Four Elements of Style:
Diction
Syntax
Tone
Point of View
Mrs. Stacey Reaves
Wilson Hall
Sumter, SC
sreaves@ftc-i.net
Diction: Word Choice
• “The difference between the right
word and almost the right word is
like the difference between
lightning and the lightning bug.”
Mark Twain
Diction: Word Choice
• A study of diction is the analysis of
how a writer uses language for a
distinct purpose and effect, including
WORD CHOICE and FIGURES OF
SPEECH.
Ways to Characterize Diction
• Informal
• Formal
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(personal writing)
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(academic or literary writing)
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Bug
Folks
Job
Kid
Boss
Get across
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Germ
Relatives
Position
Child
Superior
Communicate
Ex. He is two fries short of a Happy Meal. (slang=highly informal)
He’s crazy. (informal)
He’s schizophrenic or insane. (formal)
Examples:
• The respite from study was devoted to a sojourn
at the ancestral mansion. (formal and artificial)
• I spent my vacation at the house of my
grandparents. (informal and natural)
• I endeavored to peruse the volume. (formal and
artificial)
• I tried to read the book. (informal and natural)
Take it another step…
•Colloquial—conversational language
•Dialect-is there dialect?
•Slang—highly informal and not appropriate for
most writing
•Jargon—the special language of a profession or
group (lawyer or teacher talk, medical terminology,
technical words) that is usually formal
Ways to Characterize Diction
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Ex.
General
Look
Walk
Sit
Cry
Throw
Dog
Boy
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Specific
Gaze, stare, peer, ogle
Stride, slink, trot, shuffle
Slump, squat. Lounge
Weep, sob, bawl
Hurl, pitch, toss, flip
Black Labrador retriever
Tall lanky boy
The dishes fell to the floor with a loud noise (crashed or clattered).
He walked along slowly (ambled, sauntered).
He looked at her in an angry way (glowered, glared).
Ways to Characterize Diction
• Monosyllabic (Anglo-Saxon-think of the
Germans who brought us the English languagekill and grunt story-curse words)-one syllable
• Polysyllabic (Latinate/Greek-think of
Renaissance and beautiful words and adjectives)many syllables
• The more polysyllabic words, the more difficult
the text
Ways to Characterize Diction
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Denotative
(Referential-dictionary)
Public servant
Financier
Law Officer
Legislative consultant
Investigator
Soldier of fortune
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Connotative
(Emotive-emotional)
Bureaucrat
Speculator
Cop
Lobbyist
Spy
Hired kill
Ways to Characterize Diction
• Euphonious
(Pleasant Sounding)
• Cacophonous
(Harsh Sounding)
• …Through the
drizzling rain on
the steamy street
breaks the morning
sun
• Liquid infection
• Tinkle
• Butterfly
• …their loud songs
bang and grate nerves
of the wretched
listeners
• Pus
• Pee
• Maggot
Ways to Characterize Diction
• Abstract
• Not material
• Representing a
thought
• Pleasant tasting
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Concrete
Real, actual
Specific, not general
Sour tasting
Diction Review
• Are the words monosyllabic or
polysyllabic?
• Is the diction formal or informal? Which
one? Colloquial (conversational)? Slang
(highly informal)? Jargon (the special
language of a certain group or profession)?
• Is the language concrete or abstract?
• Is there a change in the level of diction in the
passage?
Figures of Speech
• Does the passage use unusual images or patterns of
imagery?
• Does the author create analogies, like similes or
metaphors?
• Does the author use personification?
• Is there deliberate hyperbole or understatement in the
passage?
• Does the author employ paradox or oxymoron to add
complexity?
• What part do rhythm and sound devices, such as
alliteration or onomatopoeia, play in the passage?
• What purpose do the figures of speech serve, and what
effect do they have on the passage?
Activity: Use a Diction Style
Chart to analyze The Rattler and
one of your papers.
General Specific
Words Words
Formal
Words
Inform
al
Words
Euphon Cacoph
ic
onic
Words Words
Figura
tive
Lang.
Other
Notes
Syntax: Sentence Structure
• Examine sentence patterns and variety for
an effect.
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Function: What is the function of the sentence?
Declarative (statement)
Interrogative (question)
Imperative (command)
Exclamatory (exclamation)
Simple Compound Complex
Compound-Complex
Grammatical: Which type is the sentence?
Simple Sentence (one subject, one verb)
The singer bowed her head to her adoring audience.
Compound Sentence (two independent clauses
joined by a conjunction or a semicolon)
The singer bowed to the audience, but she sang no encores.
Go and speak.
Simple Compound Complex
Compound-Complex
Complex Sentence (one independent, one or more
subordinate clauses)
When I heard the concert, I enjoyed it because she sang beautifully.
When I really understand grammar and when I actually put it to use,
my grades in English will improve. (two dependent clauses, one
independent clause)
Compound-Complex (two or more independent
and one or more subordinate clauses)
The singer bowed while the audience applauded, but she sang no
encores.
Where you go I will go, and where you dwell I will dwell.
Loose
Periodic
Balanced
Loose-main idea stated at the beginning of the sentence followed by additional
information. The sentence makes complete sense if brought to a close before
the actual ending,
We reached Columbia/ that morning/ after a turbulent flight.
He resigned after denouncing his accusers and asserting his own innocence time
and time again.
