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DICTION
AP Lexicon, Lecture 1
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Diction
Word choice Diction can refer to
specific word choices or the general character of language chosen by the author
Three areas to consider1. Appearance2. Sound3. Meaning
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Semantics
The branch of linguistics that studies the meaning of words, their historical and psychological development, their connotations, and their relation to one another.
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A Quick Activity…
Draw the first thing you think of when I say…
MondaySummerLibertySingle
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Denotation vs. Connotation
The strict, literal, dictionary definition of a word, devoid of any emotion, attitude, or color.
Monday:–noun the second day of the week, following Sunday.
The non-literal, associative meaning of a word; the implied, suggested meaning.
Connotations may involve ideas, emotions, or attitudes.
Monday: the beginning of the work week or school week, often negatively associated with stress, lack of sleep, overwhelming responsibilities, a loss of freedom, etc.
Denotation Connotation
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More on connotations:
The room was so small, everyone felt ________.
The _________ entered the city quickly and without incident.
She excitedly showed us around her _________.
cozycramped
liberatorsinvaders
homedwelling
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Sound of Words
Pleasant sounding words Long vowels are
better than short vowels
“Liquid” consonants: l, m, n, r
Soft consonants: v, f, th, wh, sh, w, y
Harsh sounding words Short vowels rather
than long vowels “Plosive” consonants:
b, d, g, k, p, t More challenging to
say Flow is broken up by
harsher sounding letters
Euphonious Cacophonous
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Sound of Words
Upon Julia’s VoiceRobert Herrick So smooth, so sweet, so silvery
is thy voice,As, could they hear, the
Damned would make no noise,
But listen to thee (walking in thy chamber)
Melting melodious words to Lutes of Amber.
From Dulce et Decorum EstWilfred Owen Bent double, like old beggars
under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like
hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Euphonious Cacophonous
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Monosyllabic vs. Polysyllabic
Words are one syllable in length
Often creates a sense of urgency or simplicity
Words are more than one syllable in length
Often creates a sense of complexity or a more erudite effect
Monosyllabic Polysyllabic
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Monosyllabic vs. Polysyllabic
“I did not want to see the bank. There were shots when I ran and shots when I came up the first time. I heard them when I was almost above water. There were no shots now” (Hemingway 225).
“All about stretched drying cornfields, of the pale-gold colour, I remembered so well… Along the cattle-paths the plumes of goldenrod were already fading into sun-warmed velvet, grey with gold threads in it. I had escaped from the curious depression that hangs over little towns, and my mind was full of pleasant things” (Cather 287).
Monosyllabic Polysyllabic
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Informal vs. Formal
Conversational; often appropriate for conversations but not professional or academic documents.
Plain language of everyday use, including slang, jargon, vulgarity, and dialect. Monosyllabic.
“I just gotta get my stuff.”
Professional, educated, and academic language
Dignified, elevated, and perhaps impersonal.
Elaborate, or sophisticated vocabulary. Polysyllabic
“I just need to gather my belongings.”
Informal Formal
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Informal vs. Formal
“It's funny how people and bookstores sell used books on Alibris.com and Amazon.com” (Peter).
“But a great book, rich in ideas and beauty, a book that raises and tries to answer great fundamental questions, demands the most active reading of which you are capable” (Adler).
Informal Formal
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Colloquialism
The use of slang or informalities in speech or writing. Not generally acceptable for formal writing, colloquialisms give a work a conversational, familiar tone.
Colloquial expressions in writing include local or regional dialects.
Often considered a subset of informal diction
“Ain’t everybody’s daddy the deadest shot in Maycomb County” (Lee 112).
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Dialect
Language spoken by people in a region or group
“I’d made up my mine ‘bout what I’s a-gwyne to do… So I says, a raff is what I’s arter; it doan’ make no track” (Twain 44).
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Jargon
The special language of a profession or group.
Often has pejorative associations evasive, tedious, and
unintelligible to outsiders. Ex: Lawyers, doctors,
literary critics
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Objective vs. Subjective
Impersonal and unemotional “The pursuit of happiness is
enshrined in the Declaration of Independence as a right of all Americans, as well as on the self-improvement shelves of every American bookstore. Yet the scientific evidence makes it seem unlikely that you can change your level of happiness in any sustainable way” (Seligman xi-xii).
Personal and emotional language
“I was something that lay under the sun and felt it, like the pumpkins, and I did not want to be anything more. I was entirely happy… At any rate, that is happiness; to be dissolved into something complete and great” (Cather 21).
Objective Subjective
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Concrete vs. Abstract
Tangible and specific language
Conceptual and philosophical language
Concrete Abstract
“Abstract words such a glory, honor, courage, or hallow were obscene beside the concrete names of villages, the umbers of roads, the names of rivers, the numbers of regiments and dates” (Hemingway 185).
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Literal vs. Figurative
Straight-forward language without embellishment
From The Man He KilledThomas Hardy
But ranged as infantryAnd staring face to face,I shot at him and he at me,And killed him in his place.
Features literary devices, like hyperboles or metaphors
From Dulce et Decorum EstWilfred Owen Bent double, like old
beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like
hags…
Literal Figurative
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Words to describe diction…
Pedantic Cultured Learned Pretentious Archaic Scholarly Pedantic Ornate Elegant Flowery Didactic Elevated
Cliché Abrupt Terse Laconic Vulgar Slang Jargon Exact Journalistic Straightforwar
d
Pedestrian Unadorned Plain Detached Simple Homespun Colloquial Invective Pejorative
Metaphoric
Poetic Lyrical Symbolic Obscure Sensuous Grotesque Picturesqu
e