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Diction — Literary Terminology. Efficient Appearance, Sound, and Meaning. Your Diction is Showing. Words have three levels to them and are selected for their efficiency in these three areas: Appearance Sound Meaning. Diction by Number. Mono-syllabic: one syllable Ex: Sad
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Diction — Literary Terminology Efficient Appearance, Sound, and Meaning
Your Diction is Showing • Words have three levels to them and are selected for their efficiency in these three areas: • Appearance • Sound • Meaning
Diction by Number • Mono-syllabic: one syllable • Ex: Sad • Poly-syllabic: multi-syllable • Ex. Disconsolate, Despondent • The higher the ratio of poly-syllabic words, the more sophisticated and complex the sentence.
An Interesting Aside Flesch-Kincaid reading level calculation: • Select a few paragraphs to use as your base • Calculate the average number of words per sentence. Multiply the result by 0.39 • Calculate the average number of syllables in words (count and divide). Multiply the result by 11.8 • Add the two results together, and subtract 15.59 • The result will be a number that equates to a grade level. For example, a 6.5 is a sixth grade reading level result.
Diction by Sound • Euphonious: pleasant sounding • Ex: pillow, ocean, mayonnaise • Cacophonous: harsh sounding • Ex: awkward, vomit, crash
Diction by Meaning • Denotative: exact meaning • Ex: Dress, obese • Connotative: suggested, emotional meaning (+, -) • Ex: Gown, plump
Diction by Perspective • Objective: impersonal, unemotional • Ex: The rat acquired the cheese. • Subjective: personal, emotional • Ex: The foul, disease-ridden beast pilfered my best Gouda from right under my nose!
Diction by Action • Active: states action • Ex: The students made progress. • Passive: states being • Ex: Progress was made by the students. • Passive voice is used when an author wants to remain vague or conceal info. • (An author uses passive voice to remain vague or conceal info.)
Diction by Being • Concrete: specific, tangible • Ex: Girl, flag • Abstract: conceptual, not quantifiable • Ex: Beauty, patriotism • Concrete details usually provide support, while abstract details fill in meaning.
Diction by Emphasis • Hyperbole: deliberate exaggeration of facts • Ex: “The shot heard round the world” • Understatement (Litote): deliberate misrepresenting as less • Ex: “I was only doing my job” (after saving the President’s life)
Diction by Pretension • Pedestrian: plain,layman’s terms • Ex: Hand me that cookie. • Pedantic: boorish, inflated language attempting to display importance for learning’s sake • Ex: Relinquish unto me the floury morsel in your possession.
Diction by Pretension • Didactic: has an instructive purpose/tone; often associated with a dry, pompous presentation • Ex: Most high school lectures
Nonstandard Levels of Diction • Vulgarity: language deficient in taste and refinement; course, base • Ex: @##!, !!%%^@#, and &$%^# • Slang: vernacular speech, sometimes humorous, exaggerated, or shortened for effect • Ex: chick, dude, da bomb
Nonstandard Levels of Diction • Colloquial: regional, provincial; differs from formal language in connotation, pronunciation, usage; accepted in informal conversation • Ex: Ya’ll, You guys • Ex: Fixin’ to • Ex: Ain’t • Jargon: specialized or technical language specific to a profession or field of study • Ex: Chip, bite, byte, CPU, zip = computer field
Nonstandard Levels of Diction • Cliché: language used so often it has lost its freshness and clarity (fig. lang. without the freshness) • Ex: As easy as pie • Ex: Raining cats and dogs • Ex: There’s no place like home
Devices of Sound • Assonance: repetition of similar vowel sounds in closely associated words (half-rhyme) • No pain, no gain.
Devices of Sound • Consonance: repetition of similar consonant sound in closely associated words • Each slow dusk is a drawing down of blinds.
Devices of Sound • Alliteration: repetition of initial consonant sound in closely associated words • The twisting trout twinkled below.
Devices of Sound • Onomatopoeia: words whose pronunciation suggests meaning (sound words) • Buzz, sizzle, hiss
Final Rules • Never are you allowed to say that “the author uses a lot of diction.” • Whenever the word “diction” is used, it must be accompanied by an adjective to describe what kind of diction.