Writing Help 129 | - ☆ Freelance Writer
Apr 05, 2013 | #1
Terms You Need for Writing about the Novel
Although the word diction is seldom used today, and is most often used to describe the correctness of someone's speech when it is (using proper diction), it still serves as a useful descriptor in literary, especially novelistic, analysis. The root of the word originates in the Latin dictus, meaning saying or speaking, and is present in other English words like dictionary and dictation. Diction is thus the manner in which an author chooses to say something, often governed by or determining of a general style, best explored through word choice and word order.
Although this definition might sound complex, you will no doubt have a good idea of the kind of diction, as well as the resultant style, that emerges from the following passage:
Ron Smith Jones was exceedingly intelligent and highly educated. His primary interest was science, and literary fiction held no interest for him. However, he enjoyed factually accurate and concise historical accounts. He calculated his emergence from the womb at precisely 351 436 hours previous to the present moment, and predicted he had a 77% chance of doubling this number before his body ceased to function. Ron Smith Jones was precise.
As we discussed in a previous article regarding tone, the first step in determining the diction of a given passage is highly intuitive. The impressions you likely received describing the word choice in this passage are short, choppy, scientific, bare, technical, and dull. Writers will often employ diction in a consistent way over the course of a particular passage to reflect its content, and it is no coincidence that all of the words used to describe the diction of the passage can also be applied to the man they describe. When diction is applied in a systematic way to create a given impression and a consistent way of expressing an idea, we are left with a particular style, which in this case could be described as scientific or journalistic, plain and possessing little figurative language or other adornments.
Looking closely at the passage, we can find the specific word choices and structures that create this stylistic effect. First, the complete name of the character is given on two occasions, and he is never called by a more familiar name. This indicates an accuracy and formality that is out of place in most instances, but which fits the rest of the passage well. The sentences are quite short, and ideas are kept strictly apart by the use of periods rather than more complex conjunctions. We can see the words intelligent, educated, science, accurate, concise, and historical all in the first three sentences, working together to make a thoroughly academic impression. When literature is spoken of at all (negatively, of course), it is given the more technical term literary fiction, rather than the less formal terms fiction, literature, or even novels or stories. Going further, the narrator describes the birth of Ron Smith Jones as his "emergence from the womb," which is accurate but highly formal, and the calculation of his age in hours rather than years shoes a real concern for detail. The same applies to his estimated lifespan percentage, and to his reference to death as ceasing to function. The last sentence is very brief and factual, perfectly suited to the character of the man in question.
It is important to keep in mind that evaluations of diction and style rely on a single fact; there are many ways to relate a given point to an audience, and the way an author chooses to do this is a conscious decision intended to have a specific effect. Consider the way the above passage was constructed, and how many changes could have been made to different words, as well as to given syntactical structures, which would have preserved the meaning of the passage but completely altered its flavor. This is the essence of diction and style, and no good literary evaluation is complete with them.
Diction and Style
Although the word diction is seldom used today, and is most often used to describe the correctness of someone's speech when it is (using proper diction), it still serves as a useful descriptor in literary, especially novelistic, analysis. The root of the word originates in the Latin dictus, meaning saying or speaking, and is present in other English words like dictionary and dictation. Diction is thus the manner in which an author chooses to say something, often governed by or determining of a general style, best explored through word choice and word order.
Although this definition might sound complex, you will no doubt have a good idea of the kind of diction, as well as the resultant style, that emerges from the following passage:Ron Smith Jones was exceedingly intelligent and highly educated. His primary interest was science, and literary fiction held no interest for him. However, he enjoyed factually accurate and concise historical accounts. He calculated his emergence from the womb at precisely 351 436 hours previous to the present moment, and predicted he had a 77% chance of doubling this number before his body ceased to function. Ron Smith Jones was precise.
As we discussed in a previous article regarding tone, the first step in determining the diction of a given passage is highly intuitive. The impressions you likely received describing the word choice in this passage are short, choppy, scientific, bare, technical, and dull. Writers will often employ diction in a consistent way over the course of a particular passage to reflect its content, and it is no coincidence that all of the words used to describe the diction of the passage can also be applied to the man they describe. When diction is applied in a systematic way to create a given impression and a consistent way of expressing an idea, we are left with a particular style, which in this case could be described as scientific or journalistic, plain and possessing little figurative language or other adornments.
Looking closely at the passage, we can find the specific word choices and structures that create this stylistic effect. First, the complete name of the character is given on two occasions, and he is never called by a more familiar name. This indicates an accuracy and formality that is out of place in most instances, but which fits the rest of the passage well. The sentences are quite short, and ideas are kept strictly apart by the use of periods rather than more complex conjunctions. We can see the words intelligent, educated, science, accurate, concise, and historical all in the first three sentences, working together to make a thoroughly academic impression. When literature is spoken of at all (negatively, of course), it is given the more technical term literary fiction, rather than the less formal terms fiction, literature, or even novels or stories. Going further, the narrator describes the birth of Ron Smith Jones as his "emergence from the womb," which is accurate but highly formal, and the calculation of his age in hours rather than years shoes a real concern for detail. The same applies to his estimated lifespan percentage, and to his reference to death as ceasing to function. The last sentence is very brief and factual, perfectly suited to the character of the man in question.
It is important to keep in mind that evaluations of diction and style rely on a single fact; there are many ways to relate a given point to an audience, and the way an author chooses to do this is a conscious decision intended to have a specific effect. Consider the way the above passage was constructed, and how many changes could have been made to different words, as well as to given syntactical structures, which would have preserved the meaning of the passage but completely altered its flavor. This is the essence of diction and style, and no good literary evaluation is complete with them.