AP Language and Composition
Diction Vocabulary
Name__________________________________
Exercise #1: Organize the following words from each list into a group of words with positive connotations and a list
with negative connotations. Every word must be used in one of the two lists.
1. dislike, resent, lament, hate, scorn, disapprove, decry, deplore, oppose, regret
2. odd, curious, off the wall, outlandish, weird, singular, bizarre, unusual, strange, extraordinary, remarkable,
eerie, noteworthy
Exercise #2: For each word listed, give a word of similar meaning (same denotation) that expresses your approval
and one that expresses your disapproval (using connotative meanings)
Neutral Term
to teach
thin
fussy
candid
stern
credulous
to fail (a course)
Approval
to enlighten
Disapproval
to indoctrinate
Exercise #3: In each of the following sentences you will find a word or phrase with the wrong connotation,
given the level of diction in the sentence. Decide which word/phrase is inappropriate and substitute a better
word/phrase for it.
1. With the US falling behind other industrialized countries, many college people—from chancellors to
freshmen--consider extracurricular activities a real bummer.
2. Others, of course, regard such entertainments as hot stuff, cultural and educational, and a vital element in
college life.
3. Higher education should have the guts and the idealism to widen and ennoble life.
4. Ours is an age of science, and one of the bases of science is mathematics, which, regrettably, some students
think of as a real drag.
5. Charles Dickens created characters from the lowest levels of the English-speaking world, but he made these
scumbags appear likable because he revealed their universal humanity.
Exercise #4: How do we describe a rhetor’s choice in diction? Rather than say the author’s diction is “strong” or “weak”,
let’s learn some words that will better describe an author’s tone. If you do not know the meaning of the words below,
learn them. There will be a test covering “diction words”.
pedantic
poetic
vulgar
euphemistic
moralistic
scholarly
pretentious
slang
insipid
sensuous
idiomatic
precise
exact
esoteric
learned
cultured
simple
homespun
literal
figurative
provincial
colloquial
bombastic
trite
artificial
abstruse
obscure
detached
grotesque
loaded
How would you best characterize the diction in the following passages?
___________ “He smacked his lips and sucked his teeth; his chewing was moist and percussive; he released deep,
hushed moans from the back of his throat, like a dreaming dog.” (“Words Left Unspoken” by Leah Hager
Cohen)
___________ “Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, that turned my life into one long night seven times
sealed. Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the small faces of the children whose bodies I
saw transformed into smoke under a silent sky. Never shall I forget those flames that consumed my faith
forever.” (Night by Elie Wiesel)
___________ “A weasel is wild. Who knows what he thinks? He sleeps in his underground den, his tail draped over his
nose. Sometimes he lives in his den for two days without living. Outside, he stalks rabbits, mice,
muskrats, and birds, killing more bodies than he can eat.” (“Living Like Weasels” by Annie Dillard)
___________ “ Let’s cogitate on appropriate machinations to ensure your pulchritude turns you into the biggest star
Hollywood has ever seen” (SAT Vocabulary for Dummies)
___________ “Everybody wears them. They Gap sells them. Fashion designers Dolce and Gabbana have lavished them
with jewels. Their previous greatest resurgence occurred in the 1950s when Marlon Brando’s Stanley
Kowalski wore one in Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire. They are all the rage.” (“The Wife
Beater” by Gayle Rosenwald Smith)
Now it’s your turN. Go home tonight and find examples that exemplify six of the diction words above. Your sources
can include books, magazines, newspapers, movies or television shows. Use quotes and be prepared to explain HOW
your example illustrates the intended diction and WHY the author chose to present his/her prose with those words.
Please cite all sources. Remember, just because you use the word “artificial” does not make your diction “artificial.”