Diction.
Definition: Diction refers to the author's choice of words.
Definition: Diction refers to the author's choice of words.
Words are the basic tools of the writer. Just as a painter uses color and light or a musician uses sounds and rhythm, a writer uses words. In order to write well, you have to find the perfect word.
The perfect word is clear, concrete, and exact: It says exactly what you want it to say, is specific and creates just the picture you see in your mind. A character doesn't just "look for" something; she "rummages." You don't "hang" around the house; you "mope" around the house. The perfect word expresses the feelings or idea you want to get across.
Effective diction gives freshness, originality, and precision to writing. When you use words in surprising and unusual ways, you have the power to make people think, laugh, or examine new ideas. When you use words in precise and technical ways, you have the power to help people understand difficult concepts.
The perfect word is clear, concrete, and exact: It says exactly what you want it to say, is specific and creates just the picture you see in your mind. A character doesn't just "look for" something; she "rummages." You don't "hang" around the house; you "mope" around the house. The perfect word expresses the feelings or idea you want to get across.
Effective diction gives freshness, originality, and precision to writing. When you use words in surprising and unusual ways, you have the power to make people think, laugh, or examine new ideas. When you use words in precise and technical ways, you have the power to help people understand difficult concepts.
Forbidden Words
good
nice
pretty
beautiful
fine
bad
thing
really
very
terrible
wonderful
a lot
*As we study diction and improve your vocabulary, we will add more words to the "Forbidden Words" list.
good
nice
pretty
beautiful
fine
bad
thing
really
very
terrible
wonderful
a lot
*As we study diction and improve your vocabulary, we will add more words to the "Forbidden Words" list.
Lesson 1:
Read and think: "The snow came on. The wind twisted all day and all night and all the next day. The wind changed black and twisted and spit icicles in their faces. They got lost in the blizzard." -Carl Sandburg, "How the Five Rusty Rats Helped Find a New Village"
Talk about it:
1. What does "the wind changed black" mean? How does this unusual use of a color word help you visualize the scene?
2. How would the meaning of Sandburg's sentences change if we changed some of the words? For example:
The wind blew all day and all night and all the next day. The wind changed direction and blew icicles in their faces.
Now you try it: Write a sentence describing an unbearable hot day, using Sandburg's sentences as a model. Choose words that are clear, concrete, and exact. Start a collection of "perfect" words you can use later in your writing.
Lesson 2:
Read and think: "She knew a small side door which she could unbolt herself and she flew down-stairs in her stocking feet and put on her shoes in the hall. She unchained and unbolted and unlocked and when the door was open she sprang across the step with one bound, and there she was standing on the grass which seemed to have turned green, and with the sun pouring down on her and warm sweet wafts about her and the fluting and twittering and singing coming from every bush and tree." -Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden
Talk about it:
1. What does it mean to say someone "flew" downstairs and "sprang" across a step? Think carefully about the denotative and connotative meanings of those words.
2. In this paragraph, does having "the sun pouring down on her" have a positive or negative connotation? How do you know?
Now you try it: Write a sentence describing someone going outside in the first snowfall of the year. Be sure your sentence has a positive connotation. Use Burnett's sentence as a model. Add any "perfect" words you and your classmates find to your own "Perfect Words" list.
Lesson 3:
Read and think: "From time to time they sped by some phantom-like tree, whose white skeleton twisted and rattle in the wind. Sometimes flocks of wild birds rose, or bands of gaunt, famished, ferocious prairie-wolves ran howling after the sledge*." -Jules Verne, Around the World in Eighty Days
*sled or sleigh
Talk about it:
1. We usually think of a skeleton as belonging to an animal. Here, Verne uses the word "skeleton" to describe a tree. What does it mean for a tree to have a skeleton, and why is the skeleton white? How does this use of diction help the reader visualize the scene?
2. The second sentence describes a pack of fierce wolves chasing the sled. How do the words "gaunt" and "famished" intensify the understanding of just how ferocious the wolves are?
Now you try it: Write down two strong adjectives that intensify the reader's understanding of the dogs in the following sentence:
A group of _______________, _______________, sleepy dogs sat lounging in the shade.
Lesson 4:
Read and think: "With the aurora borealis flaming coldly overhead, or the stars leaping in the frost dance, and the land numb and frozen under its pall of snow, this song of the huskies might have been the defiance of life, only it was pitched in minor key, with long-drawn wailings and half-sobs and was more the pleading of life, the articulate travail of existence." -Jack London, The Call of the Wild
Talk about it:
1. How can something be "flaming coldly"? It seems like a senseless contradiction at first. Upon looking closer, though, it makes sense. How does this odd diction help the reader understand the scene? (If you don't know what the aurora borealis is, please look it up. You need to know this order to answer the question.)
2. London describes the "song of the huskies" as "pleading of life" not the "defiance of life." What does this mean and what diction in the passage supports this argument?
Now you try it: Fill in the blanks below with words that seem to contradict each other but nevertheless add depth and meaning to the sentence. Use London's first sentence as a model.
Her temper was ______________ (use an -ing form of a verb) _______________ (use and -ly adverb to describe the verb) when she heard the man scream at the dog.
Lesson 5:
Read and think:
They scuttled for days and days and days till they came to a great forest, 'sclusively full of trees and bushes and stripy, speckly, patchy-blatchy shadows, and there they hid: and after another long time, what with standing half in the shade and half out of it, and what with the slippery-slidy shadows of the trees falling on them, the Giraffe grew blotchy, and the Zebra grew stripy, and the Eland and the Koodoo grew darker.... -Rudyard Kipling, "How the Leopard Got His Spots," Just So Stories
Talk about it:
1. What is the dictionary definition of "scuttled"? How would your mental picture change if the passage said, They trudged for days and days...?
