Diction Defined• Diction refers to the author's choice of

words.

• Words are the writer's basic tools: – they create the color and texture of the

written work; – they both reflect and determine the level

of formality; – they shape the reader's perceptions.

Diction, Continued• Diction reflects the writer's vision and steers

the reader's thought.• To understand a writer’s voice, readers must

both "hear" the words and "feel" their effects. • This is why, in studying serious literature, you

should rarely skip words you do not know.

Shaping Voice with Diction• Effective voice is shaped by words that

are clear, concrete, and exact.

• Good writers avoid words like "pretty," "nice," and "bad."

• Instead they utilize words that invoke a specific effect.

Freshness & Originality• 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.

Topic• Diction depends on topic, purpose,

and occasion. • The topic often determines the

specificity and sophistication of diction. – Articles on computers are filled with

specialized language: e-mail, e-shopping, web, interface. Many topics generate special vocabularies as a nexus to meaning.

Purpose• The writer's purpose - whether to convince,

entertain, amuse, inform, or plead - partly determines diction.

• Words chosen to impart a particular effect on the reader reflect and sustain the writer's purpose. – For example, if an author's purpose is to inform,

the reader should expect straightforward diction. – On the other hand, if the author's purpose is to

entertain, the reader will likely encounter words used in ironic, playful, or unexpected ways.

Audience• Diction also depends on the intended

audience. As with clothes (what you wear), level of formality influences appropriate choices.

Levels of Diction• High or Formal Diction usually contains

language that creates an elevated tone. It is free of slang, idioms, colloquialisms, and contractions. It often contains polysyllabic words, sophisticated syntax, and elegant word choice.

• Neutral Diction uses standard language and vocabulary without elaborate words and may include contractions.

• Informal or Low Diction is the language of everyday use. It is relaxed and conversational. It often includes common and simple words, idioms, slang, jargon, and contractions.

High or Formal Diction• Language that creates an elevated tone

(proper) • Free of slang, idioms (expressions familiar with its own

language: it’s raining cats and dogs), colloquialisms (informal

spoken words: wanna, aint, y’all), and contractions • It is more sophisticated, elegant vocabulary

Discerning the impracticable state of the poor culprit's mind, the elder clergyman, who had carefully prepared himself for the occasion, addressed to the multitude a discourse on sin, in all its branches, but with continual reference to the ignominious letter. (The Scarlet Letter)

Neutral Diction• Some language doesn’t fall in either formal or

informal...• Simple vocabulary• Standard English• No slang• Idioms• Colloquial (The majority of writing)

The shark swung over and the old man saw his eye was not alive and then he swung over once again, wrapping himself in two loops of the rope. The old man knew that he was dead but the shark would not accept it. (The Old Man and the Sea)

Informal or Low Diction

• Language of everyday use• Relaxed and conversational• Often includes common and simple words• Jargon, slang, idioms, colloquial

Types of Diction

• Slang refers to a group of recently coined words often used in informal situations. Slang words often come and go quickly, passing in and out of usage within months or years. “That's bad!” “You just got dissed!”(We can add text speak today)

• Colloquial expressions are nonstandard, often regional, ways of using language appropriate to informal or conversational speech and writing. The southern word "y'all” is an example of colloquialisms.

More types of Diction

• Jargon consists of words and expressions characteristic of a particular trade, profession, or pursuit. Some examples of nautical (sailor) jargon are "cuddy," "taffrail," "mizzen," and "binnacle." –Think of pirate talk

• Idiom is a form of speech or expression of a given language that is peculiar; its meaning is other than the literal meaning of the words that comprise the idiom: bad egg, back burner, in a pickle, in hot water, no-brainer.........

• Dialect is a nonstandard subgroup of a language with its own vocabulary and grammatical features. Writers often use regional dialects or dialects that reveal a person’s economic or social class. There are many dialects portrayed in literature: “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing except make music for us to enjoy.” (To Kill a Mockingbird)

More types of Diction

• Concrete Diction brings the reader into the scene, enabling full participation in the writer's world.

• A coat isn't "torn"; it is "tattered.”

• The United States Army does not "want" revenge; it is "thirsting" for revenge.

• A door does not "shut"; it "thuds."

• Abstract Diction refers to language that denotes ideas, emotions, conditions, or concepts that are intangible. The more abstract words tend to be used impersonally to convey universal truths and emotions. For example...

“Ralph and Jane have experienced difficulties in their lives, and both have developed bad attitudes because of these difficulties.”

More types of Diction

• Denotation is the exact, literal definition of a word independent of any emotional association or secondary meaning

• Connotation is the implicit rather than explicit meaning of a word and consists of the suggestions, associations, and emotional overtones attached to a word. For example, home connotes safety, coziness, and security.

Connotation vs. Denotation• When studying diction, you must understand

both connotation (the meaning suggested by the word) and denotation (literal meaning).

• A word's power to produce a strong reaction in the reader lies mainly in its connotative meaning.

• When a writer calls a character "slender," the word evokes a different feeling from calling the character "gaunt."

More types of Diction• Indirection is an author misdirecting or omitting information so that the

reader has to predict, infer, or completely fabricate what was said. It is similar to ambiguity.

• Detail includes facts, observations, and incidents used to develop a subject and impart voice. Detail shapes the reader’s attitude by focusing attention: the greater the detail, the greater the focus on the object described. It can also state by understatement or lack of detail. For example, the absence of details might be in sharp contrast to the intensity of a character’s pain. Elaborate detail might shift that pain into sentimentality.

• Slanted language is language which is clearly biased in some way or another. It obviously expresses an opinion about something, not by coming out and stating this opinion directly, but by clearly communicating the bias through diction. For example, you might describe someone as thrifty or miserly.