This document discusses diction and connotation in language. It provides definitions and examples of key terms like denotation, connotation, poetic diction, allusion, vulgate, colloquial English, general English, formal English, and dialect. It also includes two short poems - one by William Carlos Williams about eating plums, and another by Marianne Moore about superior people and showing restraint through silence rather than speech.

1. Diction
#whatchasay

2. Denotation
To say, not to suggest
To be, not to seem

3. Literally
the ordinary matter-of-fact sense to be found
in the DICTIONary

4. This is Just to say
and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast
I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox
Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold
Poem by William Carlos Williams

5. Connotation
an association or additional meaning that a word, image or phrase may carry
apart from its literal denotation or dictionary definition. A word may pick up
connotations from the uses to which it has been put in the past.

6. Silence
by Marianne Moore
My father used to say,
"Superior people never make long visits,
have to be shown Longfellow's grave
nor the glass flowers at Harvard.
Self reliant like the cat --
that takes its prey to privacy,
the mouse's limp tail hanging like a shoelace from its mouth --
they sometimes enjoy solitude,
and can be robbed of speech
by speech which has delighted them.
The deepest feeling always shows itself in silence;
not in silence, but restraint."
Nor was he insincere in saying, "`Make my house your inn'."
Inns are not residences.

7. saying &suggesting
Poets aren’t the only ones who care about language connotation.
Advertisers know that connotations make money.
In Imaginative writing, connotations are as crucial as they are
in advertising.

8. TERMS for review
DICTION: word choice or vocabulary
Concrete Diction: specific names or details we can immediately perceive
abstract diction: express general concepts or ideas
poetic diction: elevated language intended for verse or poetry
allusion: brief, indirect reference that rely on implication

9. TERMS for review
vulgate: lowest level of diction, everyday speech
colloquial english: casual, informal, conversational
general english: ordinary speech of native speakers
formal english: heightened speech for dignified occasions
dialect: variety of language used by regional group or class