2. Consider the hyphenated adjectives Kipling uses in this passage: "patchy-blatchy" and "slippery-slidy." How do these adjectives help the reader understand the scene?
Now you try it: Write two sentences about going on a long car trip. Your first sentence should contain a strong verb that creates a vivid picture for the reader. Your second sentence should use a hyphenated adjective that either rhymes (like "patchy-blatchy") or has alliteration (like "slippery-slidy"). It's OK to make up part of the hyphenated adjective (like "blatchy"), but it must be understandable to the reader. Remember that the purpose of this kind of diction is to make an experience come alive for the reader.
Lesson 6:
Read and think:
"Swallow, Swallow, little Swallow," said the Prince,"far away across the city I see a young man in a garret.* He is leaning over a desk covered with papers, and in a tumbler by his side there is a bunch of withered violets. His hair is brown and crisp, and his lips are red as a pomegranate, and he has large and dreamy eyes." -Oscar Wilde, "The Happy Prince," The Happy Prince and Other Tales
*an attic room
Talk about it:
1. Look carefully at the diction i this passage. Is the young man rich or poor? How do you know?
2. What does it mean to have "crisp" hair? Sketch a picture of someone with "crisp" hair.
Now you try it: Write a short description of a dog. First, decide whether you want to describe a fancy, pedigreed dog or a scruffy mutt. Then capture the dog by using strong diction. Don't explain that the dog is fancy or scruffy. Instead, use "perfect" words to create a picture of the dog for the reader. Use Wilde's passage as a model.
Lesson 7:
Read and think:
In our nation work and wealth abound. Our population grows. Commerce crowds our rivers and rails, our skies, harbors, and highways. Our soil is fertile, our agriculture productive. The air rings with the song of our industry -- rolling mills and blast furnaces, dynamos, dams, and assembly lines -- the chorus of America the bountiful. -Dwight D. Eisenhower, Second Inaugural Address, January 21, 1957
Talk about it:
1. Look at the boldfaced verbs ("crowds," "rings") in the passage. Notice how clearly you can "see" the action because of the strong verbs. How would it change the impact of the passage if we changed the verbs? For example:
Our rivers, rails, skies, harbors, and highways are busy with commerce. Our soil is fertile, our agriculture productive. The air is full of the sounds of work.
2. Look at the final phrase of the passage ("America the bountiful"). What does Eisenhower's use of "bountiful" instead of, for example, "beautiful" tell us about his attitude toward America?
Now you try it: Use the verb "crowds" in a sentence, but instead of having the word express excitement and pride, have it express a feeling of danger and possible disaster. Remember that, in many cases, the context of the word determines its deeper, connotative meaning.
Lesson 8:
Read and think:
Brown as coffee-berry , rugged pistoled, spurred, wary, indefeasible*," I saw my old friend, Deputy-Marshal Buck Caperton, stumble, with jingling rowels**, into a chair in the marshal's outer office. -O. Henry, "The Lonesome Road," 41 Stories by O. Henry
*something that can't be canceled
**a sharp-toothed wheel in the end of a spur
Talk about it:
1. Look at the first two boldfaced words ("pistoled" and "spurred"). Both f these words describe Deputy-Marshal Buck Caperton. What do they mean? Explain how the meaning would change if O. Henry had written:
I saw my old friend Deputy-Marshal Buck Caperton, who was wearing a pistol and spurs, stumble, with jingling rowels, into a chair in the marshal's outer office.
2. The word "indefeasible" is usually used to describe a contract or some kind of legal document that cannot be canceled. O. Henry uses it to describe a character. What does it mean in this context? In other words, how can a person be indefeasible? What does this choice of words add to the impact of the sentence?
Now you try it: Write a sentence describing someone whose clothes are really wild. IN your sentence use at least one noun (like "pistol") as an adjective (like "pistoled").
Lesson 9:
Read and think:
People who live in Tornado Alley know when tornadoes are likely to form. The first sign is thunderclouds building in the distance. These can be spotted by their anvil tops. From a distance, the clouds bulge out on top. This shows that the updrafts in the cloud are very strong. So the storm may be a powerful supercell. -Chris Oxlade, Storm Warning: Tornadoes
Talk about it:
1. Note that this informational text. As such, the purpose is to pass on knowledge, to teach. Diction here is precise and unambiguous. With this in mind, look at the third sentence. The clouds are described as having "anvil tops." Sketch a picture of clouds with anvil tops.
2. How would the impact of the sentence change if we wrote it like this?
The clouds can be spotted by their flat tops.
Now you try it: Think about a storm in your part of the country. Write a sentence describing the clouds. Use diction that is precise and vivid so that your reader thoroughly understands what the clouds look like.
Lesson 10:
Read and think:
How well I recollect the kind of day it was! I smell the fog that hung about the place; I see the hoar frost, ghostly, through it; I feel my rimy hair fall clammy on my cheek; I look along the dim perspective of the schoolroom, with a sputtering candle here and there to light up the foggy morning, and the breath of the boys wreathing and smoking in the raw cold as they blow upon their fingers, and tap their feet upon the floor. -Charles Dickens, David Copperfield
*white ice crystals that form on the ground in cold weather
**covered with frost
***twisting around like a wreath
Talk about it:
1. What words help you understand that the room is cold and dark?
Read and think: "The snow came on. The wind twisted all day and all night and all the next day. The wind changed black and twisted and spit icicles in their faces. They got lost in the blizzard." -Carl Sandburg, "How the Five Rusty Rats Helped Find a New Village"
Talk about it:
1. What does "the wind changed black" mean? How does this unusual use of a color word help you visualize the scene?
2. How would the meaning of Sandburg's sentences change if we changed some of the words? For example:
The wind blew all day and all night and all the next day. The wind changed direction and blew icicles in their faces.
