DICTION

AP Lexicon, Lecture 1

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

Semantics

The branch of linguistics that studies the meaning of words, their historical and psychological development, their connotations, and their relation to one another.

A Quick Activity…

Draw the first thing you think of when I say…

MondaySummerLibertySingle

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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).

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).

Jargon

The special language of a profession or group.

Often has pejorative associations evasive, tedious, and

unintelligible to outsiders. Ex: Lawyers, doctors,

literary critics

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

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).

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

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