Style Analysis
Diction
Definition: Diction
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All of the following terms are used
interchangeably and all mean the author’s
word choice
Diction
Language
Figurative Language
Figures of Speech
AP HINT
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Word choice is the most powerful element of
style for you to understand. If the directions
in the prompt do not give you any specific
techniques to analyze, always address
diction---you won’t be wrong.
Word Choice
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Many words in our language have
strong connotations, and authors
use them on purpose to elicit
certain responses from the reader.
Denotation
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This means the literal, dictionary definition of
a word.
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Example: Plump and Obese
Both of these words share the same
definition. (these are synonyms)
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Connotation
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The implied or suggested meaning attached
to a word, the emotional “tag” that goes along
with a word.
Example: Connotation
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The word plump has the
connotation of being pleasantly fat,
almost cutely overweight. Its
connotation describes women
more often than men. It is this
extra “emotional” feeling that
shows how we use the word.
Example: Connotation
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The word obese, often used by medical
personnel, has a more technical
connotation. It carries a less emotional,
more scientific emotional tag. Both
plump and obese have the same literal
definition, but the connotations are
different.
Connotation
 Connotation
is important
because it shows differences
between synonyms and
illustrates ways in which we
use a word.
Example: Strong Connotative Diction
 The
boy surveyed the class,
congratulating himself for
snatching the highest grade
on the test.
Process
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Once you identify an author’s
diction, you must analyze it. This
means that you write commentary
about it. You must discuss the
connotation of the word or phrase
to do a good job of diction
analysis.
Diction Analysis
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Word:
“Surveyed”
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Connotation:
Conveys the idea of
someone looking
around as if he were a
king gazing down on
lesser beings.
Your Turn
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Word:
“snatching”
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Connotation:
General Idea
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So far, you have covered the general idea
behind diction analysis. The next step is to
practice identifying diction samples in an
actual passage.
The Diction Paragraph
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To write a topic sentence for the diction
paragraph, you would include the word
diction and give a focus for the paragraph.
Sample: The author’s diction heightens the
power and force behind the snake as it
responds to the man, first placidly, then
aggressively.
Style and Situation
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If you are the type of person who likes
definite answers, style can be a rather
baffling concept.
How do you know whether particular words,
sentences, or figures of speech are a good
choice?
The answer is always the same:
It Depends…
Style and Situation
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What does it depend on….or Upon what does
it depend? (which one will you write?)
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The answer is that whether a particular word,
phrase, sentence, or figure of speech is right
depends on the particular writing situation, or
situational appropriateness.
Style and Situation
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Consider the situation where you might be
required to write an analytical paper for a
history class:
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The need to write comes from the inquiry you are
engaged in.
You, the historian, are the writer.
You may think that the audience for your paper is
only the teacher, but …
Style and Jargon
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Specialized vocabularies that readers expect
to encounter in the discourse community’s
documents an that writers new to the
community are expected to know and use.
Jargon is not a bad thing when used
correctly:
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Don’t use big words with no good reason “When
my cat expired, I waxed lachrymose.” Simplify!
Don’t try to use jargon if you aren’t sure what the
terms mean (don’t name a trope or scheme if you
aren’t sure…better to describe the passage
instead.
What about You and I?
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Is it okay to use first-person, second-person,
and contractions?
The answer depends on the situation.
For most academic papers, the use of firstperson is not appropriate.
In most academic papers it is also not
appropriate to refer directly to the reader as
you.
What about You and I?
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For most academic papers, the use of first-person is not
appropriate because the focus in this kind of writing is on
the subject rather than on the person writing about the
subject. Also, it is not appropriate of writers to refer
directly to their readers as you.
However, if the situation calls for the writer to offer a
personal response, it would be inappropriate to NOT
write in first person.
Similarly, if the situation calls for an open letter on a
controversial issue to congressional reps working on
legislation to address it, then it would be nearly
impossible for the writer to produce a successful letter
that did not refer to the representatives directly as you.
Why can’t I use Contractions?
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You CAN, if it is appropriate for the writing
situation. In most formal, academic papers, and
in business-oriented letters and reports, writers
generally avoid contractions.
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In informal papers and personal letters, writers
should feel free to use the same kind of words
they would use if they were speaking their
audience face to face.
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Use a contraction based on your intention as a
writer and your relationship to the reader.
Style and Passive Voice
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Active Voice:
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Passive Voice:
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Doer
Action
Receiver
The lab technician filtered the solution.
Receiver Action
By Doer
The solution was filtered by the lab technician.
What are three differences between active and passive
voice?
But should you ever use passive voice?
Avoiding passive voice entirely is hard. In fact, it can’t be
done. (notice the passive voice here).
Sentences, Words, Figures
Three broad categories of style help writers to
analyze the style of a text and to make their own
stylistic choices. Every choice we make
potentially affects the meaning of a composition.
