•    Effective Diction  

    aka “what to avoid in essays”

    Courtesy of Joanne Anderson, A.H.S.

    Linguistics

    •      The Science of Language

    •      Semantics: the study of what words mean and how their meanings change

    •      A word is a symbol

    •      Referent: the thing a word refers to

    •      A referent must be the same for the person who uses it and the person who hears it.

    Concrete Words

    •      Can be seen or touched

    •      Book, desk, car, cloud, rain, television

    •      Some are broad:

    –   Vehicle

    –   people

    •      Others are more specific and descriptive:

    –   Ferrari

    –   Bill Gates

    Abstract Words

    •      Referent is beyond vision or touch

    •      Each one may have more than one referent

    •      Peace, need, love, freedom

    •      Freedom:

    –   To an American citizen: freedom of speech

    –   To a prisoner: freedom from confinement

    –   To a student: summer

    Figurative Language

    •      Metaphor:  a comparison between things essentially unalike, does not use like or as.

    •       Simile: a comparison between things essentially unalike, using like or as.

    •      Personification: characteristics of a human being are attributed to an animal, a thing, or an idea.

    Figurative Language (cont’d.)

    •      In poetry & literature, figurative language creates interesting, vivid images for reader.

    •      Without: the house lights were on.

    •      With: “…the homes stood black against the sky, like wild beasts glaring curiously with yellow eyes down into the darkness.” D.H. Lawrence.

    Mixed Figures of Speech

    •      Starting with one comparison, and then shifting to another that is not consistent with the first.

    •      Flailing both wings, Mr. McCall flew to the platform and barked [screeched] for silence.

    •      Her face reddened as great waves of embarrassment broke over her, all but drying up [washing away] the little confidence she had.

    Trite Expressions

    •      Cliches, expressions that have are dull and boring because they are overused.

    •      They suggest laziness and lack of originality 

    –   Bury the hatchet = stop fighting

    –   Fair and square = completely honest

    –   At death’s door = near death

    Jargon

    •      Two Types:

    –    Technical Language used by specialists in a profession (legal, engineering, medical, educational).

    •    The decommissioning of the project will allow procurement by the MDC, resulting in sustainability.

    –    Vague, puffed-up, pretentious language that tends to confuse the reader.  Some jargon is so unspecific that it becomes meaningless.

    •    Under the circumstances, pertaining to, as for the fact that, with reference to, relative to the matter.

    Slang

    •      Slang began as a secret means of expression (argot) among thieves and beggars.

    •      Should never be used in expository writing.

    •      It may be used in literature to depict informal speech (i.e., Their Eyes Were Watching God).

    Colloquialisms and Idioms

    •      Words or phrases that are characteristic of spoken, informal English.

    –    Snakes (the road snakes around the corner)

    –    Tore (the man tore up the stairs to rescue her)

    •      Idioms: a word or phrase that cannot be accepted literally.

    –    I got your back

    –    From the horse’s mouth

    –    Clue me in

    –    Chow down

Last Modified on December 21, 2008