Lesson 4: essay tone, diction, and syntax
Remember that we are reading John Muir's "Calypso Borealis" (1864).
The point of reading it is to be able to write a literary analysis essay later in the unit.
In the last lesson, we read just be sure we understood the words and what the overall essay was about.
Can you sum it up?
Yeah, you are right--basically a guy goes into the swamps for fun and delight. He enjoys tress and flowers, but the swamp isn't always physically comfortable. Right when the guy gets his saddest about being cold and wet, he sees IT. The Calypso Borealis, which is a swamp flower. This makes him happy beyond description and leads him to have philosophical thoughts about the beauty and spirituality.
We also learned that this type of essay is an example of the naturalist and the romantic schools of writing.
Now, in this lesson we will learn how to analyze the essay for word choice.
The point of reading it is to be able to write a literary analysis essay later in the unit.
In the last lesson, we read just be sure we understood the words and what the overall essay was about.
Can you sum it up?
Yeah, you are right--basically a guy goes into the swamps for fun and delight. He enjoys tress and flowers, but the swamp isn't always physically comfortable. Right when the guy gets his saddest about being cold and wet, he sees IT. The Calypso Borealis, which is a swamp flower. This makes him happy beyond description and leads him to have philosophical thoughts about the beauty and spirituality.
We also learned that this type of essay is an example of the naturalist and the romantic schools of writing.
Now, in this lesson we will learn how to analyze the essay for word choice.
Diction
When you analyze for diction, you are closely examining an author's word choice.
You are asking yourself, "Why did the author chose to use THAT particular word? What's special about it? What is this word's connotation (or emotional weight?)"
The words someone chooses to use can give you insight as to what you are supposed to feel about the writing.
The interactive on slide 2 pulls out specific word choices the Muir made when writing his essay. What effect do each of those group of words have on a reader?
The important thing to learn about diction is that authors carefully chose every word for maximum impact. There are no words that are there by accident.
Words are carefully chosen to create an overall tone, or feeling to the writing.
You are asking yourself, "Why did the author chose to use THAT particular word? What's special about it? What is this word's connotation (or emotional weight?)"
The words someone chooses to use can give you insight as to what you are supposed to feel about the writing.
The interactive on slide 2 pulls out specific word choices the Muir made when writing his essay. What effect do each of those group of words have on a reader?
The important thing to learn about diction is that authors carefully chose every word for maximum impact. There are no words that are there by accident.
Words are carefully chosen to create an overall tone, or feeling to the writing.
DIALECT
Dialect is not just a writing technique. Dialect is a sub-category of a language, usually defined by a region that a person lives in. It's the fancy term for saying somebody 'talks funny.'
It's like when somebody has an accent.
Writers can write a character's accent right into the way a reader reads.
Writers can write a character's dialect into the dialogue.
In "Calypso Borelais" Muir writes using dialect in certain parts.
In my personal experience, the easiest way to decode dialect in writing is to read 'out loud' the words as they sound. Don't worry about the spelling, just listen to what you are saying, and you should 'hear' the word as it is pronounced with an accent.
For example, on slide 3 of the lesson, cauld is cold, mony is many, puir is poor. Muckle is nothing, and that's ok, I'm not going to spend more than one nanosecond worrying about that. I get that the character is saying that "Many a poor body has been lost in that [weird], cold, dreary bog and never been found."
The important thing to learn about dialect is that it is a part of the word choice an author makes. The author gives the reader a character on purpose. As a reader, if you are reading dialect, the author is trying to tell you something about that character. The author is adding to the world that he or she is creating by including the dialect of characters.
Nothing in a story is there by accident.
Dialect is not just a writing technique. Dialect is a sub-category of a language, usually defined by a region that a person lives in. It's the fancy term for saying somebody 'talks funny.'
It's like when somebody has an accent.
Writers can write a character's accent right into the way a reader reads.
Writers can write a character's dialect into the dialogue.
In "Calypso Borelais" Muir writes using dialect in certain parts.
In my personal experience, the easiest way to decode dialect in writing is to read 'out loud' the words as they sound. Don't worry about the spelling, just listen to what you are saying, and you should 'hear' the word as it is pronounced with an accent.
For example, on slide 3 of the lesson, cauld is cold, mony is many, puir is poor. Muckle is nothing, and that's ok, I'm not going to spend more than one nanosecond worrying about that. I get that the character is saying that "Many a poor body has been lost in that [weird], cold, dreary bog and never been found."
The important thing to learn about dialect is that it is a part of the word choice an author makes. The author gives the reader a character on purpose. As a reader, if you are reading dialect, the author is trying to tell you something about that character. The author is adding to the world that he or she is creating by including the dialect of characters.
Nothing in a story is there by accident.
slide 4: two worksheets
On slide 4 of this lesson, you are given links to two different worksheets. ONE of them will be submitted into the dropbox on slide 7.
I will let you chose which one.
Take a look at both, and decide which worksheet is the one that will help you analyze the essay the most.
Complete it and upload it into the dropbox.
You are welcome!
I will let you chose which one.
Take a look at both, and decide which worksheet is the one that will help you analyze the essay the most.
Complete it and upload it into the dropbox.
You are welcome!
Assessment: quiz + Portfolio
There is a 5 question quiz at the end of this lesson.
It's moderately easy.
See you in lesson 5!
We will be reading a poem next!
It's moderately easy.
See you in lesson 5!
We will be reading a poem next!