Transcript for AP Language
Analysis of Diction, Syntax, and Organization: Emphasis on Diction
Hello, and welcome to the third podcast in a series to prepare AP Language students for the AP
Language test. Thanks for tuning into this podcast; I hope the information I have to share will help you
do that much better on the AP exam.
So let’s talk about analysis. Rhetorical analysis is a bit different from literary analysis in that you are
breaking down what is on the page and analyzing what you see. This differs, doesn’t it, from what you
create in your mind in response to literature; for instance, a literature teacher might ask you to read a
work written by Kafka with a Feminist or Marxist lens. What does this mean? It means that each word
now has a certain connotation based on the feminist or Marxist theories. Like looking through a pair of
red-tinted glasses and seeing everything in shades of red. Logically, you know that the items you see
are not really red; but through the glasses they look red, so you can talk about them in terms of red.
With rhetorical analysis, you are not using a pair of colored glasses; instead, you are looking at the
actual words on the page, the ways in which they are arranged, the punctuation and sentence structure,
and how the content has been organized. Your job is to interpret text based on what you see, not on
what you think might be there according to a hypothetical lens.
Because you are identifying concrete aspects of prose, you need concrete terms to describe those
aspects. The Eskimos have over a hundred words for different shades of the color white; there are
countless words to describe diction, tone, arrangement of words, organization of thoughts, mood, and
sentence structure. The act of being able to critically read a text, understand the tone and meaning of
the words, and then find the right word to describe the effect those words, sentence structures, and
methods of organization have on the tone and on the meaning, is called a rhetorical analysis. You take
it one step further in your analysis when you are able to evaluate the author’s choice of devices. But
you can’t evaluate something until you know what you’re looking for.
By the way, for a great list of diction words, see the bottom of this transcript.
Speaking of diction, let’s talk about some words you can use to describe diction. If I were you, I would
look at the list below and memorize at least ten of these words (making sure of course that the words
fall into different categories. You don’t want to memorize ten synonyms for academic, for instance). If
I were going to take the test in a few weeks, I might choose the following ten words (in my transcript I
have synonyms for these words as well) for my arsenal:
1.
bombastic/pretentious
2.
scholarly/erudite/learned
3.
didactic/edifying/educational
4.
esoteric/ambiguous
5.
inflammatory/accusatory/harsh
6.
sardonic/bitter/sarcastic/ironic
7.
flowery/ornate
8.
crisp/succinct/concise
9.
euphemistic
10. vulgar/shocking
Now, when I am analyzing an excerpt or an essay, and the author uses words that seem overblown –
almost in a fake way – I might call those words “bombastic”. Did you ever see the Friends episode
where Joey uses a thesaurus to write a letter? I suggest you watch it. He tries to sound erudite, or
scholarly, but instead comes across looking ignorant. You can click on the link on my transcript to
access the episode. Although this is funny, many students fall into this same trap.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9s0LqZMsfTQ
But how do you sound scholarly without sounding bombastic (pompous, conceited, overblown – like
you are trying to sound intelligent when you are not)? You don’t have to look up every word in the
thesaurus to appear well-written. The easiest method to “up” your level of scholarliness is to avoid
contractions, slang, and simple grammatical errors. If I write, “I can’t understand why we’re here, this
place is sketch,” I have broken many basic rules of writing, all which give away my amateurism. I
have used the contractions, “can’t” and we’re”; I have inserted a comma between independent clauses,
thus creating a run-on with a comma splice, and I have used a newly established slang word, “sketch”
to describe a place I feel uncomfortable. While the use of the slang word might technically fit here, it
instantly marks me as a teenager. I can make this sentence sound much better if I rewrite it in the
following way:
I cannot understand why we are here; this place feels disreputable.
Of course, you can substitute other words for the adjectives, but now you’ve changed your tone from
sloppy teenage writer to a writer who may be a teenager but who might also be an adult. There are no
signs that point to teen writing, and this is my main point. The AP grader wants to read from a potential
scholar, not a kid. So even if you are only 16 years old, try to write as if you were a bit older.
What about Euphemism? What might the purpose of this kind of diction be? The following examples
are from the website about.com. I am using them to explain the term and to also explain the effect of
the term (or the purpose of the term).
Let’s take a second to think about purpose in the context of everyday life. For instance, think about all of
the car dealerships in Atlanta. They are practically on every street corner, and not all of them sell brand
new shiny cars. Some of them sell used cars. But the owners don’t call the cars “used” do they? They
call them Pre-owned for used or second-hand. The purpose of this euphemism pre-owned is to make the
car sound appealing. When I think of something that is pre-owned, I have neutral emotional reaction;
when I think of used, however, I think of someone’s old junk – the items I’d see at a garage sale. I feel
slightly embarrassed about driving around in someone’s junk; and, most importantly, I don’t want to
spend 12 thousand dollars on junk.
Here’s another example:
How do you tell someone that you have to fire her? What if she is a personal friend of yours and you
want to maintain the friendship but you still have to find a way to let her know she no longer has a job?
In stead of telling her she’s fired, you might tell her she has been let go. Your purpose is to tell her she is
no longer employed in a tone that remains friendly and sympathetic. So, if you were writing about this,
your thesis might be the following:
In order to maintain a tone of sympathy for the worker she must fire, the speaker uses euphemisms to
soften the blow of her message and to maintain a cordial relationship with the employee.
There is a specific purpose for using euphemisms; when you notice these in your analysis, you don’t just
want to identify them, but suggest why the author chooses to use them. An unpleasant truth can also be
expressed through satire, hyperbole, or many other literary devices, so the euphemism has a specific
purpose. The only way to understand when to use certain devices is to think about your own writing. I
like to think about audience when I think about toning down my language. If my subject contains
graphic material, would I feel comfortable with my father listening to it? If not, I may want to add some
euphemisms.
Okay. This is our short lesson on diction. Your task for today is to look at my list, write down ten
words, memorize those words, use those words, and get ready to write with those words. If you don’t
practice speaking with new words, you won’t remember them when the time comes to write your
essay.
abstract learned
academic loaded
ambiguous lyrical
biting melodious
bombastic monosyllabic
brusque nostalgic
cacophonous obscene
casual obscure
caustic offensive
concrete ordinary
colloquial ornate
colorful passionate
common patriotic didactic
connotative pedantic
cultured picturesque
crisp plain
curt poetic
denotative political
detached polysyllabic
divisive precise
emotional pretentious
esoteric provincial
euphemistic romantic
euphonious scholarly
everyday sentimental
exact shocking
fanciful sincere
flowery slang
figurative subdued
folksy symbolic
formal tame
grandiose technical
idiomatic trite
inflammatory unifying
inflated uppity
informal vague
insincere vulgar
jargon
learned
literal
loaded
lyrical
melodious
monosyllabic
nostalgic
obscene
obscure
offensive
ordinary
ornate
passionate
patriotic
pedantic
picturesque
plain
poetic
political
polysyllabic
precise
pretentious
provincial
romantic
scholarly
sentimental
shocking
sincere
slang
subdued
symbolic
tame
technical
trite
unifying
uppity
vague
vulgar