Transcript Diction Notes for 10/22 - Fort Thomas Independent Schools

DIRECTIONS:
• Read through the notes on diction. You can print
them off or copy into your class notes.
• Go back through your annotations and apply to
“The Masque of the Red Death.”
• Be prepared to discuss notes on Thursday.
DICTION ANALYSIS
PAGE 197
DICTION
• Author’s strategic word choice
that
• 1) creates meaning or conveys an
author’s view of truth to the reader,
and
• 2) produces intentional effects (tone,
appeal)
LEVELS OF DICTION
LEVELS OF DICTION
• Refers to the overall view of an
author’s word choice which
includes
• Vocabulary (# of syllables per word)
• Standard/non-standard language use
• contractions
LEVELS OF DICTION: FORMAL
• Creates elevated tone
• Pretentious, academic, elitist,
pompous, objective,
condescending, sarcastic
• Free of slang, idioms,
colloquialisms and contractions
• Polysyllabic words
• Elegant vocabulary
LEVELS OF DICTION: INFORMAL
• Language of everyday use
• Creates tones of:
• Relaxed and conversational, familiarity,
nostalgic, ignorant, immature, regional
(pride in culture),
• Includes common and simple words,
idioms, slang, colloquialism, jargon and
contractions
LEVELS OF DICTION: NEUTRAL
• Standard language and
vocabulary without elaborate
words; may include contracts
• Creates tone of:
• objectivity, indifference, neutrality,
apathy, disconnect, indifference,
confusion, detachment
TYPES OF DICTION
DICTION TYPE
•Refers to categories of
diction
SLANG
• Group of recently coined
words used in informal
situations
• Come and go quickly
• Passing in/out of usage within
months or years
COLLOQUIAL EXPRESSIONS
• Nonstandard language
• Often regional
• Ways of using language
appropriate to informal or
conversational speech/writing
JARGON
•Words and expressions
characteristic of a specific
trade, profession or pursuit
DIALECT
• Nonstandard subgroup of a
language with its own
vocabulary and grammatical
features
• Dialects reveal person’s region
and/or economic or social
class
CONCRETE VERSUS ABSTRACT
DICTION
Concrete
• Describes physical
qualities or conditions
of something
Abstract
• Denotes ideas,
emotions, conditions or
concepts that are
intangible
DENOTATION VERSUS CONNOTATION
Denotative Diction
Connotative Diction
• Exact, literal definition
of a word independent
of any emotional
association or
secondary meaning
• Implicit rather than
explicit meaning of a
word
• Consists of suggestions,
associations and
emotional overtones
attached to a chosen
word
PURPOSES OF DICTION
PURPOSE: TONE & APPEALS
• allude to __________
• analyze a process
• argue
• classify/divide
• compare/contrast
• define
• describe
• exemplify
• inform
• narrate
• persuade
• reveal cause/effect
EFFECTS OF DICTION
WHY X TONE/WHY X APPEAL (AUDIENCE?)
• amuse
• bolster or diminish
the speaker’s
ethical appeal
• convince
• create an
atmosphere/moo
d
• entertain
• evoke _____________
emotion in the
reader
• narrow the
intended audience
• outrage
• persuade
• surprise
FINDING DICTION
“THE RATTLER”
“THE RATTLER”
PAGE 198
• Annotate for diction (already
established U.T.!)
