WHEN I HEARD
THE LEARNED ASTRONOMER
Walt Whitman
Video- englishgems
Diction
Diction is the writer's choice of words. The diction a writer uses depends on such factors as the
subject, purpose, and audience.
Understanding Diction
Below are questions about Whitman's diction in "When I Heard the Learned Astronomer."As
directed, write the word that describes Whitman's diction on the blank before each question.
1. Colloquial diction consists of words and phrases common to a
certain geographical area. Standard diction consists of words and
phrases heard throughout the country. Would you describe
Whitman's diction in this poem as colloquial or standard?
2. Realistic diction consists of words and phrases that name objects,
people, and events. Poetic diction includes adjectives and adverbs
that describe objects, people, and events. Would you describe
Whitman's diction in the first three lines of the poem as realistic or
poetic?
3. Would you describe the diction in the last part of the poem as
realistic or poetic?
4. Concrete diction consists of words and phrases that name things that
can be observed through the senses. Abstract diction consists of
things that cannot be perceived through the senses. Would you
describe the diction in the first five lines of the poem as concrete or
abstract?
5. Would you describe the diction in the last four lines of the poem as
abstract or concrete?
6. Plain diction consists of words and phrases that are part of everyday
vocabulary. Ornate diction consists of flowery words and phrases,
often used to impress readers. Is the diction in this poem plain or
ornate?
7. Informal diction consists of words and phrases that are used among
casual friends in everyday situations. Formal diction consists of
words and phrases that are used on formal and ceremonial occasions.
Would you describe the diction in this poem as informal or formal?
Review and Response Worksheets: Elements of Literature, Fifth Course
HRW material copyrighted under notice appearing earlier inthis work.
For information regarding permissioned mater!a! Included on this page, see pages iii--v.
403
Applying Skills
Below are passages from other selections in your textbook. Below each passage are pairs of
words that describe diction. For each passage, underline the word in each pair of words that
describes the diction of the passage.
1. From Patrick Henry's Speech to the Virginia Convention:
Our petitions have been slighted; our remonstrances have produced additional
violence and insult; our supplications have been disregarded; and we have been
spurned, with contempt, from the foot of the throne. In vain, after these things, may
we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation. (page 90)
colloquial I standard
concrete I abstract
formal I informal
2. From Edgar Allan Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher":
During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when
the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on
horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country. (page 234)
colloquial I standard
realistic I poetic
concrete / abstract
3. From Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn:
He was most fifty, and he looked it. His hair was long and tangled and greasy, and
hung down, and you could see his eyes shining through like he was behind vines. It
was all black, no gray; so was his long, mixed-up whiskers. There warn't no color
in his face, where his face showed. (page 414)
colloquial I standard
plain I ornate
realistic / poetic
4. From Jonathan Edwards's sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God":
The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some
loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked: his wrath
toward you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else but to be
cast into the fire; he is of purer eyes than to bear to have you in his sight; you are
ten thousand times more abominable in his eyes than the most hateful venomous
serpent is in ours. (page 39)
informal I formal
abstract I concrete
realistic / poetic
Review and Response Worksheets: Elements of Literature, Fifth Course
404
For information regarding permissioned material included on this page, see pages iii-v.
HAW material copyrighted under notice appearing earlier in this work.