Five Elements of Style

1. Five Elements of Style

2. Diction • Word choice • The foundation of voice!

3. Diction • Author’s choice of word • Words are the basic tools of writer • Reflect and determine the level of formality of a piece • Shape reader’s perceptions • Students should NOT skip words they don’t know as those might be excellent additions to a new writing piece!

4. Pick words that are clear, concrete, and exact • Lame words = pretty, nice, good, bad • A coat isn’t torn; it is tattered. • The US Army doesn’t want revenge; it is thirsting for revenge. • A door does not shut; it thuds.

5. Diction depends on the following: • Topic • Purpose • Occasion

6. Topics and Diction • Specialized topics may call for specialized language / vocabulary • E-mail, iPod • Jargon depending on the field • Science • Math • History

7. Purpose and Diction • The purpose of the writing will call forward certain types and levels of language: • Inform – more straightforward language • Entertain – ironic, playful, unexpected language

8. Occasion and Diction • Level of formality influences formality of word choice • Super formal writing (the stuffiest of the stuffy) • Formal writing (formal school papers) • Informal (responses to constructed responses) • Colloquial / Slang (notes, emails, texts)

9. Denotation and Connotation • Denotation • The literal meaning of a word • No emotional bias has been added • Connotation • An emotionally loaded word

10. Denotation and Connotation • Compare the effects of the following pairs of words: • Thin…..gaunt • Child…..devil • Student…..scholar….sophomore • Teacher…..professor….sage • Automobile…..car….jalopy….junker….beater

11. Practice!

12. What is the Difference? • Put a lid on it, for cryin’ out loud. • I will not respond to these stressful and unproductive outbursts. • I think you need to, like, channel that negative energy. • You best chill, sucka

13. Assignment • Rewrite the provided text for another audience, experimenting with different levels of diction. • Sport report • Complaining blog • Technical manual • Movie review • ????

14. Detail • Facts, observations, and incidents used to develop a subject and impart voice. • Create precise mental pictures • Bring color and life to description • The more specific the detail, the greater focus on the object described.

15. Lack of Detail? • Can also state by understatement, by a lack of detail! • Choose details with care! • Add meaning! • Don’t trivialize or detract from the point!

16. Imagery • Verbal representation of the senses • Sight • Sound • Touch • Taste • Smell

17. Imagery • Experiment with a variety of images • Purposely intermingle senses • Give smells a color! • Examine traditional images / archetypes!

18. Syntax • Ways words are arranged within sentences • Normal order is subject – verb – object • He handed the flower to her. • Play with the order, though! • The flower was handed to her. • A flower, the gift he handed to her. • To her, the only gift was a flower.

19. Vary Sentence Lengths! • Help shift reader’s attention • Fend off boredom!

20. Repetition

21. Parallelism

22. Advanced Punctuation uses • Semicolon • Way to connect two independent clauses • Colon • Sets up a list • Sets up a structure “as follows” • Information following the colon expands upon the first clause • Dash • Sudden change in thought / mood • Sets of a parenthetical part of a sentence

23. Tone • Expression of attitude • Writer’s implied attitude toward his subject and audience • Created by the following: • Diction • Syntax • Details / images • Understanding tone is requisite to understanding meaning!