My teacher always asks me to comment on diction, style, tone, rhetoric....
but i don't know how to do this, i mean i know what they are, i just don't know how to formulate an essay on this?
can you give me a sentence that sortof depicts what this is?
Your teacher wants you to find examples of each and explain the example you find for each literary term.
For example, when writing about diction, you'd be giving an example of an author's word choice (formal? informal? slang? lots of use of word from foreign language? what?) and then explaining why you think the author chooses those words in the context of what he/she is writing.
If you'll try writing about one or two of the terms you need and re-post, someone here will be happy to comment on your ideas.
When I talk about writing technique, I talk about the authors word choices, writing style ( how sentences are put together), tone.
These are the technical aspects a writer uses to make their point or achieve their purpose in writing.
So, when writing an essay that includes these things, after you have said what the author wants to achieve, then you will show how the author uses these technical aspects to do that.
Here's further information about DICTION, for example:
http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms_D.html
"DICTION: The choice of a particular word as opposed to others. A writer could call a rock formation by many words--a stone, a boulder, an outcropping, a pile of rocks, a cairn, a mound, or even an "anomalous geological feature." The analytical reader then faces tough questions. Why that particular choice of words? What is the effect of that diction? The word choice a writer makes determines the reader's reaction to the object of description, and contributes to the author's style and tone. Compare with concrete diction and abstract diction, above. It is also possible to separate diction into high or formal diction, which involves elaborate, technical, or polysyllabic vocabulary and careful attention to the proprieties of grammar, and low or informal diction, which involves conversational or familiar language, contractions, slang, elision, and grammatical errors designed to convey a relaxed tone."
ok so just one question: if you want to write a sentence on it, would you be like: The author uses pathos and ethos in this quote, "asdifjaosdf" to suggest blah blah?
That's the idea, yes. Of course, if you're writing about several literary terms, you'll need to vary the phrasing so they don't all read identically!
Certainly! Here's a sentence that depicts how you can comment on diction, style, tone, and rhetoric:
"The author's deliberate use of formal, precise vocabulary (diction) and complex sentence structures (style) creates a tone of authority and seriousness, enhancing the effectiveness of the rhetoric employed to persuade the reader."
This sentence touches upon all the key elements your teacher is asking you to comment on - diction, style, tone, and rhetoric. If you expand upon each of these elements in your essay, you can provide a thorough analysis and evaluation of these aspects in a text. Let's break it down further:
1. Diction: Diction refers to the choice and use of words in writing. You can comment on whether the author's word choice is formal or informal, specific or vague, technical or accessible, etc. Is the author using any specialized terminology or poetic language? Analyze how the author's word choice contributes to the overall meaning of the text.
2. Style: Style encompasses the way an author expresses their ideas, including sentence structures, figurative language, and overall writing techniques. You can analyze the length and complexity of sentences, the use of metaphors or similes, the balance between descriptive and concise language, and any other stylistic elements that stand out. Consider how the author's style affects the reader's experience and understanding of the text.
3. Tone: Tone refers to the attitude or mood conveyed by the author's writing. It can be formal, informal, humorous, solemn, objective, subjective, etc. Pay attention to the language, phrasing, and overall atmosphere created by the author's words. Discuss how the tone influences the reader's perception of the content and the author's intentions.
4. Rhetoric: Rhetoric focuses on the persuasive techniques employed by the author to influence the audience. It includes strategies such as appeals to emotion, logic, or ethics, the use of rhetorical devices such as repetition or parallelism, and the overall structure and organization of the text. Analyze how the author uses rhetoric to convey their message and to engage the reader.
By addressing each of these components in your essay, you'll be able to provide a comprehensive analysis of the diction, style, tone, and rhetoric used by an author in a particular text. Remember to support your points with evidence from the text itself to strengthen your analysis.