Now you try it: Write a sentence describing an unbearable hot day, using Sandburg's sentences as a model. Choose words that are clear, concrete, and exact. Start a collection of "perfect" words you can use later in your writing.
Lesson 2:
Read and think: "She knew a small side door which she could unbolt herself and she flew down-stairs in her stocking feet and put on her shoes in the hall. She unchained and unbolted and unlocked and when the door was open she sprang across the step with one bound, and there she was standing on the grass which seemed to have turned green, and with the sun pouring down on her and warm sweet wafts about her and the fluting and twittering and singing coming from every bush and tree." -Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden
Talk about it:
1. What does it mean to say someone "flew" downstairs and "sprang" across a step? Think carefully about the denotative and connotative meanings of those words.
2. In this paragraph, does having "the sun pouring down on her" have a positive or negative connotation? How do you know?
Now you try it: Write a sentence describing someone going outside in the first snowfall of the year. Be sure your sentence has a positive connotation. Use Burnett's sentence as a model. Add any "perfect" words you and your classmates find to your own "Perfect Words" list.
Lesson 3:
Read and think: "From time to time they sped by some phantom-like tree, whose white skeleton twisted and rattle in the wind. Sometimes flocks of wild birds rose, or bands of gaunt, famished, ferocious prairie-wolves ran howling after the sledge*." -Jules Verne, Around the World in Eighty Days
*sled or sleigh
Talk about it:
1. We usually think of a skeleton as belonging to an animal. Here, Verne uses the word "skeleton" to describe a tree. What does it mean for a tree to have a skeleton, and why is the skeleton white? How does this use of diction help the reader visualize the scene?
2. The second sentence describes a pack of fierce wolves chasing the sled. How do the words "gaunt" and "famished" intensify the understanding of just how ferocious the wolves are?
Now you try it: Write down two strong adjectives that intensify the reader's understanding of the dogs in the following sentence:
A group of _______________, _______________, sleepy dogs sat lounging in the shade.
Lesson 4:
Read and think: "With the aurora borealis flaming coldly overhead, or the stars leaping in the frost dance, and the land numb and frozen under its pall of snow, this song of the huskies might have been the defiance of life, only it was pitched in minor key, with long-drawn wailings and half-sobs and was more the pleading of life, the articulate travail of existence." -Jack London, The Call of the Wild
Talk about it:
1. How can something be "flaming coldly"? It seems like a senseless contradiction at first. Upon looking closer, though, it makes sense. How does this odd diction help the reader understand the scene? (If you don't know what the aurora borealis is, please look it up. You need to know this order to answer the question.)
2. London describes the "song of the huskies" as "pleading of life" not the "defiance of life." What does this mean and what diction in the passage supports this argument?
Now you try it: Fill in the blanks below with words that seem to contradict each other but nevertheless add depth and meaning to the sentence. Use London's first sentence as a model.
Her temper was ______________ (use an -ing form of a verb) _______________ (use and -ly adverb to describe the verb) when she heard the man scream at the dog.
Lesson 5:
Read and think:
They scuttled for days and days and days till they came to a great forest, 'sclusively full of trees and bushes and stripy, speckly, patchy-blatchy shadows, and there they hid: and after another long time, what with standing half in the shade and half out of it, and what with the slippery-slidy shadows of the trees falling on them, the Giraffe grew blotchy, and the Zebra grew stripy, and the Eland and the Koodoo grew darker.... -Rudyard Kipling, "How the Leopard Got His Spots," Just So Stories
Talk about it:
1. What is the dictionary definition of "scuttled"? How would your mental picture change if the passage said, They trudged for days and days...?
2. Consider the hyphenated adjectives Kipling uses in this passage: "patchy-blatchy" and "slippery-slidy." How do these adjectives help the reader understand the scene?
Now you try it: Write two sentences about going on a long car trip. Your first sentence should contain a strong verb that creates a vivid picture for the reader. Your second sentence should use a hyphenated adjective that either rhymes (like "patchy-blatchy") or has alliteration (like "slippery-slidy"). It's OK to make up part of the hyphenated adjective (like "blatchy"), but it must be understandable to the reader. Remember that the purpose of this kind of diction is to make an experience come alive for the reader.
Lesson 6:
Read and think:
"Swallow, Swallow, little Swallow," said the Prince,"far away across the city I see a young man in a garret.* He is leaning over a desk covered with papers, and in a tumbler by his side there is a bunch of withered violets. His hair is brown and crisp, and his lips are red as a pomegranate, and he has large and dreamy eyes." -Oscar Wilde, "The Happy Prince," The Happy Prince and Other Tales
*an attic room
Talk about it:
1. Look carefully at the diction i this passage. Is the young man rich or poor? How do you know?
2. What does it mean to have "crisp" hair? Sketch a picture of someone with "crisp" hair.
Now you try it: Write a short description of a dog. First, decide whether you want to describe a fancy, pedigreed dog or a scruffy mutt. Then capture the dog by using strong diction. Don't explain that the dog is fancy or scruffy. Instead, use "perfect" words to create a picture of the dog for the reader. Use Wilde's passage as a model.
Lesson 7:
Read and think:
In our nation work and wealth abound. Our population grows. Commerce crowds our rivers and rails, our skies, harbors, and highways. Our soil is fertile, our agriculture productive. The air rings with the song of our industry -- rolling mills and blast furnaces, dynamos, dams, and assembly lines -- the chorus of America the bountiful. -Dwight D. Eisenhower, Second Inaugural Address, January 21, 1957
Talk about it:
1. Look at the boldfaced verbs ("crowds," "rings") in the passage. Notice how clearly you can "see" the action because of the strong verbs. How would it change the impact of the passage if we changed the verbs? For example:
Our rivers, rails, skies, harbors, and highways are busy with commerce. Our soil is fertile, our agriculture productive. The air is full of the sounds of work.
2. Look at the final phrase of the passage ("America the bountiful"). What does Eisenhower's use of "bountiful" instead of, for example, "beautiful" tell us about his attitude toward America?
Now you try it: Use the verb "crowds" in a sentence, but instead of having the word express excitement and pride, have it express a feeling of danger and possible disaster. Remember that, in many cases, the context of the word determines its deeper, connotative meaning.
Lesson 8:
Read and think:
Brown as coffee-berry , rugged pistoled, spurred, wary, indefeasible*," I saw my old friend, Deputy-Marshal Buck Caperton, stumble, with jingling rowels**, into a chair in the marshal's outer office. -O. Henry, "The Lonesome Road," 41 Stories by O. Henry
*something that can't be canceled
**a sharp-toothed wheel in the end of a spur
Talk about it:
1. Look at the first two boldfaced words ("pistoled" and "spurred"). Both f these words describe Deputy-Marshal Buck Caperton. What do they mean? Explain how the meaning would change if O. Henry had written:
I saw my old friend Deputy-Marshal Buck Caperton, who was wearing a pistol and spurs, stumble, with jingling rowels, into a chair in the marshal's outer office.
2. The word "indefeasible" is usually used to describe a contract or some kind of legal document that cannot be canceled. O. Henry uses it to describe a character. What does it mean in this context? In other words, how can a person be indefeasible? What does this choice of words add to the impact of the sentence?
Now you try it: Write a sentence describing someone whose clothes are really wild. IN your sentence use at least one noun (like "pistol") as an adjective (like "pistoled").
Lesson 9:
Read and think:
People who live in Tornado Alley know when tornadoes are likely to form. The first sign is thunderclouds building in the distance. These can be spotted by their anvil tops. From a distance, the clouds bulge out on top. This shows that the updrafts in the cloud are very strong. So the storm may be a powerful supercell. -Chris Oxlade, Storm Warning: Tornadoes
Talk about it:
1. Note that this informational text. As such, the purpose is to pass on knowledge, to teach. Diction here is precise and unambiguous. With this in mind, look at the third sentence. The clouds are described as having "anvil tops." Sketch a picture of clouds with anvil tops.
2. How would the impact of the sentence change if we wrote it like this?
The clouds can be spotted by their flat tops.
Now you try it: Think about a storm in your part of the country. Write a sentence describing the clouds. Use diction that is precise and vivid so that your reader thoroughly understands what the clouds look like.
Lesson 10:
Read and think:
How well I recollect the kind of day it was! I smell the fog that hung about the place; I see the hoar frost, ghostly, through it; I feel my rimy hair fall clammy on my cheek; I look along the dim perspective of the schoolroom, with a sputtering candle here and there to light up the foggy morning, and the breath of the boys wreathing and smoking in the raw cold as they blow upon their fingers, and tap their feet upon the floor. -Charles Dickens, David Copperfield
*white ice crystals that form on the ground in cold weather
**covered with frost
***twisting around like a wreath
Talk about it:
1. What words help you understand that the room is cold and dark?
2. What is a "sputtering" candle? How does describing the candle help you understand the feeling of the whole room?
Now you try it: Describe a room that is uncomfortable. In your description, use words that are clear, concrete, and exact, as Dickens does. Use a vivid adjective to describe an object in the room (like "sputtering candle"). The adjective and object should help your readers understand the feeling of the room. Remember, don't simply state that it's uncomfortable. Instead, create a picture for the reader, capturing how specific aspects of the room make it uncomfortable.
Lesson 11:
Read and think:
Art is the antidote that can call us back from the edge of numbness, restoring the ability to feel for another.
-Barbara Kingsolver, High Tide in Tucson
Talk about it:
1. By using the word antidote, what does the author imply about the inability to feel for another?
2. If we changed the word antidote to gift, what effect would it have on the meaning of the sentence?
Now you try it: Brainstorm with the class and develop a list of medical terms; then write a sentence using a medical term to characterize art. Explain to the class the effect this term has on the meaning of the sentence.
Lesson 12:
Read and think:
As I watched, the sun broke weakly through, brightened the rich red of the fawns, and kindled their white spots.
-E.B. White, "Twins." Poems and Sketches by E.B. White
Talk about it:
1. What kind of flame does kindled imply? How does this verb suit the purpose of the sentence?
2. Would the sentence be strengthened or weakened by changing the sun broke weakly through to the sun burst through? Explain the effect this change would have on the use of the verb kindled.
Now you try it: Brainstorm with the class a list of action verbs that demonstrate the effects of sunlight.
Lesson 13:
Read and think:
An aged man is but a paltry thing
A tattered coat upon a stick....
-W.B. Yeats, "Sailing to Byzantium"
Talk about it:
1. What picture is created by the use of the word tattered?
2. By understanding the connotations of the word tattered, what do we understand about the persona's attitude toward an aged man?
Now you try it: List three adjectives that can be used to describe a pair of shoes. Each adjective should connote a different feeling about the shoes.
Lesson 14:
Read and think:
The man sighed hugely.
-E. Annie Proulx, The Shipping News
Talk about it:
1. What does it mean to sigh hugely?
2. How would the meaning of the sentence change it we rewrote it as:
The man sighed loudly.
Now you try it: Fill in the blank below with an adverb:
The man coughed _______________.
Your adverb should make the cough express an attitude. For example, the cough could express contempt, desperation, or propriety. Do not state your attitude. Instead, let the adverb imply it.
Lesson 15:
Read and think:
A rowan* like a lipsticked girl. - Seamus Heaney, "Song," Field Work
*a small deciduous tree native to Europe, having white flower clusters and orange berries
Talk about it:
1. Other than the color, what comes to mind when you think of a lipsticked girl?
2. How would it change the meaning and feeling of the line if, instead of lipsticked girl, the author wrote girl with lipstick on?
