The Elements of VOICE

1. The Elements of VOICE • • Diction • • Detail • • Imagery • • Syntax • • Tone

2. Elements of VOICE: DICTION - is the writer’s choice of words. It is the foundation of voice, and contributes to all other elements. EX: Art is the antidote that can call us back from the edge of numbness . . . ~ Barbara Kingsolver, High Tide in Tucson

3. Elements of VOICE: • DETAIL • Develops a topic with facts, observations, incidents. • EX: • Until I returned to Cuba, I never realized how many blues exist. The aquamarines near the shoreline, the azures of deeper waters, the eggshell blues beneath my grandmother’s eyes, the fragile indigos tracking her hands . . . • ~ Cristina Garcia, Dreaming in Cuban

4. Elements of VOICE: IMAGERY - is the verbal representation of sense experience. EX: All the hedges are singing with yellow birds! A boy runs by with lemons in his hands. ~ Rita Dove, “Notes from a Tunisian Journal”

5. Elements of VOICE: SYNTAX – is the grammatical structure of a sentence, controlling its focus and pace EX: The seven years’ difference in our ages lay between us like a chasm: I wondered if these years would ever operate between us as a bridge. ~ James Baldwin, “Sonny’s Blues”

6. Elements of VOICE: • TONE • an expression of attitude. Tone gives “personality” to voice. • EX: • Every hotshot in town wanted to be next to the astronaut . . .If you were one of the seven greatest pilots and seven bravest men in America, then obviouslyyou must be fascinating to listen to. • ~ Tom Wolfe, The Right Stuff