The Fifth element

1. The Fifth element Author’s Style in writing

2. Diction • Sentence structure • Point of view • Irony • Symbolism • Imagery • Figurative Language Seven elements affecting an author’s style

3. What makes Lady Gaga’s style different from Madonna’s? Miley Cyrus’s from Mariah Caryey’s? • Author’s similarly have different styles. • Their diction, sentence styles, point of view, irony, symbolism, imagery and use of figurative language all affect their style Style

4. The words an author chooses have an impact on his/her work • Formal dictionis typical of academic papers, poetry and formal discourse • Informal discourse is relaxed typical of everyday conversation and humour • Colloquial diction is the everyday usage of a particular group • E.g., Irish saying, “G’wan you’ll have a cuppa tea then.” • E.g., Southerners saying “It’s hotter than the devil’s behind.” • Slang is a newly coined work or expression, particular to a specific social group. E.g., “doh!” – usually not found in the dictionary 1. Diction

5. simple sentences: She ran to the store. • Compound sentences: She ran to the store and bought scissors. • Complex sentences: She ran to the store because she needed a sharp pair of scissors. • Compound-complex: She ran to the store and bought scissors because a big, bad wolf was chasing her. Sentence structure

6. the vantage point from which the author presents the story • If a person who is acting as the narrator • First person: “I went to the store and bought some scissors.” • Third person: “She went to the store and bought a fine pair of scissors.” • The narrator may be a major, minor or silent character. • Omniscient narrator: the author narrates and know everything about the characters and can enter their minds at will Point of vieW

7. Irony is a discrepancy or disconnect between what we expect and what actually happens. • Verbal irony: a character says one thing but means another • E.g., Juliet finally consents to marry Count Paris • Sarcasm is a type of verbal irony meant to be hurtful Irony

8. Dramatic irony is when the reader knows more than one or more characters in the play • E.g., Romeo thinks Juliet is dead but the audience really knows that she is in a coma • Juliet says she will be an obedient daughter to Capulet, yet we know she plans to run away irony

9. Situational irony occurs when things do not turn out as we expect. • E.g., we expect a love story like Romeo and Juliet to have a happy ending. • In CSI, we do not expect Warrick to be killed off at the end of season 9! IRONY

10. A symbol means something in a story but also has a larger meaning beyond the actually thing. • Symbols often occur in the title of stories • What do these symbols stand for? symbolism

11. Imagery is language that appeals to one of the five senses: • Visual imagery – creates a picture in our mind • Auditory imagery creates a “soundtrack” of sounds • Tactile imagery lets us “feel” things • Gustatory imagery helps us “taste” things • Olfactory imagery helps us “smell” things Imagery

12. Expressions that go beyond literal meaning and add a new dimension to the writing: • Simile • Metaphor • Personification • Alliteration • Assonance • Hyperbole • Litotes (Understatement) • Apostrophe FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE