1. Four Elements of Style: Diction

2. Diction: Word Choice
To analyze diction is to look at how a writer uses words for a distinct purpose and effect.
There are several ways to characterize diction: connotative/denotative, formal/informal, abstract/concrete, objective/subjective, hyperbolic/understated, literal/figurative.

3. Connotation and Denotation
Connotation represents the social, cultural, or emotional meanings associated with a word.
Ex. “Hollywood” connotes glitz, glamour, celebrity, stardom.
Denotation represents the explicit, literal meaning or dictionary definition.
Ex. “Hollywood” denotes an area of Los Angeles, known as the center of the movie industry.
Ask connotation/denotation of snake.
Because connotative diction is emotional – writers use to create mood or to express tone.

4. Ways to Characterize Diction (cont.)
Denotative (dictionary):
Journalist
Law Officer
Intelligence analyst
Soldier of fortune
Connotative (emotion):
Newshound
Cop
Spy
Hired killer

5. Ways to Characterize Diction (cont.)
Informal (personal writing):
Bug
Folks
Job
Kid
Boss
Get across
Formal (academic or literary writing):
Germ/virus
Relatives
Occupation/Career
Child
Superior
C0mmunicate

6. Examples:
The respite from study was devoted to a sojourn at the ancestral domicile. (formal)
I spent my vacation at the house of my grandparents. (informal)
I endeavored to peruse the volume. (formal)
I tried to read the book. (informal)
The dog ate my homework (informal).
Formal?

7. Take it another step… Informal: Formal:
Colloquial: conversational language, such as dialect
Y’all, Wanna, gonna, go nuts
Slang: words not part of standard language.
Third degree, kick the bucket, photo bomb, hater
Formal:
Jargon: special language of a profession or group
Educational: anecdotal records, benchmark, cooperative learning
Technical: bandwidth, hot spot, surf

8. Ways to Characterize Diction (cont.)
Objective (impersonal, unemotional, unbiased):
The room was about the size of a small airplane cabin.
A dog was sleeping in the corner.
Subjective (personal, emotional, biased):
The room was cramped and claustrophobic.
The party was so boring that even the dog in the corner couldn’t stay awake.

9. Ways to Characterize Diction (cont.)
Abstract (Not material; representing an idea or thought):
Beauty
Patriotism
Pleasant-tasting
Concrete (Real, actual; specific; not general):
Girl
Flag
Sour

10. Ways to Characterize Diction (cont.)
Literal (accurate language without embellishment):
Frugal
Figurative (comparative language for a pictorial effect):
Tight as bark on a tree
Simile, metaphor, personification
Paradox, oxymoron
Sound: alliterative, onomatopoeic

11. Ways to Characterize Diction (cont.)
Hyperbolic (Overstated; misrepresents as more):
“It rained enough yesterday to float a steel mill.”
Understated (misrepresents as less):
You might say Albert Einstein had a good head for numbers.
Tools of satire.

12. Tropes
Trope: any artful variation from the typical or expected way a word or idea is expressed.
Analogy: extended comparison of two dissimilar things for special effect, such as the heart to a pump.

13. Tropes
Metonymy: an entity is referred to by something associated with it. Ex. The White House announced…
Synecdoche: a part of something is used to refer to the whole. Ex. I have a new set of wheels.

14. Allusion
A reference in a literary work to art, other literature, or a historical or religious event or person.
Example: “The secretary and I were like Hamlet and Laertes in the final scene, where, because of harm done by one ancestor to another, we were bound to duel to the death. (Maya Angelou, “Occupation:Conductorette”)