AP Terminology
English Language and
Composition
Burgar- 2008
Analyzing diction
Diction involves anything to do with
word choice. Sometimes diction
devices overlap with imagery and
syntax. It is not the category that is
important, but the way you explain
HOW the device creates its effect and
WHY the writer chose it.
General types of diction
• “formal” used in scholarly or lofty writing
• “informal” used in relaxed but educated
conversation
• “colloquial” used in everyday speech
• “slang” containing newly coined words and other
terms not accepted in formal usage.
How do you choose your words?
You consider your audience, that is, the
person(s) to whom you are speaking.
Examples:
To a friend: “a screw-up”
To a child: “a mistake”
To the police: “an accident”
To an employer: “an oversight”
All of these expressions mean the same
thing—that is, they have the same
denotation—but you would not likely
switch one for the other in any of these
three situations: a police officer or employer
would that “screw-up” as an insult and view
it more negatively, while your friends would
take “oversight” as an affectation.
Types of diction
• Specific or concrete diction
refers to language that can be perceived or
imagined (pictured)
Example: Cherry trees hung with bloom
(evokes clear visualization)
• General or abstract diction
refers to language that signifies broad classes of
persons, objects, and phenomena
Example: In the real of infinite spaces
(difficult to envision with clarity and exactness)
Formal diction
Is elevated and elaborate, follows the rules of
syntax exactly; avoids colloquialisms,
contractions and slang. This type of diction
is characterized by complex words and a
lofty tone.
Middle or neutral diction
Maintains correct language and word order
but avoids elaborate words and elevated
tone.
Low or informal diction
Language of everyday use; it is relaxed
conversational. It includes common words,
idiomatic expressions, slang and
contractions
Euphonious vs. cacophonous
• Euphonious words are pleasant sounding
like the words butterfly or murmur
• Cacophonous words are harsh sounding
like the words pus or cantankerous
Questions to ask
Is the diction simple or complex? Abstract or
concrete? Neutral or emotionally charged?
Formal or informal? Vulgar or refined? Any
jargon? (subject-specific language like the
word software for computers) Appropriate
or inappropriate in the context? Any words
used in unusual combinations?
What effect does this diction have?
The use of particular diction could:
• Emphasize
• Create immediacy
• Evoke empathy
• Establish verisimilitude
• Lend authority
• Stress something (an idea)
• Imply similarity or contrast
• Enhance mood or tone
• Symbolize something
• Reveal a characteristic
Note that the
verbs in these
phrases are
more or less
interchangeable
Syntax – sentence structure
Examine the sentence length. Are the sentences
• Telegraphic (shorter than five words)
• Short (five words in length)
• Medium (approx. eighteen words in length)
• Long and involved; complex
Does the sentence length fit the subject matter? Is
there a variety of sentence length and is it
effective? How does the writing sound? Sentence
length can obfuscate or clarify content
(textbooks?)
Consider sentence patterns
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Declarative (assertive) makes a statement
Imperative gives a command
Interrogative asks a question
Exclamatory make an exclamation
The writing should have some variety, but not lean
heavily on, say, exclamatory sentences. Too many
of these can annoy the reader or make the writing
seem juvenile and unsophisticated
Loose vs. periodic sentences
• Loose sentence- makes complete sense if
brought to a close before the actual ending
Example: We reached Utah that morning
after a turbulent flight and lack of sleep.
• Periodic sentence –makes sense only
when the end of the sentence is reached.
• Example: That morning, after a turbulent
flight and lack of sleep, we reached Utah.
The effects of syntax
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Emphasis
Focus
Change or shift
Establish or imply relationships & connections
Establish tone
Create rhythm
Aid organization
Create suspense, shock, surprise
Create pleasing style
Allow for development of ideas
Create clarity, simplicity or economy
Make level of language more or less high
Imitate speech
Create variety
Create pacing
Style devices
• Juxtaposition
A rhetorical device in which normally
unassociated ideas, words, or phrases are
placed next to one another, creating an
effect of surprise or added meaning.
Example: The apparition of those faces in the
crowd;/Petals on a wet, black bough.
(Ezra Pound)
• Parallel structure (parallelism) involves
an arrangement of words, phrases,
sentences, and paragraphs so that elements
of equal importance are equally developed
and similarly phrased. Often used for
emphasis.
Example: He was walking intently, running
hypothetical proposals through his mind,
and mentally jumping for joy.
