Style Analysis: DICTION

Part II: DICTION When you analyze style, you will often cite from the passage to support the points you make. The best way to include quotations is by integrating them smoothly into your own sentences. Integrating quotations is also called embedding, incorporating, or weaving in quotations.

What NOT to do The author uses the words “rigid, arrested, and thinning” to show his opinions. In other words, do not LIST examples of diction to be analyzed.

BETTER The snake “lay rigid,” “arrested” in time and place in the “thinning” light of the desert. This integrates the quotations smoothly and skillfully into the writer’s own sentence structure.

Note If you change the form of a word when you quote or add words of your own to the original citation, you must enclose those words in brackets to show your reader what you did. The snake “lay rigid,” “arrested” in time and place as the light “[thinned]” in the desert.

Diction Review The words diction and language are terms that you will use interchangeably when you analyze an author’s style. These words all refer to the author’s word choice.

Word choice is the most powerful element of style for you to understand. If the directions in the prompt do not give you any specific techniques to analyze, always address diction in paragraph #2 (the first body paragraph)—you won’t be wrong. Many words in our language have strong connotations, and authors use them on purpose to elicit certain responses from the reader.

Denotation vs. Connotation Denotation  dictionary definition Connotation  suggested meaning The words plump and obese both literally describe a person who is overweight. This is the dictionary definition of both words.

The word plump has the connotation of being pleasantly fat, almost cutely overweight. Its connotation describes women more often than men. It is this extra “emotional” feeling that shows how we use the word. The word obese, often used by medical personnel, has a more technical connotation. It carries a less emotional, more scientific or clinical emotional tag.

Now you try Generate a list of words you would use to describe a dwelling where a person may live. Discuss, with your partner, the various emotional “tags” associated with each of the dwellings you listed. How are they subtly connotatively different from one another, even though they share the same connotative meaning?

Remember this sentence? The boy surveyed the class, congratulating himself for snatching the highest grade on the test. Two words are important here: surveyed and snatching. They are the words with the strongest connotations.

Writing commentary for your diction analysis “surveyed” “snatching” conveys the idea of someone looking around as if he were a king gazing down on lesser beings YOU TRY THE COMMENTARY

Group practice/model: “The Rattler” Re-read “The Rattler” Annotate the excerpt for words that have strong connotations, especially words that reflect the man’s attitude toward the snake and his task at hand

Diction paragraph: brainstorming “arrested” “live wire” “little tocsin” frozen in time, caught by a force stronger than the snake adversary meets adversary, electric feeling, potential danger an alarm, a warning bell on a ship

Diction paragraph: topic sentence Your topic sentence should include the word diction and give a focus for the paragraph (what is the diction DOING?) The author’s diction heightens the power and force behind the snake as it responds to the man, first placidly, then aggressively.

Diction paragraph: writing the CD You will write one example sentence in which you integrate words and phrases you have circled, underlined, or highlighted REMEMBER: This CD looks different from those you have written before; this one is a sentence with several words pulled from the passage WOVEN in to your own sentence, not a WHOLE sentence taken from the passage! Ex: “Arrested,” the snake becomes a “live wire” after he shakes his “little tocsin” at the man.

Diction paragraph: adding commentary The commentary analyzes the connotations of the quotations. “Arrested,” the snake becomes a “live wire” after he shakes his “little tocsin” at the man. Unmoving at first, the snake plays a waiting game as adversary meets adversary across an imaginary line drawn in the desert. Then a feeling of electricity jolts the reader, heart beating faster from the noise of the warning that, like battle stations aboard a ship, calls all to readiness.

Composing the Whole Diction Paragraph At least TWO CHUNKS  Topic sentence CD (integration of examples) CM Concluding sentence

Sample: Complete Diction Paragraph (handout) The author’s diction heightens the power and force behind the snake as it responds to the man, first placidly, then aggressively. “Arrested,” the snake becomes a “live wire” after he shakes his “little tocsin” at the man. Unmoving at first, the snake plays a waiting game as adversary meets adversary across an imaginary line drawn in the desert. Then a feeling of electricity jolts the reader, heart beating faster from the noise of the warning that, like battle stations aboard a ship, calls all to readiness. Yet it must lose; despite its attempts to retreat to a “paper-bag bush,” the snake knows its life has been “dearly sold,” but it remains “sinuous and self-respecting” in the man’s mind. The hiding place is an illusion, and a costly one. The snake’s valiant behavior adds dignity to its last moments. All involved recognize the strength of both the man and the almost-human snake but know that responsibility and commitment to others make the killing necessary.

Independent Practice: Douglass Passage Read the Douglass passage again, annotating for words that stand out as having strong connotations, especially words that reflect Douglass’ different but complementary tones. Complete a diction brainstorming. Write a topic sentence for the diction paragraph. Weave two or three of the examples you found into a CD. Add two sentences of commentary that analyze the connotations of the words you wove together. Remember to think about how the connotations of the words connect to his tone(s). Repeat steps 4 and 5 to create second chunk. Add a concluding sentence. USE “THE RATTLER” MODEL!!!! If you need a “clean” copy of “The Rattler” or the Douglass excerpt, both are available in the “Handouts” section of the class website.