Transcript Voice Lessons

Voice Lessons
by
Nancy Dean
Voice
• The unique expression of the author’s
personality
• The fingerprint of a person’s language
• The color and texture of communication
Understanding voice
Gives an appreciation for the
richness of language and a
deeper understanding of writing,
especially difficult literature
One goal of this course: to help
you develop a personal voice, a
distinctive writing style.
To do so, you must first learn to
recognize voice and analyze its
elements.
Through voice we come to know
authors.
By exploring voice we learn to
wield language.
Five elements of voice: diction,
detail, imagery, syntax and tone
Diction (word choice) is the
foundation of voice and
contributes to all of its elements.
Detail (facts, observations, and
incidents) is used to develop a
topic, shaping and seasoning
voice.
Imagery (verbal representation
of sense experience) brings the
immediacy of sensory
experience to writing and gives
voice a distinctive quality.
Syntax (grammatical sentence
structure) controls verbal pacing
and focus.
Tone (expression of attitude)
gives voice its distinctive
personality.
Refers to the author’s choice of
words; the basic tools used to
create the color and texture of
written work.
They reflect and determine
the level of formality
They shape the reader’s
perceptions.
Diction reflects the writer’s
vision and steers the reader’s
thought.
When reading serious literature,
don’t skip words you don’t
know.
It’s like wearing earplugs at
a symphony
To understand voice you
must “hear” and “feel” their
effects.
Effective voice is shaped by
words that are clear, concrete
and exact.
Good writers avoid words like
pretty, nice and bad. Instead
they use words that create a
specific effect.
A coat isn’t torn, it’s tattered.
The U.S. Army doesn’t want
revenge, it is thirsting for
revenge.
Specific diction brings the reader
into the scene, enabling full
participation in the writer’s world.
Diction depends on topic,
purpose and occasion. Topic
often determines specificity and
sophistication of diction.
For example, in a computer
article: web interface, quaternary
code.
In a magazine for Irish
musicians: slip jig, hornpipe,
mazurka.
The writer’s purpose partly
determines diction
Words chosen to impart a
particular effect on the reader
reflect and sustain the writer’s
purpose.
Example: if the purpose is to
inform, straightforward diction
is used.
If the purpose is to entertain, a
reader expects words used in
ironic, playful or unexpected
ways.
Diction also depends on the
occasion
As with clothes, the level of
formality influences appropriate
choices.
Formal diction (for
scholarly writing, serious prose,
poetry)
Informal diction: the norm in
expository essays, newspaper
writing, fiction.
Colloquial diction and slang:
create a mood or capture a
particular historic or regional
dialect
Appropriateness of diction is
determined by the norms of
society.
Connotation (the meaning
suggested by a word and
Denotation (the literal
meaning of a word)
When a writer calls a character
slender, the word evokes a
different feeling from calling the
character gaunt.
A word’s power to produce a
strong reaction in the reader
lies mainly in its connotative
meaning.
Finally, diction can impart
freshness and originality to
writing.Words used in surprising
or unusual ways make us rethink
what is known and re-examine
meaning.
Good writers often opt for
complexity rather than
simplicity, multiple meanings
rather than precision.
Thus, diction, the foundation of
voice, shapes a reader’s
thinking while guiding reader
insight into the author’s
idiosyncratic expression of
thought: the writer’s voice.
“Art is the antidote that can call
us back from the edge of
numbness, restoring the ability
to feel for another.”
Barbara Kingsolver, “High Tide
in Tucson
By using the word antidote, what
does the author imply about the
inability to feel for another?
If we changed the word antidote
to gift, what effect would it have
on the meaning of the
sentence?
Activity: Write a sentence using
a medical term to characterize
art.
“As I watched, the sun broke
weakly through, brightened the
rich red of the fawns, and
kindled their white spots.”
E.B. White, “Twins,” Poems
and Sketches of E.B. White
What kind of flame does
kindled imply? How does this
verb suit the purpose of the
sentence?
Would the sentence be
strengthened or weakened by
changing the sun broke weakly
through to the sun burst
through? Explain the effect this
change would have on the use
of the verb kindled.
What are some action verbs that
demonstrate the effects of
sunlight?
“An aged man is but a paltry
thing
A tattered coat upon a stick…”
- W.B. Yeats, “Sailing to
Byzantium”
What picture is created by the
use of the word tattered?
By understanding the
connotations of the word
tattered, what do we understand
about the persona’s attitude
toward an aged man?
List three adjectives that can be
used to describe a pair of
shoes. Each adjective should
connote a different feeling about
the shoes.
Dean, Nancy. Voice Lessons:
Classroom Activities to
Teach Diction, Detail,
Imagery, and Tone.
Gainesville, Florida: Maupin
House, 2000.