style: the way a writer chooses words and arranges them; the writer's verbal identity; conveys the writer's way of seeing the world diction: the word choices the writer makes syntax: the order those words assume in sentences and the presence or absence of figurative language (simile, metaphor, etc.) Connotation implied meaning of word. confidence/ arrogance mouse/ rat cautious/ scared curious/ nosey frugal/ cheap Denotation dictionary definition of a word 1
Abstract language refers to things that are intangible, that is, which are perceived not through the senses but by the mind, such as truth, God, education, vice, transportation, poetry, war, love. Concrete language identifies things perceived through the senses (touch, smell, sight, hearing, and taste), such as soft, stench, red, loud, or bitter. Tone - the implied attitude towards the subject of the piece. Is it hopeful, pessimistic, dreary, worried? A writer conveys tone by combining all of the elements of language to create a precise impression on the reader. 2
Point of view: the perspective from which the story is told. The most obvious point of view is probably first person or "I." The omniscient narrator knows everything, may reveal the motivations, thoughts and feelings of the characters, and gives the reader information. With a limited omniscient narrator, the material is presented from the point of view of one character, in third person. The objective point of view presents the action and the characters' speech, without comment or emotion. The reader has to interpret them and uncover their meaning. 3
Style : manner of expression; how a speaker or writer says what he says. Notice the difference in style of the opening paragraphs of Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms and Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn : In the late summer of that year we lived in a house in a village that looked across the river and the plain to the mountains. In the bed of the river there were pebbles and boulders, dry and white in the sun, and the water was clear and swiftly moving and blue in the channels. Troops went by the house and down the road and the dust they raised powdered the leaves of the trees. The trunks of the trees too were dusty and the leaves fell early that year and we saw the troops marching along the road and the dust rising and leaves, stirred by the breeze, falling and the soldiers marching and afterward the road bare and white except for the leaves. A Farewell to Arms You don't know about me without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; but that ain't no matter. That book was made by Mr. Mark Twain, and he told the truth, mainly. There was things which he stretched, but mainly he told the truth. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 4
Image A concrete representation of a sense impression, a feeling, or an idea. Imagery refers to the pattern of related details in a work. In some works one image predominates either by recurring throughout the work or by appearing at a critical point in the plot. Imagery The pattern of related comparative aspects of language, particularly of images, in a literary work. Imagery of light and darkness pervade James Joyce's story "Araby." So, too, does religious imagery. Irony A contrast or discrepancy between what is said and what is meant or between what happens and what is expected to happen in life and in literature. In verbal irony, characters say the opposite of what they mean. In situational irony, the opposite of what is expected occurs. In dramatic irony, a character speaks in ignorance of a situation or event known to the audience or to the other characters. 5
structure - The way that the writer arranges the plot of a story. Look for : Repeated elements in action, gesture, dialogue, description, as well as shifts in direction, focus, time, place, etc. climax - Climax is the point of greatest tension in a work of literature and the turning point in the action. In a plot line, the climax occurs after the rising action and before the falling action. 6
Tone While related to atmosphere, tone is distinct from it. Tone is the narrator s attitude toward his subject and audience A. Narrator s tone may show, for example, admiration for the subject or a character B. Or the narrative tone can suggest pity or hostility; on the other hand, the narrator may be condescending or folksy with the audience C. Sometimes the narrative tone is ironic D. The narrative tone may be demonstrated by direct comment, by characterization, or by choice of words, symbols, or other literary devices. 7