Now you try it: Write a simile comparing a tree with a domesticated animal. In your simile, use a word that is normally used as a noun (like lipstick) as an adjective (like lipsticked).
Lesson 16:
Read and think:
Abuelito under a bald light bulb, under a ceiling dusty with flies, puffs his cigar and counts money soft and wrinkled as old Kleenex.
-Sandra Cisneros, "Tepeyac," Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories
Talk about it:
1. How can a ceiling be dusty with flies? Are the flies plentiful or sparse? Active or still? Clustered or evenly distributed?
2. What does Cisneros mean by a bald light bulb? What does this reveal about Abuelito's room?
Now you try it: Take Cisnero's phrase, under a ceiling dusty with flies, and write a new phrase by substituting the word dusty with a different adjective. Discuss the impact of your new adjective on the sentence.
Lesson 17:
Read and think:
Meanwhile, the United States Army, thirsting for revenge, was prowling the country north and west of the Black Hills, killing Indians wherever they could found. -Dee Brown, Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee
Talk about it:
1. What are the connotations of thirsting? What feelings are evoked by this diction?
2. What are the connotations of prowling? What kind of animals prowl? What attitude toward the U.S. army does this diction convey?
Now you try it: Use an eating or drinking verb in a sentence which expresses anger about a parking ticket. Do not use the verb to literally express eating or drinking. Instead, express anger through the verb. Use Brown's sentence as a model.
Lesson 18:
Read and think:
Most men wear their belts low here, there being so many outstanding bellies, some big enough to have names of their own and be formally introduced. Those men don't suck them in or hide them in loose shirts; they let hang free, they pat them, they stroke them as they stand around and talk. -Garrison Keillor, "Home," Lake Wobegon Days
Talk about it:
1. What is the usual meaning of outstanding? What is its meaning here What does this pun reveal about the attitude of the author toward his subject?
2. Read the second sentence again. How would the level of formality change if we changed suck to pull and let them hang free to accept them?
Now you try it: Write a sentence or two describing an unattractive but beloved relative. In your description, use words that describe the unattractive features honestly yet reveal that you care about this person, that you accept and even admire him/her, complete with defects. Use Keillor's description as a model. Throw in a pun if you can think of one.
Lesson 19:
Read and think:
Doc awakened very slowly and clumsily like a fat man getting out of a swimming pool. His mind broke the surface and fell back several times. -John Steinbeck, Cannery Row
Talk about it:
1. What is the subject of the verb broke? What does this tell you about Doc's ability to control his thinking at this point in the story?
2. To what does surface refer? Remember that good writers often strive for complexity rather than simplicity.
Now you try it: List three active verbs that could be used to complete the sentence below. Act out one of these verbs for the class, demonstrating the verb's connotation.
He ______________ into the crowded auditorium.
Lesson 20:
Read and think:
Pots rattled in the kitchen where Momma was frying corn cakes to go with vegetable soup for supper, and in the homey sounds and scents cushioned me as I read of Jane Eyre in the cold English mansion of a colder English gentleman.
-Maya Angelou, I know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Talk about it:
1. By using the word cushioned, what does Angelou imply about her life and Jane Eyre's life?
2. What is the difference between the cold of the English mansion and the cold of the English gentleman? What does Angelou's diction convey about her attitude toward Jane's life?
Now you try it: Write a sentence using a strong verb to connect one part of your life with another. For example, you could connect a book you are reading and your mother's dinner preparations, as Maya Angelou does; or you could connect a classroom lecture with sounds outside. Be creative. Use an exact verb (like cushioned), one which connotes the attitude you want to convey.
Lesson 21:
Read and think:
Once I am sure there's nothing going on
I step inside, letting the door thud shut.
-Philip Larkin, "Church Going"
Talk about it:
1. What feelings are evoked by the word thud?
2. How would the meaning change if the speaker let the door slam shut?
Now you try: Fill in the following chart. In the first column, record five different verbs which express the closing of a door; in the second column, record the feelings these verbs evoke.
Now you try it: Describe a room that is uncomfortable. In your description, use words that are clear, concrete, and exact, as Dickens does. Use a vivid adjective to describe an object in the room (like "sputtering candle"). The adjective and object should help your readers understand the feeling of the room. Remember, don't simply state that it's uncomfortable. Instead, create a picture for the reader, capturing how specific aspects of the room make it uncomfortable.
Lesson 11:
Read and think:
Art is the antidote that can call us back from the edge of numbness, restoring the ability to feel for another.
-Barbara Kingsolver, High Tide in Tucson
Talk about it:
1. By using the word antidote, what does the author imply about the inability to feel for another?
2. If we changed the word antidote to gift, what effect would it have on the meaning of the sentence?
Now you try it: Brainstorm with the class and develop a list of medical terms; then write a sentence using a medical term to characterize art. Explain to the class the effect this term has on the meaning of the sentence.
Lesson 12:
Read and think:
As I watched, the sun broke weakly through, brightened the rich red of the fawns, and kindled their white spots.
-E.B. White, "Twins." Poems and Sketches by E.B. White
Talk about it:
1. What kind of flame does kindled imply? How does this verb suit the purpose of the sentence?
2. Would the sentence be strengthened or weakened by changing the sun broke weakly through to the sun burst through? Explain the effect this change would have on the use of the verb kindled.
Now you try it: Brainstorm with the class a list of action verbs that demonstrate the effects of sunlight.
Lesson 13:
Read and think:
An aged man is but a paltry thing
A tattered coat upon a stick....
-W.B. Yeats, "Sailing to Byzantium"
Talk about it:
1. What picture is created by the use of the word tattered?
2. By understanding the connotations of the word tattered, what do we understand about the persona's attitude toward an aged man?