• Repetition is a device in which words,
sounds, and ideas are used ore than once for
the purpose of enhancing rhythm and
creating emphasis.
Example: …government of the people, by the
people, for the people, shall not perish from
the earth.
(Abraham Lincoln)
• Rhetorical question is a device that does
not call for an answer. It is used to draw
attention to a point and is generally
stronger than a direct statement.
• Example: If Mr. Smith is always fair, as you
have said, why did he refuse to listen to Mrs.
Baldwin’s arguments?
Passive syntax
• Often has the effect of hiding responsibility
or cause, suggesting that some event is
inevitable. Governments love to use this.
Example: Taxes have been raised 25% in the
last three years
(Yes, and WHO did the raising?)
Figurative language
• Alliteration is the practice of beginning
several consecutive or neighboring words
with the same sound
Example: The twisting trout twinkled on the
line below me.
• Assonance is the repetition of vowel
sounds in a series of words.
Example: the words “cry” and “side” have the
same vowel sound and so are said to be in
assonance.
• Consonance is the repetition of a
consonant sound within a series of words to
produce a harmonious effect.
Example: And each slow dusk a drawingdown on blinds.
The “d” and “s” sounds are in consonance
• Simile – is a comparison of two different
things or ideas through the use of the words
“like” or “as.” It is a definitely stated
comparison.
Example: The warrior fought like a lion.
• Metaphor – is a comparison without the
use of like or as. The writer states that one
thing is another. It is usually a comparison
between something that is real or concrete
and something that is abstract.
Examples: Life is but a dream.
Johnny is a drag.
• Personification – is a kind of metaphor
which gives inanimate objects or abstract
ideas human characteristics.
Example: The wind cried in the dark.
The waves danced in the sunlight.
• Onomatopoeia (imitative harmony when
used in poetry)- is the use of words in which
the sounds seem to resemble the sounds
they describe. These words are often used
for emphasis.
Example: buzz, pow, hiss, bang, murmur
• Hyperbole- is a deliberate, extravagant, and
often outrageous exaggeration. It may be
used either for serious or comic effect.
Example: The shot that was heard ‘round the
world.
• Understatement – is the opposite of
hyperbole. It is a kind of irony which
deliberately represents something as much
less than it really is. Sometimes, but not
always, sarcastic in tone.
Example: I could probably manage to survive
on a salary of two million dollars a year.
• Paradox – is a statement that contradicts
itself. It may seem almost absurd. Although
it may seem to be at odds with ordinary
experience, it usually turns out to have a
coherent meaning, and reveals a truth
which is normally hidden.
Example: The more you know, the more you
don’t know. (Socrates)
• Oxymoron – is a form of paradox that
combines a pair of contrary terms into a
single expression. This combination usually
serves the purpose of shocking the reader
into awareness.
Example: sweet sorrow, make haste slowly
• Pun – is a play on words which are identical
or similar in sound but which have sharply
diverse meanings. Puns may have serious as
well as humorous uses.
Example: When Mercutio is bleeding to death
in Romeo and Juliet he says, “Ask for me
tomorrow and you shall find me a grave
man.”
• Irony – is the result of a statement saying
one thing while meaning the opposite. Its
purpose is usually to criticize.
Example: It’s simple to quit smoking. I’ve done
it many times.
• Sarcasm – is a type of irony in which a
person appears to be praising something
while he is actually insulting the thing. Its
purpose is to injure or hurt.
Example: As I fell down the stairs headfirst, I
heard her say, “Look at that coordination.”
• Antithesis – involves a direct contrast of
structurally parallel word groupings
generally for the purpose of contrast.
Example: Sink or swim
• Apostrophe – is a form of personification
in which the absent or dead are spoken to as
if present, and the inanimate as if alive.
These are all addressed directly.
Example: The answer, my friend, is blowing in
the wind.
• Allusion – is a reference to a mythological,
literary, historical, or Biblical person, place,
or thing. Often used to lend authority to
writing.
Example: He met his Waterloo.
• Synecdoche – is a form of metaphor. In
synecdoche, a part of something is used to
signify the whole
Example: all hands on deck.
• The whole can also represent a part.
Example: Canada played Argentina in the
Olympic hockey finals.
• The material from which an object is made
can represent the object itself.
Example: The quarterback tossed the pigskin.
• Metonomy – the name of one thing is
applied to another thing with which it I
closely associated.
Example: The crown said today that taxes will
not be raised.
(crown= British monarchy)
(white house= American government)