad am I not – and very surely do I not dream. But tomorrow I die, and today I would unburden my soul. - Edgar Allan Poe, “The Black Cat”

for lunch. Dreams don’t even enter my head at night – you PARAPHRASED TEXT: (Elaborated and presented in today’s language) Well, ladies and gentleman, I am about to write the most outrageous tale you can ever imagine. You might think you have read some wild and fantastic stories in your lifetime but this one tops the cake! I certainly don’t expect you to believe my story and I’m not going to persuade you to do so. (Well, maybe with my wonderful words I’ll entice you to get caught up in the tangled web a little bit…) Hold on to your stomachs though, the details of the story are pretty gruesome to say the least. If I thought you might believe even a part of this I would be pretty crazy. When I read over the words I am about to write I must say that my senses won’t even allow me to believe these atrocious events! Did I really do those things? Hmmmm….. However, I’ll let you in on a little secret. DO NOT THINK I AM SOME CRAZY DUDE THAT GOES AROUND….(well, I’ll let you read the story.) Crazy? No. I’m not crazy. I’m as sane as the guy walking down the street getting some fries for lunch. Dreams don’t even enter my head at night – you know, those weird and wild dreams that insanity brings? I sleep like a baby. But tomorrow won’t be one of my best days. You see, I’m going to die. Yup. Hook, line and sinker – dead. End of good old me! So, today I’m going to spill my guts.

Student Activity In your group, read the section of the text given to you. You will paraphrase this together like the model. Use the vocabulary list to help you. Make sure every detail is included in your paraphrased “voice” of today. How creative can you be? Be prepared to share out with your “expressive voices”!

Paragraph 2 to paraphrase: From my infancy I was noted for the docility and humanity of my disposition. My tenderness of heart was even so conspicuous as to make me the jest of my companions. I was especially fond of animals, and was indulged by my parents with a great variety of pets. With these I spend most of my time, and never was so happy as when feeding and caressing them. This peculiarity of character grew with my growth, and, in my manhood, I derived from it one of my principal sources to pleasure. To those who have cherished an affection for a faithful and sagacious dog, I need hardly be at the trouble of explaining the nature or the intensity of the gratification thus derivable. Paragraph 3 to paraphrase: I married early, and was happy to find in my wife a disposition not uncongenial with my own. Observing my partiality for domestic pets, she lost no opportunity of procuring those of the most agreeable kind. We had birds, gold-fish, a fine dog, rabbits, a small monkey, and a cat. This latter was a remarkably large and beautiful animal, entirely black, and sagacious to an astonishing degree. In speaking of his intelligence, my wife, who at heart was not a little tinctured with superstition, made frequent allusion to the ancient popular notion, which regarded all black cats as witches in disguise. Not that she was ever serious upon this point – and I mention the matter at all for no better reason than that it happens, just now, to be remembered.

Paragraph 2 Vocabulary: Docility – the act of easily being managed or trained Disposition – state of mind or mood Conspicuous – visible or easily seen Jest – joke or witty remark Indulge – to give in to a desire/satisfy Caress – touch or stroke with affection Derive – to receive from a source Sagacious – having keen practical sense or shrewdness. Also being clever or cunning. Intensity- great energy, strength or concentration Paragraph 3 Vocabulary: Congenial – agreeable or pleasing in nature or character Partial – incomplete / in part only Procure- to obtain or get by care, to bring about by using special means Latter – the second mentioned of two things Sagacious - having keen practical sense or shrewdness. Also being clever or cunning. Tinctured- having a trace or a small “smattering” (tincture as a noun is a slight amount of something – in science it usually refers to dye or pigment) Allusion – indirect or casual reference to something Notion- a belief or general understanding of something