3.  Diction is word choice.  Words are the writer’s basic tools.  So choose your diction carefully and wisely in your writing.  The words you choose will affect how people feel when they read your writing.

4.  Although many diction words are adjectives, don’t neglect to recognize verbs which function as diction.  The choice of specific, appropriate verbs is very important in writing.  The use of specific rather than broad words can influence the effectiveness of the work.

5. 1. Appropriateness 2. Specificity 3. Imagery

6. TThis is when writers care about who will be reading their words and how the reader may react. WWhich type of language is appropriate for your writing? -formal -popular -colloquial

7.  Formal -Scholarly writing, serious prose, poetry  Informal -Expository essays, newspaper editorials, works of fiction  Colloquial (Slang/Informal Speech) -Create a mood, capture a historic or regional dialect -Examples: any contractions, any shortened words, “kind of”, “like”, “mad” (angry), “yeah”, “sure” (certainly), “it’s me”

8.  Choose specific words that refer to uniquely individual persons, events, or objects.

9.  These are the pictures (images) that occur in our minds when specific diction is employed.

10.  When revising your diction or choosing diction to include in your writing, think about: 1. What is your purpose? 2. Who is your audience?

11. Bouncing into the room, she lit up the vicinity with a joyous glow on her face as she told about her fiancé and their wedding plans. WWhat specific words did the author use to create the feeling of the sentence?

12. What kind of words are these?

13. ____ diction contributes to the ____ tone. *Remember that TONE is the author’s attitude toward the writing. MOOD is the general atmosphere created by the author’s words. Cheerfuleuphoric Or ____ diction contributes to the ____ tone. Upliftingjoyful

14. She huddled in the corner, clutching her tattered blanket and shaking, as she feverishly searched the room for the unknown dangers that awaited her. ____ diction contributes to the ____ tone. Frighteningalarming

15. Gently smiling, her mother tenderly tucked the covers up around the child’s neck, and carefully, quietly, left the room, making sure to leave a comforting ray of light shining through the opened door should the child awake. ____ diction contributes to the ____ tone. Lovingserene

17.  Now that you know why it is important to choose your diction wisely, let’s take a look at some more specifics regarding that diction.

18.  Denotation is the strict dictionary definition of a word. House ’haus\ n, pl houses 1: a building that serves as a living quarters for one or a few families.

19.  Many words have more than one denotative meaning.  There are several other definitions for house. Here are just a few: -those who dwell under the same roof and compose a family -to provide with or take shelter -to encase, enclose, or shelter

20.  Connotation is the emotional and imaginative association surrounding a word.  It is the feeling connected with a word. HOUSE HOME Which word has a better feeling?

21.  We use words to label things.  But the words we use also show our point of view.  The diction you choose in your writing can express a positive, neutral, or negative connotation.  For example: positive: slender neutral: thin negative: skinny

22.  Positive We bought inexpensive souvenirs at the amusement park.  Negative We bought cheap souvenirs at the amusement park.

23.  Everyone had a (smile, smirk) on his/her face on the ride home.  smile

24.  I ate a (soggy, moist) sandwich.  soggy

25. averagemediocre spitsaliva childishchildlike antiqueold-fashioned

26.  Look at the following words, all of which have the denotative meaning “house”: homehutshackmansion cabinchaletabodedwelling shantydomicileresidence  Decide if each word has a positive, negative, or neutral connotation and fill in the chart in your notes.