1. Close Reading
The Elements of Style

2. Diction Word Choice Denotation: dictionary definition
Connotation: meanings or associations beyond the word’s definition
Formal v informal diction
Abstract v concrete diction
Diction

3. Figurative Language Language that is not literal
Comparisons: simile, metaphor, analogy
Personification
Overstatement (hyperbole)
Understatement
Paradox
Irony
Figurative Language

4. Imagery The verbal expression of a sensory experience
Appeals to any of the five senses
Utilizes diction (concrete language) and figurative language
Imagery

5. Syntax The arrangement of words into phrases, clauses, and sentences.
Looking at sentences: long, short, simple, complex, cumulative, periodic, inverted
Syntax

6. Tone reflects the speaker’s attitude toward the subject of the work.
Mood is the feeling the reader experiences as a result of the tone.
They provide the emotional coloring of a work and are created by the writer’s stylistic choices.
Tone and Mood