Now you try it: List three adjectives that can be used to describe a pair of shoes. Each adjective should connote a different feeling about the shoes.
Lesson 14:
Read and think:
The man sighed hugely.
-E. Annie Proulx, The Shipping News
Talk about it:
1. What does it mean to sigh hugely?
2. How would the meaning of the sentence change it we rewrote it as:
The man sighed loudly.
Now you try it: Fill in the blank below with an adverb:
The man coughed _______________.
Your adverb should make the cough express an attitude. For example, the cough could express contempt, desperation, or propriety. Do not state your attitude. Instead, let the adverb imply it.
Lesson 15:
Read and think:
A rowan* like a lipsticked girl. - Seamus Heaney, "Song," Field Work
*a small deciduous tree native to Europe, having white flower clusters and orange berries
Talk about it:
1. Other than the color, what comes to mind when you think of a lipsticked girl?
2. How would it change the meaning and feeling of the line if, instead of lipsticked girl, the author wrote girl with lipstick on?
Now you try it: Write a simile comparing a tree with a domesticated animal. In your simile, use a word that is normally used as a noun (like lipstick) as an adjective (like lipsticked).
Lesson 16:
Read and think:
Abuelito under a bald light bulb, under a ceiling dusty with flies, puffs his cigar and counts money soft and wrinkled as old Kleenex.
-Sandra Cisneros, "Tepeyac," Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories
Talk about it:
1. How can a ceiling be dusty with flies? Are the flies plentiful or sparse? Active or still? Clustered or evenly distributed?
2. What does Cisneros mean by a bald light bulb? What does this reveal about Abuelito's room?
Now you try it: Take Cisnero's phrase, under a ceiling dusty with flies, and write a new phrase by substituting the word dusty with a different adjective. Discuss the impact of your new adjective on the sentence.
Lesson 17:
Read and think:
Meanwhile, the United States Army, thirsting for revenge, was prowling the country north and west of the Black Hills, killing Indians wherever they could found. -Dee Brown, Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee
Talk about it:
1. What are the connotations of thirsting? What feelings are evoked by this diction?
2. What are the connotations of prowling? What kind of animals prowl? What attitude toward the U.S. army does this diction convey?
Now you try it: Use an eating or drinking verb in a sentence which expresses anger about a parking ticket. Do not use the verb to literally express eating or drinking. Instead, express anger through the verb. Use Brown's sentence as a model.
Lesson 18:
Read and think:
Most men wear their belts low here, there being so many outstanding bellies, some big enough to have names of their own and be formally introduced. Those men don't suck them in or hide them in loose shirts; they let hang free, they pat them, they stroke them as they stand around and talk. -Garrison Keillor, "Home," Lake Wobegon Days
Talk about it:
1. What is the usual meaning of outstanding? What is its meaning here What does this pun reveal about the attitude of the author toward his subject?
2. Read the second sentence again. How would the level of formality change if we changed suck to pull and let them hang free to accept them?
Now you try it: Write a sentence or two describing an unattractive but beloved relative. In your description, use words that describe the unattractive features honestly yet reveal that you care about this person, that you accept and even admire him/her, complete with defects. Use Keillor's description as a model. Throw in a pun if you can think of one.
Lesson 19:
Read and think:
Doc awakened very slowly and clumsily like a fat man getting out of a swimming pool. His mind broke the surface and fell back several times. -John Steinbeck, Cannery Row
Talk about it:
1. What is the subject of the verb broke? What does this tell you about Doc's ability to control his thinking at this point in the story?
2. To what does surface refer? Remember that good writers often strive for complexity rather than simplicity.
Now you try it: List three active verbs that could be used to complete the sentence below. Act out one of these verbs for the class, demonstrating the verb's connotation.
He ______________ into the crowded auditorium.
Lesson 20:
Read and think:
Pots rattled in the kitchen where Momma was frying corn cakes to go with vegetable soup for supper, and in the homey sounds and scents cushioned me as I read of Jane Eyre in the cold English mansion of a colder English gentleman.
-Maya Angelou, I know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Talk about it:
1. By using the word cushioned, what does Angelou imply about her life and Jane Eyre's life?
2. What is the difference between the cold of the English mansion and the cold of the English gentleman? What does Angelou's diction convey about her attitude toward Jane's life?
Now you try it: Write a sentence using a strong verb to connect one part of your life with another. For example, you could connect a book you are reading and your mother's dinner preparations, as Maya Angelou does; or you could connect a classroom lecture with sounds outside. Be creative. Use an exact verb (like cushioned), one which connotes the attitude you want to convey.
Lesson 21:
Read and think:
Once I am sure there's nothing going on
I step inside, letting the door thud shut.
-Philip Larkin, "Church Going"
Talk about it:
1. What feelings are evoked by the word thud?
2. How would the meaning change if the speaker let the door slam shut?
Now you try: Fill in the following chart. In the first column, record five different verbs which express the closing of a door; in the second column, record the feelings these verbs evoke.
Lesson 22:
Read and think:
We have been making policy on the basis of myths, the first of them that trade with China will dulcify Peking policy. That won't work; there was plenty of trade between North and South when our Civil War came on.
-William F. Buckley, Jr., "Like It or Not, Pat Buchanan's Political Rhetoric has True Grit"
Talk about it:
1. What does dulcify mean? What attitude toward his readers does his diction convey?
2. What attitude does Buckley communicate by writing our Civil War instead of the Civil War?
Now you try it: Fill in the following chart, substituting uncommon words for the common, boldface word in the sentence below. Your new words should change the connotative meaning of the sentence. Use your thesaurus to find unusual words.
She gazed at the tidy room.
