One of the questions in your independent novel assignment asks you to select a passage and write about the diction used by the author. What is diction, you might ask? Diction refers to the writer's choice of words. He may create a formal, informal, casual, descriptive, persuasive, argumentative, objective tone (attitude) based upon his word choice. For example,read these two sentences:
1. Wanting revenge, the gunslinger loaded his rifle.
2. Thirsty for revenge, the gunslinger loaded his rifle.
In sentence one, the use of the word "wanting" is descriptive, but in sentence two the use of the word "thirsty" clues us to the character's extreme desire for revenge.
Remember this passage by F. Scott Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby in which Nick describes Gatsby's home: "The one on my right was a colossal affair by any standard — it was a factual imitation of some Hotel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool, and more than forty acres of lawn and garden. It was Gatsby’s mansion." A response about this passage's use of diction might be something like this:
The use of certain words (in green) help the reader see that Gatsby's mansion echoes his new found wealth. The word "colossal" is stronger than words like "big, huge, large." The use of colossal indicates that the house is almost larger than life, almost too huge. "Colossal" often has a negative connotation as the words "factual imitation" do here. The use of this oxymoron (how can something be factual and an imitation at the same time) helps convey Fitzgerald's creation of a "fake" Gatsby. "Spanking and raw" also help to convey the "newness of the house." Because Gatsby represents the nouveau riche, his home must be described as colossal or over the top in size because he wants to "show off his wealth." Likewise, the old money homes across the bay from his have been in wealthy families for years and are covered in thick ivy, not "raw" or fresh ivy. Fitzgerald's use of precise diction helps not only to describe the setting but echo the details about Gatsby himself.
