AJ Soutter Erica Johns

 Diction is word choice and phrasing.  It can be formal or colloquial.  Syntax is the sentence structure. A sentence could be simple, compound, or complex.

 The president’s State of the Union Address is formal writing.  The words that people use talk to each other is colloquial.  The way that we talk to each other everyday is considered formal diction.

 Allusion is a passing reference in a work of literature to another literary or historic work, figure, or event, or to a literary passage.  The reference is not explained.

 All the names in Song of Solomon are allusions.  “I am not a crook” is an allusion to President Nixon.

 Analogy is the comparison of a subject to something that is similar to it in order to clarify the subject’s nature, purpose, or function.  Some similes and metaphors are based on analogies between qualities shared by the subject and the thing to which it is compared.

 1. Glove is to hand as monitor is to computer.  2. Surfs are to a king as earth is to the sun.  3. Furs were to North American aboriginals as credit is to a shopper These are all examples of analogies because they are comparing one thing to something else to give the reader a better understanding.