Diction and Old Man and the Sea

Levels of Diction

  • High or formal diction contains language that creates an elevated tone. It’s dignified, perhaps impersonal. Free of slang, idioms, colloquialisms, and contractions. May use grammar that calls attention to itself. Often contains polysyllabic words, sophisticated syntax, and elaborate vocabulary.

“Discerning the impracticable state of the poor culprit’s mind, the elder clergyman, who had carefully prepared himself for the occasion, addressed to the multitude a discourse on sin, in all its branches, but with continual reference to the ignominious letter. So forcibly did he dwell upon this symbol, for the hour or more during which his periods were rolling over the people’s heads, that it assumed new terror in their imagination.”

~ N. Hawthorne

  • Middle or neutral diction uses standard language and vocabulary without elaborate words and may include contractions. Meant to be transparent, easily understood. Hemingway’s diction is deceptively simple.

“The shark swung over and the old man saw his eye was not alive and then he swung over once again, wrapping himself in two loops of the rope. The old man knew that he was dead but the shark would not accept it. Then on his back, with his tail lashing and his jaws clicking, the shark plowed over the water as a speedboat does. The water was white where his tail beat it and three-quarters of his body was clear above the water when the rope came taut, shivered, and then snapped. The shark lay quietly for a little while on the surface and the old man watched him. Then he went down very slowly.”

~ E. Hemingway

  • Informal or low diction - language of everyday use. It’s relaxed, conversational, maybe even simple. It includes common words, idioms, slang, jargon, vulgarities, and contractions. The piece below serves as colloquial diction as well.

“By and by he rolled out and jumped up to his feet looking wild, and he see me and went for me. He chased me round and round the place with a clasp knife, calling me the Angel of death, and saying he would kill me, and then I couldn’t come for him no more. I begged, and told him I was only Huck; but he laughed such a screechy laugh, an roared and cussed, and kept on chasing me up.”

~ M. Twain

Diction terms include briefly define these here:

Slang Concrete dictionDialectSound

Colloquial expressions Abstract dictionConnotationPacing

Jargon DenotationToneVocabulary

Syntax – Describing sentence structure, consider asking these questions of the text:

  1. Are the sentences telegraphic (shorter than 5 words), short (about 5-8 words), medium (about 12 – 18 words) or long and involved (25 words or more). What is the effect of the sentence length the author uses?
  1. Examine sentence beginnings. Is there a good variety, or does a consistent pattern emerge?
  1. Examine the arrangement of ideas in sentences. Are they set out in a special way for a purpose?
  1. Examine the arrangement of ideas in the paragraph. Does the arrangement suggest a particular strategy of the author?

Sentence types / patterns (briefly define):

Declarative (statement)Compound-complexRepetition

Imperative (command)Loose / CumulativeRhetorical Question

Interrogative (question)PeriodicCondensed Lines

Exclamatory (emphasis/emotion)Natural Order

SimpleInverted Order

CompoundJuxtaposition

ComplexParallel structure

Advanced Syntax Techniques include (briefly define):

AnaphoraPolysyndeton

AsyndetonStichomythia

ChiasmusZeugma

Antimetabole

Now – In groups of two, select one passage, about a page, from Old Man and the Sea representing the style of the work as a whole. Be prepared to present on the questions below.

1. How is Hemingway’s style in thispassage representative of the novella as a whole?

2. Why are his stylistic choices successful in delivering the meaning of this work? Keep in mind the iceberg theory.

*include the following elements in both answers

DIDLS = Tone

Diction – the connotation of the word choice. Evaluate especially the words that jump out at you in defining tone.

Images –appeals to understanding through the senses; creation of a vivid picture.

Details – specific facts or opinions that are included (or perhaps those that are omitted).

Language - the overall use of language, such as formal, clinical, or jargon. Describe the entire body of words in a text/passage. Consider rhetorical devices used for literary effect.

Syntax – how sentence structure affects the reader’s attitude. Consider patterns, structures, types, constructions, punctuation . . .

Diction x2

Some strategies to think about word choice— and sound really smart while you're figuring it out!

Purpose: When analyzing the style of prose, the opportunity to show off what you know about diction (an author’s word choice) frequently appears. These notes are meant to give you a framework and a vocabulary so that you can analyze and discuss matters of diction with confidence and precision.

When this matters: Whenever you need to do any of the following:

(a)Discuss or analyze how “the language” of a passage achieves effect.

(b)Analyze the “techniques” or “rhetorical devices” used to achieve effect.

(c)Answer a question that specifically mentions the word “diction.”

Two Axes: The term “diction” covers a lot of ground, but here is a somewhat simplified way to approach it. Consider analyzing the diction according to where it falls along the two main axes:

  1. Levels of formality
  2. Literal vs. Figurative (Connotative vs. Denotative) content.
  1. Levels of formality

Diction can usually be described as one of three “levels” of style:

High or Formal: Dignified, elevated, and perhaps impersonal. Elaborate, or sophisticated vocabulary. In some cases, “high style” can refer to grammar, or syntax, that has been manipulated for an artistic effect—that is, the grammar calls attention to itself. Polysyllabic.

Middle or Neutral: Follows rules of grammar and uses common, unexceptional vocabulary. Grammar and vocabulary is meant to be transparent, easily understood.

Low or Informal: Plain language of everyday use, including slang, jargon, vulgarity, and dialect. Monosyllabic.

  1. Literal vs. Figurative (Denotative vs. Connotative) content

In addition to falling somewhere on the above axis, an author’s word choice will fall somewhere on a scale between the two poles of denotation, a word’s dictionary meaning, or connotation, the more metaphorical or poetic usage of words.

The word itself may be rich with connotations (associated contexts or multiple meanings), and/or the way the word is used may invite consideration beyond the literal, as in a pun, metaphor, symbol, or doubleentendre. And sometimes, a bird is just a bird.

How do I use this great new vocabulary to craft smart topic sentences?

First: Don’t respond to a prompt by saying that the author “uses diction.” You are saying nothing if you say that. Everyone who writes or speaks uses “word choice”—your job is to characterize that word choice.

What I suggest: A convoluted, excruciating, five-step process.

Step One: Levels of Formality

  1. A close reading on the passage, identifying unusual or characteristic words. If none, you are probably reading something with a “middle style.”
  2. If words stand out, you should be able to decide whether the passage leans to the high or low styles. If so, pick a snazzy vocab word to describe what kind of high or low diction it is.

Step Two: Connotation

  1. Examine how the words appear to be used—do they seem to be used like poetry, with lots of external, thematic meanings attached, or are they more literal, like a straightforward action story?
  2. Once you decide which way it leans, connotative or denotative, pick some vocab words that characterize the diction more specifically.

Step Three: Everything else

  1. Ask yourself about abstraction/ concreteness, what figures of speech you see, and the sounds of the language.

Step Four: Purpose

  1. Sit back for a moment and ask what purpose the word choice is fulfilling.
  2. For example, you can always say that it sets a tone—just make sure you have some words ready to describe that tone.
  3. Also consider whether the word choice is having an effect on character, symbol/theme, setting, etc.

Step Five: The topic sentence. Play Madlibs!!!

FORMULA: In [name of work], [Author] writes in a [connotation] [level of formality] style. His/her use of [connotation vocab] and [level of formality vocab] language [achieves x purpose].

EXAMPLE: In "Letter from Birmingham Jail," Martin Luther King, Jr. writes in a relatively denotative formal style. His intellectual vocabulary contributes to a dignity of tone, while the lack of euphemism underscores the seriousness of his intention.

Now create a stellar topic sentence discussing Hemmingway and diction. Write it below: