Slide 1:Language Network Your writing style


Slide 2:Writing Style Writing style is a combination of the words and images you choose, and the types of sentences you write. Developing Style


Slide 3:Developing Style Specific Words Denotations and Connotations Practice and Apply


Slide 4:In addition to using a particular level of language, a writer may choose to use concrete words or abstract words, specific words or general words. The writer’s selection of words makes up his or her diction. Specific Words


Slide 5:GENERAL: The man saw a car. SPECIFIC: The patrol officer saw a blue sedan. Specific Words


Slide 6:Precise nouns and verbs also can be used to replace a string of words and modifiers. Specific Words


Slide 7:The car shifted from lane to lane through traffic. The car zigzagged through traffic. Specific Words


Slide 8:Words have two kinds of meanings, called denotations and connotations. The denotation of a word is its dictionary definition. The connotation of a word is the set of associations and feelings the word evokes. Denotations and Connotations


Slide 9:Cheap, inexpensive, and economical all mean about the same thing, but their connotative meanings are very different. That car is really economical. That car is really inexpensive. That car is really cheap. POSITIVE CONNOTATION NEUTRAL CONNOTATION NEGATIVE CONNOTATION Denotations and Connotations


Slide 10:In many dictionaries you can find explanations of connotations in the lists of synonyms that follow words’ definitions. Denotations and Connotations


Slide 11:Rewrite the sentence by replacing the underlined words with more specific ones. Practice and Apply


Slide 12:Rewrite the sentence by replacing the underlined words with more specific ones. Practice and Apply


Slide 13:Explain how these two sentences differ in meaning. Practice and Apply


Slide 14:Explain how these two sentences differ in meaning. Practice and Apply


Slide 15:Developing Style Imagery Figures of Speech Practice and Apply


Slide 16:Imagery Imagery conveys sensory impressions. It helps the reader see, hear, feel, taste, and smell what is being described. Imagery


Slide 17:The crisp winter day with its dazzling light and scent of new snow was a perfect setting for the women’s halfpipe competition. The densely packed crowd huddled together for warmth and tried to avoid sliding on the slippery, steep slope. The competitors whizzed by, shredding the slopes, inches from the spectators. What an exciting day! This description appeals to several senses. Imagery


Slide 18:Figures of Speech Figures of speech, or figurative language, communicate ideas beyond the ordinary, literal meaning of words. Figures of Speech


Slide 19:Simile, metaphor, and personification are three examples of figures of speech. You can use them to create strong, memorable images for the reader. Figures of Speech


Slide 20:A simile is a comparison that contains the word like or as. Fresh similes compare things that a person might not normally think of comparing. Figures of Speech


Slide 21:. . . Then, like a bursting Roman candle, the gum tree ahead of us was shattered by a bolt of lightning. . . .[the rain] fell straight down in parallel paths like ropes hanging from the sky. —James Hurst, “The Scarlet Ibis” Similes make the scene from James Hurst’s story more vivid. Figures of Speech


Slide 22:In a metaphor something is treated as though it were something else. The comparison is made without the use of like or as. Figures of Speech


Slide 23:. . . without my knowing it, the locomotive of my heart was rushing down a dangerous slope, heading for a collision, heedless of the warning red lights that blinked all about me, the sirens and the bells and the screams that filled the air. —Richard Wright, Black Boy Richard Wright uses the metaphor of a runaway train to describe the path his life was taking. Figures of Speech


Slide 24:Personification is a figure of speech in which a writer gives human characteristics to an animal, a thing, or an idea. Figures of Speech


Slide 25:Susan Doro uses personification to present a poem as a main character. But tonight the poem saw that she was having a good time, joking with her “buddies.” It was an hour and a half later when the poem looked in again. —Susan Doro, “The Cultural Worker” Figures of Speech


Slide 26:Use imagery to complete the sentence. Practice and Apply


Slide 27:Use a simile to complete the sentence. Practice and Apply


Slide 28:Use a metaphor to complete the sentence. Practice and Apply


Slide 29:Write a paragraph that uses personification to describe how one of these objects acts. Practice and Apply