The document discusses how writers use tone, style, word choice, figurative language, and other language techniques to indirectly express their purpose and communicate attitudes without expressly stating them. It provides examples of how writers establish tone through word choices and sentence structures, tailor their style to the intended audience, use connotative and denotative word meanings, make comparisons through similes and metaphors, and employ symbols to represent ideas. Understanding these indirect language aspects is important for discerning an author's full message and purpose.
Powerpoint over how to recognize appeals being used in persuasive essays such as speeches, or other non-fiction materials. Worksheet to accompany ppt can be obtained by contacting me at jfergus2@houstonisd.org
Powerpoint over how to recognize appeals being used in persuasive essays such as speeches, or other non-fiction materials. Worksheet to accompany ppt can be obtained by contacting me at jfergus2@houstonisd.org
This presentation examines the necessity of encouraging writing across the curriculum areas. Writing activities have to be engaging, meaningful and help to develop the writing skills of the audience. These slides examine how and why one should teach writing across the curriculum.
DIDLS The Key to TONE Diction - the connotation of the wo.docxmariona83
DIDLS: The Key to TONE
Diction - the connotation of the word choice
What words does the author choose? Consider his/her word choice compared to another. Why did
the author choose that particular word? What are the connotations of that word choice?
Images - vivid appeals to understanding through the senses - concrete language
What images does the author use? What does he/she focus on in a sensory (sight, touch, taste,
smell, etc.) way? The kinds of images the author puts in or leaves out reflect his/her style? Are
they vibrant? Prominent? Plain? NOTE: Images differ from detail in the degree to which they
appeal to the senses.
Details - facts that are included or those that are omitted
What details are does the author choose to include? What do they imply? What does the author
choose to exclude? What are the connotations of their choice of details? PLEASE NOTE: Details are
facts or fact-lets. They differ from images in that they don't have a strong sensory appeal.
Language - the overall use of language, such as formal, clinical, jargon
What is the overall impression of the language the author uses? Does it reflect education? A
particular profession? Intelligence? Is it plain? Ornate? Simple? Clear? Figurative? Poetic? Make
sure you don't skip this step.
Sentence Structure - how structure affects the reader's attitude
What are the sentences like? Are they simple with one or two clauses? Do they have multiple
phrases? Are they choppy? Flowing? Sinuous like a snake? Is there antithesis, chiasmus, parallel
construction? What emotional impression do they leave? If we are talking about poetry, what is
the meter? Is there a rhyme scheme?
DICTION:
Laugh: guffaw, chuckle, titter, giggle, cackle, snicker, roar
Self-confident: proud, conceited, egotistical, stuck-up, haughty, smug, condescending
House: home, hut, shack, mansion, cabin, home, residence
Old: mature, experienced, antique, relic, senior, ancient
Fat: obese, plump, corpulent, portly, porky, burly, husky, full-figured
IMAGES:
The use of vivid descriptions or figures of speech that appeal to sensory experiences helps to
create the author's tone.
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun. (restrained)
An old, mad, blind, despised, and dying king. (somber, candid)
He clasps the crag with crooked hands. (dramatic)
Love sets you going like a fat gold watch. (fanciful)
Smiling, the boy fell dead. (shocking)
DETAILS:
Details are most commonly the facts given by the author or speaker as support for the attitude or
tone.
The speaker's perspective shapes what details are given and which are not.
LANGUAGE:
Like word choice, the language of a passage has control over tone.
Consider language to be the entire body of words used in a text, not simply isolated bits of
diction.
For example, an invitation to a wedding might use formal language, while a biology text would use
scientific and clinic.
There are many of childrens books out there, but its important t.docxssusera34210
There are many of children's books out there, but it's important to evaluate children's literature critically before introducing it. Suffice it to say that not all books are created equal. Students read many types of literature throughout school. To appreciate a variety of literature and to complete assignments involving these works, students need to understand how to read critically. Learn how to read literature critically to evaluate and interpret an author’s work.
In literature, readers must pay attention to plot, or the events that take place to create meaning. The plot takes place in the setting, which also adds to the meaning of the story. When reading, ask yourself how the setting adds to the different situations and important events of the story.
In most plots, characters are introduced and usually depict traits of human nature. Characters may represent only a few traits, or they may represent very complex conflicts and emotions. A character can be the narrator, or a person (or more than one person) who tells the story. The narrator or narrators will see events from a certain perspective and have attitudes toward the events and other characters. This is called point of view, and this perspective is a key issue in figuring out the meaning of the work.
Fiction will have figurative language, too, which will be used to describe and understand characters. Fiction attempts to represent reality in some way. Often, reality is represented in different ways through symbols and codes of human meaning and systems. Fiction, for example, may represent every day events and stick closely to place and time. Then again, fiction may represent moral or spiritual aspects through symbols, characters, or improbable events. Authors use fiction to offer a complex understanding of the world. As you read fiction, try to notice the differences and similarities between the world the author creates and the world you inhabit.
