Word Choice in English Composition and Literature

The words a writer chooses are the building materials from which he or she constructs any given piece of writing—from a poem to a speech to a thesis on thermonuclear dynamics. Strong, carefully chosen words (also known as diction) ensure that the finished work is cohesive and imparts the meaning or information the author intended. Weak word choice creates confusion and dooms a writers work either to fall short of expectations or fail to make its point entirely. Factors That Influence Good Word Choice When selecting words to achieve the maximum desired effect, a writer must take a number of factors into consideration: Meaning: Words can be chosen for either their denotative meaning, which is the definition youd find in a dictionary or the connotative meaning, which is the emotions, circumstances, or descriptive variations the word evokes.Specificity: Words that are concrete rather than abstract are more powerful in certain types of writing, specifically academic works and works of nonfiction. However, abstract words can be powerful tools when creating poetry, fiction, or persuasive rhetoric.Audience: Whether the writer seeks to engage, amuse, entertain, inform, or even incite anger, the audience is the person or persons for whom a piece of work is intended.Level of Diction: The level of diction an author chooses directly relates to the intended audience. Diction is classified into four levels of language: Formal which denotes serious  discourseInformal which denotes relaxed but polite conversationColloquial which denotes language in everyday usageSlang which denotes new, often highly informal words and phrases that evolve as a result sociolinguistic constructs such as age, class, wealth status, ethnicity, nationality, and regional dialects. Tone: Tone is an authors attitude toward a topic. When employed effectively, tone—be it contempt, awe, agreement, or outrage—is a powerful tool that writers use to achieve a desired goal or purpose.Style: Word choice is an essential  element in the style of any writer. While his or her audience may play a role in the stylistic choices a writer makes, style is the unique voice that sets one writer apart from another. The Appropriate Words for a Given Audience To be effective, a writer must choose words based on a number of factors that relate directly to the audience for whom a piece of work is intended. For example, the language chosen for a dissertation on advanced algebra would not only contain jargon specific to that field of study; the writer would also have the expectation that the intended reader possessed an advanced level of understanding in the given subject matter that at a minimum equaled, or potentially outpaced his or her own. On the other hand, an author writing a childrens book would choose age-appropriate words that kids could understand and relate to. Likewise, while a contemporary playwright is likely to use slang and colloquialism to connect with the audience, an art historian would likely use more formal language to describe a piece of work about which he or she is writing, especially if the intended audience is a peer or academic group. Choosing words that are too difficult, too technical, or too easy for your receiver can be a communication barrier. If words are too difficult or too technical, the receiver may not understand them; if words are too simple, the reader could become bored or be insulted. In either case, ​the message falls short of meeting its goals . . . Word choice is  also a consideration when communicating with receivers for whom English is not the primary language [who] may not be familiar with colloquial English. (From Business Communication, 8th Edition, by A.C. Krizan, Patricia Merrier, Joyce P. Logan, and Karen Williams. South-Western Cengage, 2011) Word Selection for Composition Word choice is an essential element for any student learning to write effectively. Appropriate word choice allows students to display their knowledge, not just about English, but with regard to any given field of study from science and mathematics to civics and history. Fast Facts: Six Principles of Word Choice for Composition Choose understandable words.Use specific, precise words.Choose strong words.Emphasize positive words.Avoid overused words.Avoid obsolete words.(Adapted from Business Communication, 8th Edition, by A.C. Krizan, Patricia Merrier, Joyce P. Logan, and Karen Williams. South-Western Cengage, 2011) The challenge for teachers of composition is to help students understand the reasoning behind the specific word choices theyve made and then letting the students know whether or not those choices work. Simply telling a student something doesnt make sense or is awkwardly phrased wont help that student become a better writer. If a students word choice is weak, inaccurate, or clichà ©d, a good teacher will not only explain how they went wrong but ask the student to rethink his or her choices based on the given feedback. Word Choice for Literature Arguably, choosing effective words when writing literature is more complicated than choosing words for composition writing. First, a writer must consider the constraints for the chosen discipline in which they are writing. Since literary pursuits as such as poetry and fiction can be broken down into an almost endless variety of niches, genres, and subgenres, this alone can be daunting. In addition, writers must also be able to distinguish themselves from other writers by selecting a vocabulary that creates and sustains a style that is authentic to their own voice. When writing for a literary audience, individual taste is yet another huge determining factor with regard to which writer a reader considers a good and who they may find intolerable. Thats because good is subjective. For example, William Faulker and Ernest Hemmingway were both considered giants of 20th-century American literature, and yet their styles of writing could not be more different. Someone who adores Faulkners languorous stream-of-consciousness style may disdain Hemmingways spare, staccato, unembellished prose, and vice versa.

