unit ii- structure of writing

8/11/2019 Unit II- Structure of Writing

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Unit II- Structure of writing

Writing style(Form)

Presenters: Sayyid Adil & Rahil


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Style is the way in which something is written, as opposed to the

meaning of what is written. In writing, however, the two are veryclosely linked. As the meaning of the text, style influences the

readers impression of the information itself.

The main goal in considering style is to present your information

in a manner appropriate for both the audience and the purpose

of the writing.


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A writers style is a reflection of his personality, his uniquestyle, his voice and his way to approach his audience and

readers.

Generally there are four different types or styles of writing .

1 Expository Writing

2 Descriptive writing

3 Persuasive Writing

4 Narrative Writing


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1. Expository Writing:

Expository writing is a subject-oriented writing style, in whichthe main focus of the author is to tell you about a given topic orsubject, and leave out his personal opinions.

A writer does it by furnishing you with relevant facts and figures.

This is one of the most common type of writing styles, always seen intext books and usually How to articles, in which the author tells youabout a given subject, as how to do something.

Key Points:

It usually explains something in a process. It is often equipped with facts and figures. It is usually in a logical order and sequence.


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2. Descriptive writing:

Descriptive writing is a style of writing which focuses on describing a

character, an event or a place in great details.It is sometimes poetic in nature in which the author specifies the details of theevent rather than just the information of that event happened.

Example:

In descriptive writing, the author will not just say:

The vampire killed his lover

He will change the sentence, focusing on more details and descriptions, like:

The red-eyed, bloody vampire, flushed his rusty teeth

into the soft skin of his lover, and ended her life.


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Key Points:

It is often poetic in nature. It describes places, people, events, situations or locations in a highly

detailed manner. The author visualizes you what he sees, hears, tastes, smells and feels.


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3. Persuasive Writing:

Persuasive writing, unlike Expository Writing, contains theopinions, biasness and justification of the author.

It is a type of writing which contains justifications and reasons tomake someone believe on the point the writer is talking about.

Persuasive writing is for persuading and convincing on your point ofview.

It is often used in complain letters, when you provide reasons and justifications for your complaint; other copywriting texts, T.V commercials,affiliate marketing pitches etc. are all different types of persuasive writing,where author is persuading and convincing you on something he wants youto do and/or believe.


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Key Points:

Persuasive writing is equipped with reasons, arguments and justifications. In persuasive writing, the author takes a stand and asks you to believe his

point of view. If often asks for a call or an action from the readers.


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4. Narrative Writing:

Narrative writing is a type of writing in which the author placeshimself as the character and narrates you to the story.

Novels, short stories, novellas, poetry, biographies can all fall in thenarrative writing style.

Simply, narrative writing is an art to describe a story. It answers thequestion: What happened then?

Key Points:

In narrative writing, a person, being a narrative, tells a story or event. It has characters and dialogues in it.

It has definite and logical beginnings, intervals and endings. It often has situations like disputes, conflicts, actions, motivational events,problems and their solutions.


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Diction


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Diction refers to both the choice and the order of words

A study of diction is the analysis of how a writer uses languagefor a distinct purpose and effect, including word choice andfigures of speech .

The difference between the right word and almost the right word is like the differencebetween lightning and the lightning bug. (Mark Twain)

Informal Diction (personal writing)

e.g. bug, folks, job, kid, boss, get across

Formal Diction (academic or literary writing)

e.g. germ, relatives, position, child, superior, communicate


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Types of Diction

Casual Colloquial words conversational language

Example: aren't mad

Formal Jargon the special language of a profession or group (lawyertalk, technical talk)

Example: are not angry

SlangVery or highly informal

Example : ain't ticked


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Ways to Characterize Diction

General look, walk, sit, cry, throw, dog, boy

Specific gaze, stride, slump, weep, hurl, black Labrador

retrieve, tall boy

Monosyllabic words single syllable words

Polysyllabic words more than one syllable in the words

Note: The greater the number of polysyllabic words, the more

complex the passage.


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Cacophonous words harsh sounding words (maggot)

Euphonious words pleasant sounding words (butterfly)

Abstract words not material; representing a thought

(pleasant tasting)

Concrete words real or actual; specific, not general

(sour tasting)


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Denotative word s dictionary meaning (wedding dress, law

officer, public servant)

Connotative words emotional meaning (wedding gown, cop,

bureaucrat )


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To denote is to signify directly or refer to specifically.

The denotation of a word refers to its literal meaning-the definition you find in the dictionary. In other words, denotative meaning of aword is its direct, explicit meaning.

Denotation

Let us consider the word amb

In dictionary it would mean a young sheep.


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However, when it is compared with the characteristics of aperson, the word lamb connotes innocence, gentleness,

or meekness.

To connote is to suggest a feeling or an idea in addition to literalmeaning. Connotative meaning refers to the associations, images,and feelings that a word calls to mind in addition to its dictionary

meaning.

The connotation of a word emphasizes certain characteristics orspecific information, or it reveals implied or hidden attitudes.


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Example:

a. Olivia was born deaf and dumb

lacking the power of speech (Denotative)

b. When the police questioned Carter, he acted dumb.

condition of being stupid (Connotative)


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Positive Negative

pruning the bushes slashing at the bushes

the politician's stance the politician's spin

Besides the level of formality, connotations of the words can be of

two forms; Positive and Negative

Examples:


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Thank you

unit ii- structure of writing

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