Style and Voice English I Mrs. Axel

What is style? Style: not what is said, but HOW it is said. Technical aspects of the writing. Example styles: Formal Informal Journalistic Literary Style can be a blend of these.

Formal: uses sophisticated, abstract language may use complex sentence structures carefully observes rules of grammar

Informal: sounds like everyday conversation may use contractions and slang may use simple sentences and fragments

Journalistic: uses neutral words to report facts often includes simple sentences reader’s notice content vs. speaker

Literary: may use imagery to convey a mood often includes long, elaborate sentences reader gets to know the narrator-the voice that tells the story

Example Excerpts: Read “My Antonia” and “Prairyerth” on page 821. How do the styles in these two excerpts differ from one another?

What is voice? Voice: the personality that comes across on the page; could be the author OR the narrator. Word choice, sentence structure, and tone formulated to suit the narration. Voice can depend on the audience.

Word Choice: Denotation: the literal meaning of a word Connotation: the emotional association of the word A person could be described as short, or shrimpy, compact, tiny, miniscule, runt...these words have different connotations

Alternative styles/voices: Good Evening, Mr. Brown, I regret to inform you we experienced an event in the store this evening that resulted in some damaged merchandise. A patron’s child became ill, and two sweaters were damaged. The mess was properly cleaned according to store policy, and the loss noted on inventory records. OMG you would not believe what happened to me 2nite. Longest shift ever. This woman’s kid projectile puked all over our sweaters. >:-( ! Took me 4ever to clean it up AND I lost my appetite. Ugh. I wanna quit sooooo bad! Waaaaah.

Examples Excerpts: Review the excerpts on page 823 for style and voice. Helpful Hint: B –background information L – language/diction I – imagery S – sentence structure T – tone/attitude