Basic Elements of Style - Diction, Syntax, POV, Tone, Theme

Denotative words

dictionary definition

connotative words

emotional meaning

cacophonous words

harsh sounding words

euphonious words

pleasant sounding words

abstract words

not literal; represents a thought

concrete words

real or actual; use 5 senses

Levels of diction

• Informal - personal writing

• Neutral - everyday language

• Formal - academic or literary

• Colloquial - conversational language

• Slang - highly informal

• Jargon - language used in a specific field or by a specific group of people

• Poetic - elevated language within poetry

Assonance

repetition of similar vowel sounds in nearby words, creating a musical or rhythmic effect

Consonance

a literary device where consonant sounds are repeated in nearby words, creating rhythm and musicality

paradox

highlights a complex reality

antithesis

opposition or contrast of ideas is expressed by parallelism of words that are the opposites of, or strongly contrasted with, each other

synecdoche

a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa

metonymy

where a word or phrase is substituted for another that it's closely associated with

oxymoron

which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction

simple sentance

one subject and one verb

complex sentence

sentence made up of an independent clause and one or more subordinate clauses

compound sentence

sentence made up of two or more independent clauses

compound complex sentence

sentence that contains two or more main clauses and one or more subordinate clauses

periodic sentence

main thought is not complete until the end

loose sentence

essential meaning is complete before the end

natural order

subject before predicate

inverse order

predicate before subject

split order

predicate is divided into two parts with subject coming in the middle

juxtaposition

normally unassociated ideas, words or phrases placed next to each other

stream of consciousness

what passes through a persons mind