DICTION:

1. DICTION: The Choice of Words

2. Who is your audience? What is your purpose? Your goal: To find the exact word that produces the exact effect that you intend.

3. The 3 Qualities of effective diction 1. Appropriate to your audience 2. Specific (accurate and precise) 3. Creates the right tone / image

4. appropriateness Good writers write for someone other than themselves. They care about who will be reading their words and how those readers will react. This is true of the writers you read, and it is true of the writer you are becoming.

5. Words about words • Slang • Jargon • Latinate diction • Archaic language • Formal / Informal • Colloquial / Conversational, etc.

6. Language formality scale Intimate Slang Colloquial Popular learned solemn Most formal Least formal

7. Slang • Least formal—its use is determined by the audience/occasion • Satisfies a desire for novelty of expression • Used by everyone at one time or another • Shifting the diction to slang may: • create a humorous effect, OR • the impression of a lack of control over the writing (usually the latter)

8. colloquialisms • Writing as friendly conversation • Highly informal • What audience is appropriate for using such diction? Examples: Any Contractions, any shortened words, “kind of”, “like”, “mad” (angry), “yeah”, “Sure” (certainly), “it’s me”

9. The basic elements of everyday communication popular (common to the speech of educated and uneducated alike) • Agree------------------------------------- • Begin------------------------------------- • Clear------------------------------------- • Disagree------------------------------- • End---------------------------------------- • Help--------------------------------------- • Make easy----------------------------- • Secret----------------------------------- • Think------------------------------------ • Wordy---------------------------------- Learned (used more widely by the educated and in more formal occasions) Concur-------------------------------------- Commence--------------------------------- Lucid------------------------------------------- Remonstrate---------------------------- Terminate--------------------------------- Succor--------------------------------------- Facilitate---------------------------------- Esoteric------------------------------------- Cogitate------------------------------------ Verbose-------------------------------------- *Use these words, but avoid sounding pompous! 

10. specificity • Specific words refer to uniquely individual persons, events, or objects • Concrete specific words attract our senses • Abstract specific words relate to concepts that are mostly inferred

11. SCALE OF SPECIFICITY Most general animals More general pets Medium dogs More specific golden retrievers Most specific my dog, Mac

12. TONE Be aware of the positive / negative connotation of words. Be aware of the image of the words. For example: “We’re all in the same boat” – really understand the metaphors we use all the time, and use them well.

13. Revising diction • What is your purpose? • Who is your audience? • Does the diction used consider each of the above?

14. Revising diction vagueness triteness Watch for jargon Ineffective imagery

15. Ineffective imagery • Test every metaphor, every figure of speech by seeing the image—if no image appears in your mind—well… • Mixed metaphors confuse the mental image: “The bill is mainly a stew of spending on existing programs, whatever their warts may be.” (New York Times) “So now what we are dealing with is the rubber meeting the road, and instead of biting the bullet on these issues, we just want to punt.” (Chicago Tribune) “This is awfully weak tea to hang your hat on.” (New York times) “the moment that you walk into the bowels of the armpit of the cesspool of crime, you immediately cringe.” (Our town, New York)

16. jargon • The specialized language of a particular group or profession • Characteristics of jargon include: 1. abstract, technical words (learned instead of popular) 2. excessive use of the passive voice 3. wordiness

17. Examples of Jargon • Computer field: RAM, backup, lol, gr8, gb • Military: awol, sop, ied • Law enforcement: apb, csi, perp, clean skin • Common examples: poker face, ufo, shrink, ballpark figure, on cloud nine

18. vagueness • Similar to ambiguity, a word is vague when, in context, it conveys more than one meaning • Vague words belong to a group called “utility words” • specify, name, clarify the general

19. Triteness • Once upon a time a metaphor was new, fresh, colorful, and apt! • Used countless times over the years by everyone, the sheen is dulled. The crack of dawn—do your own thing—crystal clear—good as gold—sly as a fox—lost in thought—commune with nature—it remains to be seen—it is what it is—don’t go there—diamond in the rough—you only live once—everyone is entitled to their own opinion—in today’s society

20. How to have effective diction: • Read a lot. • Difficult words, interesting words – use just the right word for just the right thing • Write a lot. Get practice trying out words. • Converse with people a lot. • Know your audience, and speak TO them. • Know yourself: your limitations, your powers, how you are perceived, how you want to be perceived, etc.

21. END