Critical thinking in literature also develops a keen awareness of the use of
language, not merely from the aesthetic point of view but keeping in mind today’s
world and its developments, the inevitable political point of view. Students realize that
language is not a neutral phenomenon explaining some already existing reality but
words weave layers of meanings creating and generating their own reality.
Examining Figurative Language
Figurative language, sometimes difficult to teach, can be taught easily with games. Students can learn how to analyze figurative language by middle school, whether it occurs in prose or poetry. Types of figurative language and their definitions.
Alliteration is the repetition of consonants in the first letter of words
Hyperbole is an exaggeration
Idiom means sayings or expressions that have figurative meaning
Imagery involves using one or more of the five senses (sight, touch, taste, hearing, and smell) to describe characters, places or things in literature or poems
Metaphor is the comparison of two unlike thing ...
1. Tone and
Purpose
The Indirect Ways That
Writers Communicate
2. Understanding the
Author’s Purpose
In many textbooks, the
writer’s purpose is fairly clear.
However, sometimes a writer
will express an opinion
indirectly.
Writers use tone, style and
other features of language to
achieve the results they want.
3. Understanding Tone
Refers to the author’s Examples
attitude toward his/her Instructive
subject. Sympathetic
Think of how you interpret Persuasive
Nostalgic
the tone of a speaker’s voice
Humorous
Pay attention to word Angry
choice, types and length of Insensitive
sentences, description Naive
Tone is important in
determining the author’s
purpose.
4. Style and Intended
Audience
Style may be defined as the
characteristics that make a
writer unique.
Depending upon whom the
writer is addressing, he will
change the level of language,
method of presentation, and
word choice.
Writing may be academic,
technical, formal, or informal.
5. Language
Objective Subjective
factual Express
attitudes,
feelings &
opinions
Authors use language in special ways to help the
reader understand and create a picture of a situation.
Create Descriptions
Making comparisons
Using symbols
6. Word Choice
Connotative Denotative
Meanings Meanings
– Opposite of – Literal Meaning
Denotation found in the
– Implied Meaning dictionary
– A Word’s Nuance— – Factual, exact
ideas associated – No added meanings
with the word’s
usage
– May be positive or
negative
8. Figurative Language
• Describes
something that
makes sense on an
imaginative level
but not on a
factual or literal
level.
• Example:
– Sam eats like a
horse.
– The wilted plants
begged for water.
9. Making Comparisons
• Similes and metaphors
• Compare one object or living thing
with another
• Questions to ask yourself
– What two things is the author
comparing?
– Why did the author choose that
comparison? What do they have in
common?
10. Figurative Language-
Comparison
S a m e a t s lik e a h o r s e
( s im ile )
A h o r s e e a t s la r g e a m o u n t s o f fo o d . S a m e a t s la r g e a m o u n t s o f fo o d .
• The purpose of figurative language is to paint a
word picture—to help the reader visualize how
something looks, feels, or smells
• The red sun was pasted in the sky like a wafer.
• I will speak daggers to her, but use none.
• Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.
11. Using Symbols
• Symbols can be either pictures or
objects that stand for ideas, people,
concepts, or anything else the author
decides.
• Symbols are a communication shortcut
—make ideas more understandable by
connecting them with things the reader
can see.
• Common symbols: U.S. Flag (loyalty to
country), Statue of Liberty (freedom),
dove (peace), “golden arches”
(McDonald’s), scales (law/justice)
12. Typical Stem Items
• Conclusions, generalizations,
summary, comparisons, cause-
effect, time relationships, author’s
tone
– Which of the following conclusions
about X is supported by the
passage?
– Which word would the author most
likely use to describe his subject?
– The author implies that X and Y
differ in what ways?
– The author’s opinion about X is that
13. Typical Stem Items
• Application of one or more ideas
– Based on the author’s description of
X, how would a teacher using this
plan arrange the student’s activities?
– Based on the examples provided in
the passage, how could the
government best deter illegal
immigration?
14. Typical Stem Items
• Figurative language
– By the phrase, “a breath of fresh air”
in lines 6-7, the author means that …
– The use of the phrase “alien from
another planet” to describe the sister
is an example of what type of
figurative language?
– By saying “the room was like a
sauna,” the author is indicating that
…
15. Review/Recall
• What are inferences and why are they
important for reading?
• What do you do with inferences once you
have made them?
• Explain why the conclusions you draw
about a reading selection can be tentative
—why you can change you mind about
how you understand them.
• What are some things that might influence
a change in how you understand a reading
selection?