Slides: Communicating Suitably

•In all forms of literature—nonfiction, fiction, poetry, and drama—authors choose particular words to convey effect and meaning to the reader.

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•Writers employ diction, or word choice, to communicate ideas and impressions, to evoke emotions, and to convey their views of truth to the reader.  

LEVELS OF DICTION

High or formal: Free of slangs, idioms, colloquialisms, and contractions. It often contains polysyllabic words, sophisticated syntax, and elegant word choice.

Discerning the impracticable state of the poor culprit’s mind, the elder clergyman, who had carefully prepared himself for the occasion, addressed to the multitude a discourse on sin, in all its branches, but with continual reference to the ignominious letter. So forcibly did he dwell upon this symbol, for the hour or more during which his periods were rolling over the people’s heads, that it assumed new terrors in their imagination, and seemed to derive its scarlet hue from the flames of the infernal pit.

The Scarlet Letter by Hawthorne

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LEVELS OF DICTION

Neutral: Standard language and vocabulary without elaborate words and may include contractions

Three quarts of milk. That’s what was in that icebox yesterday. Three whole quarts. Now they ain’t none. Not a drop. I don’t mind folks coming in and getting what they want, but three quarts of milk! What the devil does anybody need with three quarts of milk?

The Bluest Eye by Morrison

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TYPES OF DICTION

Slang refers to a group of recently coined words often used in informal situations. Slang words often come and go quickly, passing in and out of usage within months or years.

Colloquial expressions are nonstandard, often regional, ways of using language appropriate to informal or conversational speech and writing. The southern word “y’all” is an example of a colloquialism.

Jargon consists of words and expressions characteristic of a particular trade, profession or pursuit.

Dialect is a nonstandard subgroup of a language with its own vocabulary and grammatical features. Writers often use regional dialects or dialects that reveal a person’s economic or social class.

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Concrete diction consists of specific words that describe physical qualities or conditions.

Abstract diction refers to language that denotes ideas, emotions, conditions, or concepts that are intangible. Some examples of abstract diction from Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness are such words as impenetrable, incredible, inscrutable, inconceivable, and unfathomable.

Denotation diction is the exact, literal definition of a word independent of any emotional association or secondary meaning.

Connotation diction is the implicit rather than explicit meaning of a word and consists of the suggestions, associations, and emotional overtones attached to a word. For example, the word house has a different emotional effect than does the word home, with its connotations of safety, coziness, and security.

Slide 6

Good writers value both denotation and connotation, but while scientists may use more denotative words, literary artists tend to rely more heavily on connotative words for deepest meaning and strongest effect.

Since connotative words have complex layers of associations and implications, writers spend a considerable amount of time searching for just the “right words” to convey experience and truth.

It is essential to understand clearly the concepts of denotation and connotation and their role in making meaning of a text. Misinterpreting denotation and connotation in a literary work translates into misinterpreting tone and theme; misinterpreting them in a rhetorical piece translates into misinterpreting tone and purpose.

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