Keystone Terms MEET THE BEAST

Part III- Language/Words

Prefix groups of letters placed before a word to alter its meaning Suffix groups of letters placed after a word to alter its meaning or change it into a different kind of word, from an adjective to an adverb, etc. Hint: the word affix refers to both (attaching letters to beginning or end of words)

Example of Prefix

Example of a Suffix

Synonym a word that is similar in meaning to another word Antonym a word that is the opposite in meaning to another word

Example of Synonym

Example of Antonym .

Connotation all the meanings, associations, or emotions that a word suggests (suggestive meaning) Denotation the literal dictionary definition of a word (literal meaning)

Example of Connotation Youthful vs. Childish Both mean young BUT Youthful is a compliment Childish is an insult The two have the same definition (denotation), but suggest different meanings (connotation)

Example of Denotation Home Home denotes the house where one lives, but connotes privacy, intimacy, and coziness This is the reason real estate agents like to use home instead of house in their advertisements

Dialect a way of speaking that is characteristic of a particular region or group (geographic or social) Hint: includes sounds, spelling, grammar and diction used by a specific group Dialogue conversation between characters in a literary work http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2013/12/02/what-dialect-to-do-you-speak-a-map-of-american-english/ http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/12/20/sunday-review/dialect-quiz-map.html?_r=0

Example of Dialect Huckleberry Finn Jim: “We’s safe, Huck, we’s safe. Jump up and crack yo’ heels. Dat’s de good ole Cairo at las’, I jis knows it.” Huck: “I’ll take the canoe and go see, Jim. It mightn’t be, you know.” http://accent.gmu.edu/browse_maps/namerica.php

Example of Dialogue Night “Your age?” he asked, perhaps trying to sound paternal. “I’m eighteen.” My voice was trembling. “In good health?” “Yes.” Tell him that I was a student? “Farmer,” I heard myself saying.

Diction an author’s choice of words and phrasing Voice author’s individual personality through language/word choices Hint: how an author sounds on a page

Examples of Diction Cantankerous vs. cranky (better diction) Aeolus vs. areola (faulty diction) Cantankerous is an excellent word to use to describe someone who is irritable; it sounds more advanced and scholarly than cranky. Last year, my student said areola (colored circle around nipple) when he meant to discuss Aeolus (wind god) during The Odyssey discussion.

Example of Voice Voice Examples Author’s vs character’s voice http://bekindrewrite.com/2011/08/19/5-fantastic-examples-of-voice/

Style the author’s choices regarding language, sentence structure, voice, and tone in order to communicate with the reader Hint: authors often play with and develop style, while voice often stays the same Syntax the ordering of words into meaningful verbal patterns such as phrases, clauses, and sentences Consider your voice and your style; voice stays fairly same, while style changes

Example of Style Original "No sich uh thing!" Tea Cake retorted. (Zora Neale Hurston. Their Eyes Were Watching God. Urbana: U of Illinois P, 1978, p. 205.) Informal "Nothing like that ever happened," Tea Cake replied. Formal "With great fortune, that happenstance did not become a reality," Tea Cake stated. Journalistic "It did not happen," Tea Cake said. Archaic "Verily, it was a circumstance, to be noted, that appeared not to so much have been a reality as to have evolved as a thing that had not yet come to be," Tea Cake impelled.

Example of Syntax “To your house we are going.” (Awkward Syntax) You understand it, but it sounds odd. People who are learning a language might have problems with syntax. If you mess with syntax, you can change the meaning: The young man carries the lady. The lady carries the young man. Syntax matters!

Keystone Terms YOU’VE MEET THE BEAST

NOW… SLAY THE BEAST