Diction/Syntax/Voice/Style: Roald Dahl’s brainstorming list for the BFG

Diction : The aesthetic/artful choice and use of words- i.e. connotation/sound/context The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug. ~ Mark Twain

Diction : The aesthetic/artful choice and use of words- i.e. connotation/sound/context 1. Think of a short but famous saying from American history & ruin its impact by changing one word that denotes the same thing as the original but which is nowhere near as artful in connotation/sound/context. Ex: “one small step for man…one giant hop for mankind” 2. Choose the title of one text you read last year and argue the critical importance/sophistication of 1 word in it. 3. Your writing a poem in which you want to refer to geological/metamorphic material. Consider what changes [connotation/sound/context] between using “rock” and using “stone”. 4. Why is diction often the difference between an awkward social situation and a tolerable one? Give an example [school appropriate] of a social situation wherein diction is critical.

Syntax : The arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed thoughts/ sentences in a language. Poets use the repetition of syntactical elements to create meaning and to enter into dialogue with their readers. Exs: anaphora, epistrophe, symploce & anadiplosis. Poets are often more playful or less concerned with strict rules of syntax than other writers. EX: “I saw a river red” rather than “I saw a red river”. In formal English prose compositions, adjectives typical proceed the the noun they modify. [This is an “often” not an “always” observation.]

Syntax : The arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed thoughts/ sentences in a language. Example: Man comes and tills the field and lies beneath, And after many a summer dies the swan. Me only cruel immortality Consumes; I wither slowly in thine arms, Here at the quiet limit of the world…~ Alfred Lloyd Tennyson A more traditional syntax for the 2nd line would be And the swan dies after many a summer A more traditional syntax of the 2 nd /3 rd line would be Cruel immortality consumes only me * Note how even the way the poet divides the logical thought from the second line to the 3 rd line plays with the syntax. That’s called enjambment!

Syntax : The arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed thoughts/ sentences in a language. “We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender ……” ~Winston Churchill … Given in the House of Commons June 4 th 1940 during the darkest hours of the war for the allied forces Why is Churchill’s choice of syntax (anaphora) suited to his message?

Voice : the quality that makes a writer’s work unique, and which conveys the author's attitude, personality, and character; Because voice has so much to do with the reader's experience of a work of literature, it is one of the most important elements of a piece of writing. Style : manner of expression; how a speaker or writer says what he/she says. 1.Dr. Seuss 2.Henry David Thoreau or F. Scott Fitzgerald 3.J.K. Rowling 4.William Shakespeare As a group, brainstorm at least 4 elements that characterize your author’s voice and style. [bullet points]. In other words, how would you know/guess that you were reading _______if you were reading a new text by him/her but hadn’t seen the cover or title page.