Prepared by: Amirrul Amir Roland James John

The choice and use of words in speech or writing.

A way of speaking, usually judged in terms of

prevailing standards of pronunciation and elocution. Role: to convey a certain mood, tone, and atmosphere through the authors choice of words. Word choice can quickly set the mood of a novel or

poem as lighthearted, somber, or any other kind of

feeling in between.

Diction controls everything from the tone of a piece to the emphasis placed on a word in a sentence.

The authors diction is intrinsically tied to

how their story will be read and interpreted.

1.

Read closely and pay attention to the vocabulary

being used in the writing. Note whether the diction

is formal or informal. What choice of words in the writer using and what does he hope to convey?
2.

Note the dialect being used in a piece of writing. Is

the text written in a certain dialect such as Southern, or perhaps Old English with uses of thee, thou, thy and various other Old English colloquialism?

3.

Make connections between vocabulary used and tone of the piece to come to

conclusions about the writing. Highlight

words that convey emotion or show a particular dialect and connect these words to identify the particular style of diction the author is using. These conclusions will help you to understand the text and identify the diction used in the literary piece.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=200801142106 48AA8Z9C5 http://grammar.about.com/od/e/g/elocutionterm.htm http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_an_example_of_diction http://www.ehow.com/how_8704237_identify-diction.html http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-role-of-diction-inliterature.htm http://www.chacha.com/question/how-does-diction-affect-the-

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