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Understanding Voice in Writing: Diction, Detail, Imagery, Syntax, and Tone, Schemes and Mind Maps of Voice

An in-depth exploration of the five elements of voice in writing: diction, detail, imagery, syntax, and tone. Diction refers to an author's choice of words and how they contribute to voice. Detail includes facts, observations, reasons, examples, and incidents used to develop a subject. Imagery is the verbal representation of sensory experience, and syntax is the way words are arranged within sentences. Tone is the expression of attitude and is created through selection, arrangement, and purposeful use of details and images.

Typology: Schemes and Mind Maps

2021/2022

Uploaded on 09/12/2022

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There are five elements of voice: diction, detail, imagery, syntax, tone
Diction is the foundation of voice and contributes to all of its elements.
An author’s choice of words
When reading serious literature NEVER skip words you don’t know!
Effective voice = words that are clear, concrete, exact
A torn coat vs. A tattered coat
To want revenge vs. To thirst for revenge
Diction depends on topic, purpose and occasion
Topic = specificity and sophistication
Example writing about technology includes specialized language
(e-mail, server, interface, wiki)
Purpose = words are chosen to impart a particular effect
Example Purpose to inform = straightforward diction
Purpose to entertain = ironic, playful, unexpected
Occasion = level of formality
Formal scholarly writing, serious prose, poetry
Informal expository essays, newspaper articles, fiction
Colloquial “slang” – to create a mood or capture a historic or
regional dialect.
Connotation meaning suggested by associations of the word
Denotation literal meaning of a word
Example: Skinny slender gaunt thin scrawny
Words used in surprising or unusual ways can make us rethink
what is known and reexamine meaning.
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Download Understanding Voice in Writing: Diction, Detail, Imagery, Syntax, and Tone and more Schemes and Mind Maps Voice in PDF only on Docsity!

There are five elements of voice: diction, detail, imagery, syntax, tone

Diction is the foundation of voice and contributes to all of its elements.

An author’s choice of words

When reading serious literature – NEVER skip words you don’t know!

 Effective voice = words that are clear, concrete, exact

A torn coat vs. A tattered coat To want revenge vs. To thirst for revenge

 Diction depends on topic, purpose and occasion

Topic = specificity and sophistication Example – writing about technology includes specialized language (e-mail, server, interface, wiki)

Purpose = words are chosen to impart a particular effect Example – Purpose to inform = straightforward diction Purpose to entertain = ironic, playful, unexpected

Occasion = level of formality Formal – scholarly writing, serious prose, poetry Informal – expository essays, newspaper articles, fiction Colloquial – “slang” – to create a mood or capture a historic or regional dialect.

Connotation – meaning suggested by associations of the word  Denotation – literal meaning of a word

Example: Skinny slender gaunt thin scrawny

 Words used in surprising or unusual ways can make us rethink what is known and reexamine meaning.

DETAIL

 includes facts, observations, reasons, examples and incidents used to develop a subject and impart voice  specific detail refers to fewer things than general descriptions, creating a precise mental picture  bring life and color to description  focuses the reader’s attention  brings the reader into the scene

Because use of detail encourages readers to participate in the text, use of detail influences reader’s views of the topic, the settings, the narrator, and the author.

Detail shapes reader attitude by focusing attention

  • the writer cannot describe everything, so what the writer chooses to describe shows its importance -the more specific the detail, the greater the focus on the object described.

Detail turns abstraction into concrete, particular, and unmistakable

Details connect abstractions to the reader’s lives  to specifics they can imagine  have participated in  understand vicariously

When the reader is can empathize or understand through similar experiences, your writing becomes more effective.

Detail can also state by understatement

  • The absence of specific details that are expected leads the reader to wonder why?
  • Again, focusing attention on the subject.

Syntax - the way words are arranged within sentences.

 Although every sentence must have a subject and a verb; word order can be random  How writers control and manipulate the sentence is a strong determiner of voice and imparts personality to the writing.

Syntax encompasses  word order  sentence length  sentence focus  punctuation

WORD ORDER: Most English sentences follow a subject-verb-object/complement pattern.  Deviating from the expected word order can serve to startle the reader and draw attention to the sentence. This, in turn, emphasizes the unusual sentence’s message.

There are several ways to change normal word order:  Inverting subject and verb (Am I ever sorry!)  Placing a complement at the beginning of the sentence (Hungry, without a doubt, he is.)  Placing an object in front of a verb (Sarah I like – not Susan.).

Good writers shift between conformity and nonconformity, preventing reader complacency without using unusual sentence structure to the point of distraction.

SENTENCE LENGTH Writers vary sentence length to forestall boredom and control emphasis.

 A short sentence following a much longer sentence shifts the reader’s attention, which emphasizes the meaning and importance of the short sentence.  Many modern writers put key ideas in short sentences. However, this has not always been so.  Sentence length contributes to variation and emphasis among sentences.

SENTENCE FOCUS Sentence focus deals with variation and emphasis within a sentence.  In the English sentence, main ideas are usually expressed in main-clause positions. However, main-clause placement often varies, and this placement determines the writer’s focal point.  Sentence focus is generally achieved by syntactic tension and repetition. o Syntactic tension is the withholding of syntactic closure (completion of grammatical structure) until the end of the sentence. o Sentences that delay closure are called periodic sentences. o Periodic sentences carry high tension and interest: the reader must wait until the end of the sentence to understand the meaning. o For example, note that the main idea of the following sentence is completed at the end of the sentence: As long as we ignore our children, refuse to dedicate the necessary time and money to their care, we will fail to solve the problem of school violence. o In contrast, sentences that reach syntactical closure early (loose sentences) relieve tension and allow the reader to explore the rest of the sentence without urgency. Note the difference in tension when we change the sentence to a loose sentence: We will fail to

Tone - the expression of attitude. It is the writer’s (or narrator’s) implied attitude towards his subject and audience.

The writer creates tone by  selection (diction)  arrangement (syntax)  purposeful use of details and images.

The reader perceives tone by examining these elements. Tone sets the relationship between reader and writer.

Understanding tone is requisite to understanding meaning.  key to perceiving the author’s mood  making the connection between the author’s thought and its expression.

Identifying and analyzing tone requires careful reading, sensitivity to diction and syntax, and understanding of detail selection and imagery.

What a thrill –

My thumb instead of an onion.

The top quite gone

Except for a sort of a hinge

Of skin,

A flap like a hat,

Dead white.

Then a red plush.

- Sylvia Plath, “Cut: For Susan O’Neill Roe”