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Literary Analysis Bursts – Diction

A redheaded woman was there with Trout. Kate could see her rummaging through the cabin, dumping drawers and knocking things from the shelves of cabinets.

Louis Sachar, Holes

Consider:

  • What picture do you get in your mind when you read the second sentence?
  • How would the meaning of the sentence change if we changed some of the words: Kate could see her searching through the cabin, emptying drawers and takingthings off of the shelves of cabinet?

Now you try it: Write a sentence describing a small boy making a mess in a restaurant. Choose words that are clear, concrete, and exact.

M.C. heard him scramble and strain his way up the slope of Sarah’s mountain.

Virginia Hamilton, M.C. Higgins, the Great

Consider:

  • What does it mean to scramble and strain up a mountain? Close your eyes and try to get a picture of someone scrambling and straining up a mountain.
  • How would it change your mental picture if we rewrote the sentence like this?

M.C. heard him walk up the slope of Sarah’s mountain.

Now you try it: Write a sentence describing someone slowly climbing up a flight of stairs. Use Hamilton’s sentence as a model.

For nearly a year, I sopped around the house, the Store, the school, and the church, like an old biscuit, dirty and inedible. Then I met, or rather got to know, the lady who threw me my first lifeline.

Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Consider:

  • What is the dictionary definition (denotation) of the verb sop?
  • What is a lifeline? How is Angelou’s use of the word different from its usual use? How does this diction affect your understanding of the sentence?

Now you try it: Write a sentence using the verb ring in a fresh and new way to capture your behavior around your house. Use Angelou’s first sentence as a model.

He spend hours in front of the mirror trying to herd his teeth into place with his thumb. He asked his mother if he could have braces, like Frankie Molina, her godson, but he asked at the wrong time.

Gary Soto, “Broken Chain”, Baseball in April and Other Stories

Consider:

  • What is Gary Soto implying about the narrator’s teeth when he uses the verb herd in the first sentence?
  • How would the meaning change if the sentence were written like this: He spend hours in front of the mirror trying to push his teeth into place with his thumb.

Now you try it: Fill in the blank below with a strong verb that creates a clear picture in the reader’s mind like Soto’s does. Avoid such obvious verbs as brush, comb, or fix. Be Creative!

She spent hours in front of the mirror trying to ______her hair in place for the party.