WRITING ABOUT DICTION
Required Elements Of Literary Analysis
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When writing for literary analysis, your finished
composition will have three required elements,
regardless if it’s a paragraph or a full-length essay:
A
claim about a specific literary device
 Examples that support your claim
 Analysis of why your example is appropriate. This is
often called the COMMENTARY. The commentary is
your own thinking and is the most important part of the
writing, and when done correctly, most of your
paragraph or essay will be commentary.
Thesis statements
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When writing about literature, the author and title of
the work must be identified.
Thesis statements are required for all writings. The
thesis will clearly define for the reader what you are
trying to prove. A literary analysis thesis will have two
portions that we will call the concrete and the abstract.
The concrete portion will typically revolve around a
literary element (characterization, diction, symbolism,
etc.) that exists in the piece.
The abstract will be the writer’s attempt to explain the
EFFECT the concrete element has on the piece.
Sample Thesis
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What portion would be the concrete in the thesis below?
What would be the abstract?
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Sample thesis:
In “The Devil and Tom Walker,” Washington Irving uses
figurative language to create a story with a spooky
mood.
 Sample thesis:
 In “The Devil and Tom Walker,” Washington Irving uses
figurative language to create a story with a spooky
mood.
Our Thesis Today
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Today you will write a brief literary analysis on the
diction Edgar Allan Poe uses in “The Masque of the
Red Death.” We will all begin with the same thesis:
 In
“The Masque of the Red Death” written by Edgar
Allan Poe, the author uses diction to establish a
_____________ mood.
 You may choose to expand your thesis to focus on a
specific aspect of diction (connotative diction, abstract
word choices, etc) or you may leave it more openended by just saying diction.
Writing the Analysis
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Yesterday, you analyzed a passage for mood, and
the diction that impacted it. Today you will use
those graphics to help build your paragraphs.
Your paragraph must contain a thorough discussion
of at least two choices in diction that helped
establish the mood. The two words that you discuss
should be the ones listed in the outer ring.
Structure of the Paragraph
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Thesis statement
Example #1 of Diction—enclose the word in quotation
marks
Commentary—What is significant about the diction?
How does that word have an effect on the mood—This
is your own words. The commentary will be several
sentences.
Example #2 of Diction—enclose the word in quotation
marks
Commentary repeats for the second example
Concluding Sentence
Sample Diction Analysis
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Edgar Allen Poe’s use of diction in “The Masque of the
Red Death” helps establish a fearful mood. As he
introduces the problem the characters are dealing with,
he describes a disease that is “so fatal.” This choice of
word to describe the illness that is affecting so many has
a powerful negative connotation. The meaning of fatal
lets the reader understand that this disease wasn’t just
“serious” or “severe,” but rather one in which death can’t
be avoided. This reinforces the mood of fear in the
opening lines.
This sample must now give a second example of the
diction used, and then comment on it.