Read and think:
We have been making policy on the basis of myths, the first of them that trade with China will dulcify Peking policy. That won't work; there was plenty of trade between North and South when our Civil War came on.
-William F. Buckley, Jr., "Like It or Not, Pat Buchanan's Political Rhetoric has True Grit"
Talk about it:
1. What does dulcify mean? What attitude toward his readers does his diction convey?
2. What attitude does Buckley communicate by writing our Civil War instead of the Civil War?
Now you try it: Fill in the following chart, substituting uncommon words for the common, boldface word in the sentence below. Your new words should change the connotative meaning of the sentence. Use your thesaurus to find unusual words.
She gazed at the tidy room.
Lesson 23:
Read and think:
Wind rocks the car.
We sit parked by the river,
silence between our teeth.
Birds scatter across islands
of broken ice. . .
-Adrienn Rich, "Like This Together, for A.H.C."
Talk about it:
1. What are the feelings produced by the word rocks? Are the feelings gentle, violent, or both?
2. How would the meaning change if we changed the first line to Wind shakes the car?
Now you try it: List different meanings for the verb rock. How many of these meanings would make sense in this poem? Remember that the poet often strive to capture complexity rather than a single view or meaning.
Lesson 24:
Read and think:
Close by the fire sat an old man whose countenance was furrowed with distress. -James Boswell, Boswell's London Journal
Talk about it:
1. What does the word furrowed connote about the man's distress?
2. How would the impact of the sentence be changed if furrowed were changed to lined?
Now you try it: Write a sentence using a verb to describe a facial expression. Imply through your verb choice that the expression is intense. Use Boswell's sentence as a model.
Lesson 25:
Read and think:
Her face was white and sharp and slightly gleaming in the candlelight, like bone. No hint of pink. And the hair. So fine, so pale, so much, crimped by its plaiting into springy, zigzag tresses, clouding neck and shoulders, shining metallic in the candlelight, catching a hint, there it was, of green again, from the refection of a large glazed cache-pot containing a vigorous sword-leafed fern.
-A.S. Byatt, Possession: A Romance
Talk about it:
1. When the author describes a face “like bone,” what feelings are suggested?
2. How can hair be “clouding neck and shoulders?” What picture does this word create for the reader?
Now you try it: Substitute another noun for bone in sentence one. Your substitution should change the meaning and feeling of the sentence. Discuss how your noun changes the sentence's connotation and impact.
Lesson 26:
Read and think:
"Ahhh," the crowd went, "Ahhh," as at the most beautiful of fireworks, for the sky was alive now, one instant a pond and at the next a womb of new turns: "Ahhh," went the crowd, "Ahhh!" -Norman Mailer, "Of a Fire on the Moon"
Talk about it:
1. This quote is from a description of the Apollo-Saturn launching. The Saturn was a huge rocket that launched the Apollo space capsule, a three-man ship headed for the moon. Why is the sky described as a pond then a womb? Contrast the two words. What happens that changes the sky from a pond to a womb?
2. What does the Mailer's use of the word womb tell the reader about his attitude toward the launch?
Now you try it: Think of a concert you have attended. Write one sentence which expresses a transformation of the concert stage. Using Mailer's description as a model, cal the stage first a _______________ then a _______________. Do not explain the transformation or your attitude toward it. Instead, let your diction alone communicate both the transformation and your attitude.
Lesson 27:
Read and think:
. . . then Satan first knew pain,
And writh'd him to and for convolv'd; so sore
The grinding sword with discontinuous wound
Passed through him.
-John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book VI, lines 327-330
Talk about it:
1. By using the word grinding, what does Milton imply about the pain inflicted by the sword?
2. What does discontinuous mean? How does the use of discontinuous reinforce the idea of a grinding sword?
Now you try it: Pantomime for the class the motion of a grinding sword, a slashing sword, and a piercing sword. Discuss the context in which a writer might use the three different kinds of swords.
Lesson 28:
Read and think:
Newts are the most common of salamanders. Their skin is a lighted green, like water in a sunlit pond, and rows of very bright red dots line their backs. They have gills as larvae; as they grow they turn a luminescent red, lose their gills, and walk out of the water to spend a few years padding around in damp places on the forest floor. Their feet look like fingered baby hands, and they walk in the same leg patterns as all four-footed creatures – dogs, mules, and, for that matter, lesser pandas. -Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
Talk about it:
1. What is the difference between a lighted green and a light green? Which one do you think creates a more vivid picture?
2. What is the effect of saying fingered baby hands instead of simply baby hands?
Now you try it: Compare the neck of each of the animals below to something familiar. Use Dillard's comparison (Their feet look like fingered baby hands) as a model.
The elephant's neck looks like ____________________________________________.
The gazelle's neck looks like _____________________________________________.
The flamingo's neck looks like ____________________________________________.
Discuss the attitude the comparison conveys about the animal.
Lesson 29:
Read and think:
This is earthquake
Weather!
Honor and Hunger
Walk lean
Together.
-Langston Hughes, "Today"
Talk about it:
1. What does lean mean in this context?
2. Is lean a verb, an adjective, or both? How does this uncertainty and complexity contribute to the impact of the lines?
Now you try it: With a partner, read the poem aloud several times, changing the meaning of lean with your voice. Discuss how you controlled your voice to make the changes.
Lesson 30:
Read and think:
Twenty bodies were thrown out of our wagon. Then the train resumed its journey, leaving behind it a few hundred naked dead, deprived or burial, in the deep snow of a field in Poland. -Ellie Wiesel, Night
Talk about it:
1. This scene describes the transporting of Jews from Auschwitz to Buchenwald, both concentration camps in World War II. In this selection, Weisel never refers to the men who dies on the journey as men. Instead, he refers to them as bodies or simply dead. How does his diction shape the reader's understanding of the horror?