• Strongly connotative diction
• Identify connectivity between words
• Consider words to describe both
elements of the contrast
• Must identify shift (tonal shift)
• Consider words before and after shift
CONNECTING DICTION
(FOR EVIDENCE AND COMMENTARY)
• Tone (purpose of diction) & Tonal
Shift
• Subject
• Speaker/Author’s Purpose
• Occasion
• Audience
ORGANIZING COMMENTARY
FOR DICTION
FOR EVIDENCE, COMMENTARY AND
ORGANIZATION OF BODY PARAGRAPHS
CHUNKING DICTION
• Tone (purpose of diction) &
Tonal Shift
• Subject
• Speaker/Author’s Purpose
• Occasion
• Audience
BRAINSTORMING: CHUNK 1
Word for Word Cluster:
PURPOSE & Effect of specific word in
Words Chosen based on SUBJECT
the “cluster”
(“the rattler”) that also represents
one side of contrast and lends itself
to UT discussion
Live Wire
adversary meets adversary, contrast and
primary conflict
Emphasizes conflict that underscores UT
electric feeling, potential danger
TONE: dangerous and ominous
Little Tocsin
an alarm, a warning bell on a ship; a
signal  reinforces
“little” – insignificant COMPARED to the
speaker’s duty or obligation to kill the
snake
BRAINSTORMING: CHUNK 2
Word for Word Cluster:
Words Chosen based on SUBJECT
(“the rattler”) that also represents
one side of contrast and lends
itself to UT discussion
PURPOSE & EFFECT of
specific word in the
“cluster”
Arrested
frozen in time, caught by a force
stronger than the snake; punishment;
fear; cacophonous
Sunset
insinuates the end of the day,
completion of the day's tasks (literal)
(figuratively) symbolizes the end of a
journey; reinforces that his “task” or
“duty” was to kill the snake and marks
the finality of life and his decision
DICTION
BODY PARAGRAPH
ORGANIZATION AND COMMENTARY
TOPIC SENTENCES
•
•
•
•
•
No direct quotations
Topic
Restatement of UT
Purpose verb
Hint at examples
• What does diction do?
• Describes, heightens, underscores, elaborates, narrates,
emphasizes, etc.
EXAMPLES:
• In "Letter from Birmingham Jail," Martin Luther King, Jr.,
writes in a relatively denotative formal style which thus
contributes to a dignity of tone, while the lack of
euphemism underscores the seriousness of his intention.
“RATTLER” EXAMPLES
• The author’s diction heightens the power and force behind the
snake as it responds to the man, first placidly, then
aggressively, thereby highlighting the animalistic nature
of not just the snake, the humanity as well.
• The author’s electric diction, such as when the narrator
describes the snake and then when the snake attacks the
narrator, heightens the power and force behind the snake
as it responds to the man, first placidly, then aggressively,
thereby highlighting the animalistic nature of not just the
snake, the humanity as well.
EVIDENCE
• Incorporate direct quotations from the
passage
• Integrate diction choices (words or short
phrases) smoothly into your own sentences
• Do not merely list words
• Connect words based on subject,
audience, tonal and/or tonal shift, contrast,
speaker.
EXAMPLE
The snake“lay rigid,”“arrested” in time
and place in the “thinning” light of the
desert’s “sunset”.
Standard Organization: Set up a contrast
and/or tonal shift
Chronological: focus on highlighted words
as foreshadowing element; underscores
contrast.
EXAMPLE 2
• “Arrested,” the snake becomes a
“live wire” after he shakes his “little
tocsin” at the narrator.
INTEGRATING DICTION INTO YOUR
OWN SENTENCES
• If you change the form of a word when you quote
or add words of your own to the original citation,
you must enclose those words in brackets to
show your reader what you did.
The snake “lay rigid,” “arrested” in time
and place as the light “[thinned]” in the
desert.
COMMENTARY
PURPOSE & EFFECT
SAMPLE PARAGRAPH:
STANDARD ORGANIZATION
The author’s diction heightens the power and force behind the
snake as it responds to the man, first placidly, then
aggressively.“Arrested,” the snake becomes a “live wire” after
he shakes his “little tocsin” at the man. Unmoving at first, the
snake plays a waiting game as adversary meets adversary across an
imaginary line drawn in the desert. Then a feeling of electricity jolts
the reader, heart beating faster from the noise of the warning that,
like battle stations aboard a ship, calls all to readiness. Yet it must
lose; despite its attempts to retreat to a “paper-bag bush,” the
snake knows its life has been “dearly sold,” but it remains
“sinuous and self-respecting” in the man’s mind. The hiding
place is an illusion, and a costly one. The snake’s valiant behavior
adds dignity to its last moments. All involved recognize the strength
of both the man and the almost-human snake but know that
responsibility and commitment to others make the killing necessary.