Periodic-main idea withheld until the end of the sentence. It makes sense only
when the end of the sentence is reached,
That morning after a turbulent flight, we reached Columbia.
After denouncing his accusers and asserting his own innocence time and time again,
the State Department official resigned.
Balanced/Parallel-the phrases or clauses balance each other in likeness or structure,
meaning, and/or length,
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; he leadeth me beside the still waters.
To err is human, to forgive is divine.
Together we planned the house, together we built it, and together we watched it go
up in smoke.
He was walking, running, and jumping
Sentence Patterns:
Natural, Inverted, Split Order
• Natural Order-the subject comes first followed by
the predicate.
– Oranges grow in California.
• Inverted Order (Sentence Inversions)-the
predicate comes before the subject.
– In California grow oranges.
• Split Order- the predicate is divided into two
parts with the subject coming in the middle.
– In California oranges grow.
(Syntax)
Syntax Continued
• Juxtaposition-a poetic and rhetorical device in which
normally unassociated ideas, words, or phrases are placed
next to one another, creating an effect of surprise
– The apparition of those faces in the crowd; Petals on a wet, black
bough…
• Repetition- a device in which words sounds, and ideas are
used more than once for the purpose of enhancing the
rhythm and creating emphasis.
– …government of the people, by the people, for the people…
• Rhetorical Question-a question which expects no answer
used to draw attention to a point and is usually stronger
than a direct statement.
– If Chase is always right, as you have said, why did he fail the
writing exam?
Syntax Review
• Are the sentences simple and direct or complex and
convoluted?
• Are the sentences Loose/Cumulative (main idea at the
beginning) or Periodic (main idea withheld until end of
sentence)?
• Are there rhetorical questions in the passage?
• Is there variety in the sentence patterns?
• Does the author use repetition (words, sounds, ideas more
than once for effect)?
• Does the author use parallel structure (similarity in words or
phrases)?
• Does the author use antithesis (contrasting images presented
with a balanced word or phrase)?
• Does the author use juxtaposition (unrelated ideas, words,
phrases placed together for emphasis or surprise)?
Tone
• The manner of expression
showing the author’s attitude
toward characters, events,or
situations.
• Tone is reflected in the author’s
“voice.”
Words to Describe Tone
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Pedantic
Euphemistic
Pretentious
Sensuous
Exact
Cultured
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Literal
Colloquial
Artificial
Detached
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Poetic
Moralistic
Slang
Idiomatic
Esoteric
Symbolic
Simple
Complex
Figurative
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Vulgar
Scholarly
Insipid
Precise
Learned
Picturesque
Trite
Obscure
Bombastic
Grotesque
Tone passage from Ruth McKenny’s
“A Loud Sneer for Our Feathered Friends”
We refused to get out of the bed when the bugle
blew in the morning, we fought against scrubbing
our teeth in public to music, we sneered when the
flag was ceremoniously lowered at sunset, we
avoided doing a good deed a day, we complained
loudly about the food…and we bought some
chalk and wrote all over the Recreation Cabin,
“We hate Camp Hiwah.”
How does the author establish the negative attitude
the campers have toward Camp Hiwah?
Does sentence structure also contribute to tone?
Tone Passage from James Ramsey Ullman’s “Kilimanjaro”
It has been called the House of God. It has been
called the High One. The Cold One. The White
One. On close acquaintance by climbers, it has
been called a variety of names rather less
printable. But to the world at large it is
Kilimanjaro, the apex of Africa and one of the
great mountains on the earth.
What is the author’s attitude toward Kilimanjaro?
How does the sentence structure help establish this
tone?
Tone Review
• What seems to be the speaker’s
attitude in the passage?
• Is more than one attitude or point of
view expressed?
• Does the passage have a noticeable
emotional mood or atmosphere?
• What effect does tone have on the
reader?
Point of View
• First Person
– Narrator uses first person pronouns (I, my, mine, we,
our, us, etc.
– Access to the narrator’s consciousness
– Story is told through the eyes of main character
(protagonist), minor character, or outside observer
– Narrator is reliable when observer is used, but may not
be reliable when told by a character. The narrator may
be naïve or biased
Point of View
• Third Person Omniscient (all knowing)
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Third person pronouns (he, she) mostly
Access to consciousness of more than one character, perhaps all
Story seen through eyes of an outside observer
Reliable as implied author’s voice
• Third Person Limited Omniscient
– Third person pronouns (he, she) mostly
– Access to consciousness of one character
– Story seen through eyes of an outside observer, protagonist, or
minor character whose presence dominates
– Reliable when observer is used, less reliable when character used
or when narrator intrudes or comments
Point of View
• Stream of Consciousness
– First or third person
– Unbroken flow of perceptions, thoughts, and feelings
– Narrator records in detail what passes through a character’s mind
List of Rhetorical Terms
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Alliteration
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Assonance
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Consonance
Simile/ Metaphor •
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Conceit
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Imagery
Personification •
Onomatopoeia •
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Hyperbole
Understatement •
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Paradox
Oxymoron
Pun
Irony
Antithesis
Apostrophe
Allusion
Symbolism
Synecdoche
Metonymy
Zeugma
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Anaphora
Asyndeton
Cacophony
Chiasmus
Epistrophe
Euphemism
Juxtaposition
Parallelism
Polysyndeton
Repetition
Rhetorical
Question
Activity: Read “The Rattler.”
(p. 103 notebook)
Analyze elements such as
diction, syntax, point of view,
and tone.