2. How would the meaning change if we substituted dead people for bodies?
Now you try it: Change the italicized word below to a word that disassociates the reader from the true action of the sentence.
Fifteen chickens were slaughtered for the feast.
Discuss the effect of your new sentence. Create a free website Powered by Start your own free website A surprisingly easy drag & drop site creator. Learn more.
Read and think:
Wind rocks the car.
We sit parked by the river,
silence between our teeth.
Birds scatter across islands
of broken ice. . .
-Adrienn Rich, "Like This Together, for A.H.C."
Talk about it:
1. What are the feelings produced by the word rocks? Are the feelings gentle, violent, or both?
2. How would the meaning change if we changed the first line to Wind shakes the car?
Now you try it: List different meanings for the verb rock. How many of these meanings would make sense in this poem? Remember that the poet often strive to capture complexity rather than a single view or meaning.
Lesson 24:
Read and think:
Close by the fire sat an old man whose countenance was furrowed with distress. -James Boswell, Boswell's London Journal
Talk about it:
1. What does the word furrowed connote about the man's distress?
2. How would the impact of the sentence be changed if furrowed were changed to lined?
Now you try it: Write a sentence using a verb to describe a facial expression. Imply through your verb choice that the expression is intense. Use Boswell's sentence as a model.
Lesson 25:
Read and think:
Her face was white and sharp and slightly gleaming in the candlelight, like bone. No hint of pink. And the hair. So fine, so pale, so much, crimped by its plaiting into springy, zigzag tresses, clouding neck and shoulders, shining metallic in the candlelight, catching a hint, there it was, of green again, from the refection of a large glazed cache-pot containing a vigorous sword-leafed fern.
-A.S. Byatt, Possession: A Romance
Talk about it:
1. When the author describes a face “like bone,” what feelings are suggested?
2. How can hair be “clouding neck and shoulders?” What picture does this word create for the reader?
Now you try it: Substitute another noun for bone in sentence one. Your substitution should change the meaning and feeling of the sentence. Discuss how your noun changes the sentence's connotation and impact.
Lesson 26:
Read and think:
"Ahhh," the crowd went, "Ahhh," as at the most beautiful of fireworks, for the sky was alive now, one instant a pond and at the next a womb of new turns: "Ahhh," went the crowd, "Ahhh!" -Norman Mailer, "Of a Fire on the Moon"
Talk about it:
1. This quote is from a description of the Apollo-Saturn launching. The Saturn was a huge rocket that launched the Apollo space capsule, a three-man ship headed for the moon. Why is the sky described as a pond then a womb? Contrast the two words. What happens that changes the sky from a pond to a womb?
2. What does the Mailer's use of the word womb tell the reader about his attitude toward the launch?
Now you try it: Think of a concert you have attended. Write one sentence which expresses a transformation of the concert stage. Using Mailer's description as a model, cal the stage first a _______________ then a _______________. Do not explain the transformation or your attitude toward it. Instead, let your diction alone communicate both the transformation and your attitude.
Lesson 27:
Read and think:
. . . then Satan first knew pain,
And writh'd him to and for convolv'd; so sore
The grinding sword with discontinuous wound
Passed through him.
-John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book VI, lines 327-330
Talk about it:
1. By using the word grinding, what does Milton imply about the pain inflicted by the sword?
2. What does discontinuous mean? How does the use of discontinuous reinforce the idea of a grinding sword?
Now you try it: Pantomime for the class the motion of a grinding sword, a slashing sword, and a piercing sword. Discuss the context in which a writer might use the three different kinds of swords.
Lesson 28:
Read and think:
Newts are the most common of salamanders. Their skin is a lighted green, like water in a sunlit pond, and rows of very bright red dots line their backs. They have gills as larvae; as they grow they turn a luminescent red, lose their gills, and walk out of the water to spend a few years padding around in damp places on the forest floor. Their feet look like fingered baby hands, and they walk in the same leg patterns as all four-footed creatures – dogs, mules, and, for that matter, lesser pandas. -Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
Talk about it:
1. What is the difference between a lighted green and a light green? Which one do you think creates a more vivid picture?
2. What is the effect of saying fingered baby hands instead of simply baby hands?
Now you try it: Compare the neck of each of the animals below to something familiar. Use Dillard's comparison (Their feet look like fingered baby hands) as a model.
The elephant's neck looks like ____________________________________________.
The gazelle's neck looks like _____________________________________________.
The flamingo's neck looks like ____________________________________________.
Discuss the attitude the comparison conveys about the animal.
Lesson 29:
Read and think:
This is earthquake
Weather!
Honor and Hunger
Walk lean
Together.
-Langston Hughes, "Today"
Talk about it:
1. What does lean mean in this context?
2. Is lean a verb, an adjective, or both? How does this uncertainty and complexity contribute to the impact of the lines?
Now you try it: With a partner, read the poem aloud several times, changing the meaning of lean with your voice. Discuss how you controlled your voice to make the changes.
Lesson 30:
Read and think:
Twenty bodies were thrown out of our wagon. Then the train resumed its journey, leaving behind it a few hundred naked dead, deprived or burial, in the deep snow of a field in Poland. -Ellie Wiesel, Night
Talk about it:
1. This scene describes the transporting of Jews from Auschwitz to Buchenwald, both concentration camps in World War II. In this selection, Weisel never refers to the men who dies on the journey as men. Instead, he refers to them as bodies or simply dead. How does his diction shape the reader's understanding of the horror?
2. How would the meaning change if we substituted dead people for bodies?
Now you try it: Change the italicized word below to a word that disassociates the reader from the true action of the sentence.
Fifteen chickens were slaughtered for the feast.
Discuss the effect of your new sentence. Create a free website Powered by Start your own free website A surprisingly easy drag & drop site creator. Learn more.