Creative

Writing
LESSON 3: LANGUAGE (DICTION)
PREPARED BY: MARIA LOURDES V. VITALES

Lets Do a Challenge!

Read silently
then
demonstrate.
Hewalked towards the
door.
He tiptoed towards
the door.
He glided towards
the door.
He skipped towards
the door.
He hurried towards
the door.
He stomped towards
the door.
He limped towards
the door.
Heswaggered
towards the door.
 What do all the
sentences have in
common?
 A writer chooses the RIGHT words to stir readers
imagination and to evoke emotional response.

GENERIC: He walked towards the door.

SUSPENSE: tiptoed, sneaked/snuck, skulked, stalked
GRACEFULNESS: glided, sashayed, slipped, skated, floated
HAPPINESS: skipped, hopped, bounced, pranced, gamboled, capered, trotted,
HASTE/URGENCY: hurried, scurried, scampered, walked briskly, scuttled, dashed
ANGER: stomped, tramped, clumped, trudged, plodded, strode, paced, trod, treaded,
marched
SADNESS/DESPAIR: limped, hobbled, shuffled, shambled, staggered, wobbled, hitched
PRIDE: swaggered, strutted, paraded, flounced
Language Style or DICTION

TOPIC of the DAY

1. Use appropriate language
Objectives
style/diction to evoke emotional
and intellectual responses from
readers;

2. Compose a vignette using

proper diction;

3. Express appreciation of
language style/diction used in
creative writing
Diction Defined

Diction can be defined as style of

speaking or writing determined by
the choice of words by a speaker or
a writer.
What does IT do?

Diction
or choice of words separates
good writing from bad writing.

How?

Functions of Diction

In literature, writers choose words to create and convey

a typical mood, tone and atmosphere to their readers.
A writers choice of words and his selection of graphic
words not only affects the readers attitude but also
conveys the writers feelings toward the literary work.
Moreover, poetry is known for its unique diction that
separates it from prose. Usually, a poetic diction is
marked by the use of figures of speech, rhyming words
etc.
Writers skillfully choose words to develop a certain TONE
and ATMOSPHERE in their works. Read the following excerpt from a
short story The School by Donald Barthelme:
And the trees all died. They were orange trees. I dont know why
they died, they just died. Something wrong with the soil possibly or
maybe the stuff we got from the nursery wasnt the best. We
complained about it. So weve got thirty kids there, each kid had
his or her own little tree to plant and weve got these thirty dead
trees. All these kids looking at these little brown sticks, it was
depressing.
TONE: gloomy

Importance

 Properdiction or proper choice of words
is important to get the message across.
In
contrast, the wrong choice of words
can easily divert listeners or readers
which results in misinterpretation of the
message intended to be conveyed.
 How to Separate Good
Writing
from Bad Writing
 Firstly, the word has to be right and
accurate.
Secondly, words should be appropriate to
the context (what comes before or after
the passage) in which they are used.
Lastly, the choice of words should be such
that the listener or readers understand
easily.
 Whats the difference?

We do not hurry, we hasten.

- Julie Andrews in Princess Diary 2
For example:
A gentleman chuckles.
A happy lady titters.
A playful girl giggles.
A boisterous boy chortles.
A bar girl cackles.
A drunken man guffaws.

Types of Diction

Formal Diction

Individuals vary their diction depending on different

contexts and settings.

Formal diction is where formal words are used in

formal situations e.g. press conferences, presentations
etc.
Formal Diction

Example: excerpts from Ode to the Grecian Urn

Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard
Are sweeter: therefore, ye soft pipes, play on
In the same poem he says:
Ah, happy, happy boughs! that cannot shed
Your leaves, nor ever bid the spring adieu.
-Keats used the formal ye instead of you, in the
same manner he used adieu instead of goodbye.
Informal Diction

Informal diction is used in informal situations like writing

or talking to our friends.
Colloquial diction uses words common in everyday
speech.
Slang is the use of words that are impolite or newly
coined.
Informal Diction

COLLOQUIALISM:
Excerpt from John Donnes poem The Sun Rising:
Busy old fool, unruly Sun,
Why dost thou thus,
Through windows, and through curtains, call
on us?
Must to thy motions lovers seasons run?
Saucy pedantic wretch,
Informal Diction

SLANG:
Theres no point in takin Kit with you. Hes a
yellow lily-livered good for nothin thug!
 Diction Examples in Literature
REPETITION
Sometimes writers repeat their chosen words or phrases to achieve an
artistic effect. Read the following example from A Tale of Two Cities
by Charles Dickens:
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of
wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was
the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of
Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.
PURPOSE of the AUTHOR: to ensure that the readers will give more
consideration to characteristic of the age they are going to read
about in the novel.
Watch!
Lets Do These!
Lets do this:
change the underlined word inside the sentence with the word inside the box that corresponds
to the tone/MOOD described in column B. Write the letter of your answer in column A.

SENTENCE: Darwin speaks these words to his wife.

CHOICES: admits, confides, converses, coos, moans, mutters, whines
A. ANSWERS B. TONES/MOODS
1. a. anger
2. b. dissatisfaction
3. c. formality
4. d. guilt
5. e. passion
6. f. secrecy
g. tenderness
7.
 Lets do it again:
Change the underlined word inside the sentence with the word inside the box that
corresponds to the TONE/MOOD described in column B. Write the letter of your answer
in column A.

SENTENCE: Martha eats the food given to her.

CHOICES: , gobbles, munches, nibbles, samples, savors
A B
1. a. anticipation
2. b. carelessness
3. c. formality
4. d. greed
5. e. passion
Vignette throwback

Vignette is a small impressionistic scene, an

illustration, a descriptive passage, a short essay,
a fiction, or nonfiction work focusing on one
particular moment or giving impression about
an idea, character, setting, mood, aspect or
an object.
Example of a vignette

Some boys taught me to play football. This was fine

sport. You thought up a new strategy for every play and
whispered it to the others. You went out for a pass,
fooling everyone. Best, you got to throw yourself mightily
at someones running legs In winter, in the snow, there
was neither baseball nor football, so the boys and I
threw snowballs at passing cars. I got in trouble throwing
snowballs, and have seldom been happier since.
(An American Childhood by Annie Dillard)
 Example of a vignette

Then Uncle Nacho is pulling and pulling my arm and it

doesnt matter how new the dress Mama bought is because
my feet are ugly until my uncle who is a liar says, You are the
prettiest girl here, will you dance My uncle and me bow
and he walks me back in my thick shoes to my mother who is
proud to be my mother. All night the boy who is a man
watches me dance. He watched me dance.
(House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros)
 Now, What have WE learned?

That diction is a style of speaking or writing determined by the choice of

words used by writers/speakers
That there are two major types of diction: formal & informal (including
colloquial & slang)
that In literature, the functions of diction are:
to create and convey a typical mood, tone and atmosphere;
to affect the readers attitude and conveys the writers feelings toward the
literary work;
to distinguish poetry from prose.
 Lets write!

Draw inspiration from your own experiences.

Use proper diction in your paragraph.
Words must be no more than 500 but not less than
100.
Use sheet of paper for the draft.
Encode final draft in 1 short bond paper.
references

Topics Source:
http://www.literarydevices.net
Video excerpt from Ten Things I
Hate About You (Youtube)