 Sentences: Grammatical type, placement of
details, variety
 Words: Level of elaborateness and formality,
difficulty, technicality
 Figures: Schemes and tropes, figurative
language
Sentences:
Sentences can be classified in many ways, and it’s helpful
to consider the potential effect a particular type of
sentence might have on a reader in a certain situation.
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Simple Sentence:
Has a single independent clause.
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Abraham Lincoln struggled to save the Union.
Within its single clause, a simple sentence can have a
compound subject, and compound verb, or both.
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Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson struggled to save the
Union.
Abraham Lincoln struggled to save the Union and persevered.
Sentences:
Compound Sentence:
 Has two clauses, each of which could exist as a simple
sentence if you removed the conjunction connecting
them.
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Abraham Lincoln struggled to save the Union, and Andrew
Johnson assisted him.
Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson struggled to save the
Union and persevered, but the leaders of the Confederacy
insisted that the rights of the states were more important than the
maintenance of the Union.
Complex Sentence:
 Has two clauses, one independent and at least one
subordinate to the main clause.
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When the leaders of the Confederacy insisted that the rights of
the states were more important than the maintenance of the
Union, Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson struggled to save
the Union and persevered.
Sentences:
Compound-complex:
 Has the defining features of both a compound sentence
and a complex sentence.
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When the leaders of the Confederacy insisted that the rights of
the states were more important than the maintenance of the
Union, Abraham Lincoln struggled to save the Union and
persevered, and Andrew Johnson assisted him.
Why should you be concerned with whether
a sentence is simple, compound, complex,
or compound-complex when you are
analyzing someone else’s writing or
planning your own?
Sentences:
Function grows out of form.
 When you need to make a succinct point, often a short,
simple sentence will do so effectively. A short, simple
sentence can suggest to a reader that you are in control,
that you want to make a strong point.
Why might you use a compound sentence in your writing?
If you are trying to show how ideas are balanced and related in
terms of equal importance, a compound sentence can convey
that to the reader.
Several compound sentences in a row can tell the reader that
you are the kind of person who takes a balanced view of
challenging issues.
Sentences:
If you want to show more
complicated relationships between
ideas, then complex and
compound-complex sentences can
communicate the intricacies of
your thinking.
Sentences:
A second method of analyzing sentences looks at
them in terms of another important structural
distinction: Loose sentences or Periodic
Sentences.
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Sentences vary along the loose-periodic continuum
according to how they incorporate extra details in
relation to basic sentence elements.
Here is a sentence with just two basic elements:
Abraham Lincoln wept.
A loose sentence is a basic sentence with details added
immediately at the end of the basic sentence
elements.
Sentences:
Loose sentence:
Abraham Lincoln wept, fearing that the Union
would not survive if the southern states seceded.
Abraham Lincoln wept (basic elements), fearing
that the Union would not survive if the
southern states seceded (added details).
Sentences:
Periodic Sentence: A sentence in which additional
details are placed in one of two positions, either
before the basic sentence elements or in the
middle of them.
Period sentence in which details are placed before
the basic sentence elements:
Alone in his study, lost in somber thoughts about
his beloved country, dejected but not broken in
spirit, Abraham Lincoln wept.
Sentences:
Here is a periodic sentence that results from
placing additional material in the middle fo the
basic sentence elements:
Abraham Lincoln, alone in his study, lost
in somber thoughts about his beloved
country, dejected but not broken in
spirit, wept.
Sentences:
You can achieve sentence variety by writing
sentences that move along a loose-periodic
continuum.
This sentence tends towards which one? Loose or
Periodic?
Abraham Lincoln considered the Union
an inviolable, almost eternally inspired,
concept.
This one tends towards loose.
Sentences:
You can achieve sentence variety by writing sentences that
move along a loose-periodic continuum.
This sentence tends towards which one? Loose or
Periodic?
Abraham Lincoln, a self-taught philosopher, a
political scientist even before there was such
a field, considered the Union an inviolable,
almost eternally inspired, concept.
This one tends towards periodic. Details are in
the middle of the basic elements.
Sentences:
Writers use loose and periodic sentences to effect
changes in meaning. Readers use them to
understand meaning more clearly. Recognizing
and creating loose and periodic sentences
enable the reader and the writer to make wise
decisions about varying sentence structure for
emphasis.
The structure of the sentence also affects the
pacing of a text. A loose sentence moves
quickly, and a periodic sentence works with
delay.
Which is is: Loose or Periodic? Read the
sentence from Booker T. Washington’s
“Up From Slavery”.
In order to defend and protect the women and
children who were left on the plantation
when the white males went to war, the slaves
would lay down their lives.
Periodic
Rewrite this sentence in a couple ways, making
it more loose and more periodic. How do the
changes affect the tone, purpose, and the
ethos of the speaker?