Session 2: Diction / Synthesis Prompt

1. Diction: Word choice

Some common characterizations:

• cacophonous / euphonious (sound)
• colloquial / formal
• connotation / denotation
• formal / informal
• high / low (register)
• general / specific, precise
• monosyllabic / pollysallabic
• Latinate / Saxon
• idiomatic
• cliche

Diction creates tone (though it doesn't do so alone).

Diction affects the reader's perception of what the author is saying.

2. How to talk about diction?

Don't say "she uses diction." Everybody uses diction. Get specific. Tell us what kind... (use some of those characterizations listed above).

FOR THE MOST ADVANCED: you may even want to avoid using the word diction altogether, and just get down to characterizing the language.

3. Ms. Beatty's Diction Handout

4. Synthesis Essays

Use at least three of the provided sources. Add your own if you like, but use at least three of theirs.

Use 15-minute planning period to read and annotate synthesis sources.

Try to get different sources "in dialogue" with each other.

There is no single, objective way to "use" a source. Each may be useful in multiple ways, depending on how you wield or deploy or manipulate it.

Worried about time? The place to cut is the intro. One-sentence introductory paragraph, cutting right to the thesis, can still be effective.

5. Ms. Beatty's 6 Steps to Writing Synthesis Essays

6. Mr. Klirs's Sample Prompt and Essay