Hello World Essay - 505 Words

Frederick Douglass was born in Talbot County, Maryland. The date of his birth is estimated to be around the year 1818. His mother was a slave named Harriet Bailey. His father was generally acknowledged to be a white man, quite possibly his master, Captain Anthony. As a young boy, Douglass lived the typical life of a slave on a Southern plantation. He suffered through constant hunger and cold. He was also exposed to the extreme barbarity of slavery. In 1826, at the age of seven or eight, Douglass was sent to live in Baltimore with Captain Thomas Aulds brother, Hugh Auld and his wife, Sophia. Douglass was overjoyed at the prospect of moving to the city. The move to Baltimore was considered to be the first major turning point in†¦show more content†¦Because of a dispute between the two brothers, in 1833, at the age of fifteen, Douglass was sent back to Talbot County to live with his old master, Captain Thomas Auld. Douglass and Captain Thomas did not get along, mainly because Douglass had no respect for him as a slaveholder. Wanting to break him, Captain Thomas sent Douglass to work for a reputed nigger-breaker, Mr. Edward Covey. After six months of constant work and beatings, Douglass decided that he would fight back or die. After engaging Mr. Covey in a fight for two hours, Douglass was never harmed again. This event is described as another major turning point for Douglass-the day he became a man. After a year working f or Mr. Covey, Douglass worked for Mr. Freeland, whom Douglass described as the best master he ever had. In 1836, Douglass and some other slaves attempted an unsuccessful escape. Douglass was put in jail, but somehow, Captain Auld sent him once again to live with his brother in Baltimore. Back in Baltimore, Douglass learned how to calk (caulk) and was soon making money for Mr. Hugh Auld. 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European Union Integration And Deliberative Democracy

2.0 European Union integration and deliberative democracy The European Union (EU) was established back in (REFERENCE) with the aim of (REFERENCE peace and economic prosperity). Since then, much has happened, and the EU is now considered more than just an economic collaboration. This brings along both new challenges and new opportunities when considering the future EU. Recent developments has shown an increasingly worry about the economic situation in the EU (REFERENCE GREECE AND SPAIN), which challenges the legitimacy of the EU as solely an economic union – if the internal economy is falling apart, how can we then justify the upholding of the union? This has become a major concern to several EU countries. One example is the United Kingdom,†¦show more content†¦The political relationship between nation-states is built upon negotiations between national governments. In this sense, the theory draws upon an ‘ration actor model’, where the nation-state is the primary analytical unit of interest, and intergovernmental negotiations are the context (Cini, 2007, p. 97). More precisely, Moravcsik writes that â€Å"Actors calculate the alternative courses of action and choose the one that maximizes (or satisfies) their utility under the circumstances.† (Moravcik and Schimmelfennig, 2009, p. 68). He argues that nation-states in the EU seek to maximise economic profit based on existing preferences. This form of rationality indirectly implies that a collaboration between EU countries is undesirable when there is no economic profit to be made by the nation-state. This also means that the theory is unable to accommodate alternative forms of political integration. If one believes in the idea that EU integration is (or should be) built upon economic profitable results alone, then it should be no surprise that the EU is currently witnessing the appearance of an increasing number of euroscepticist parties within several EU countries. The other main theory about EU integration, namely the neofunctionalist (NF) tradition, opposes the idea of LI in several ways. One of the main differences is the NF notion of positive spillover effects, e.g. that integration within the economic sector provides strong incentives for integration within other sectors.

Robert Frost Poem Analysis Essay Example For Students

Robert Frost Poem Analysis Essay Robert FrostRobert Frost, an Americian poet of the late 19th century, used nature in many of his writings. This paper will discuss the thought process of Frost during his writings, the many tools which he used, and provide two examples of his works. Robert Frost was born in San Franciso on March 26, 1874, but later moved to Lawrence, Massachuschusetts (after his father died) where he did most of his writing. He was a simple man who taught, worked in a mill, was a reporter, was a New England farmer, and wrote. Throughout his life he had always been interested in literature. He attended Dartmouth College, but remained less than one semester. In 1894 he sold his first work My Butterfly: An Elegy to a New York journal. A year later he married Elinor White. From 1897 to 1899 he attended Harvard College as a special student but left before he acquired his degree. For the next ten years he wrote poems, operated a farm in Derry, New Hampshire, and taught at Derrys Pinkerton Academy. In 1912 he sold his farm and moved to England where he could work on his writings full time. He was an instant success! A Boys Will was accepted by a London Publisher and a year later so was North of Boston. He also began to get recognized in America. The Frosts sailed for America in 1915 and landed in New York two days after the Americian release of North of Boston. The book was a good success and he used the profits to buy a farm in Fanconia, New Hampshire. During this time Frost began to write his most successful poems. Frost was once asked his thought process during writing; he responded:I sometimes speak from the last thing that happened to me. I got asked today if I think up poems. Do I think them up? How do I get the right one? Well, it is the hardest thing in the world to tell. But I dont think up poems. I pick up a lot of things I thought of to make a poem; that is a lot of scattered thoughts through the days that are handy for the poem-thats about all. Thats where the thinking comes in.That is truly an amazing feat; he would just walk around looking at things and a poem would come into his head. He would write these entire inspirational poems in his head and didnt even think that it was unusual. The best poet of the 20th century did not write rough drafts!In 1915 he moved to New England and began to write. He used the New England country side as inspiration for many of his poems, but for the purpose of this essay two poems will be analyzed The Road Not Taken and Birches. The Road Not Taken was originally published in 1916 and it was Frost most popular poem to date. Still today it is considered one of his best and most popular works. The Road Not TakenTwo roads diverged in a yellow wood. And sorry I could not travel bothAnd be one traveler, long I stoodAnd looked down one as far as I couldTo where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fairAnd having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that, the passing there Has worn them really about the same, And both that morning equally layIn the leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first foe another day! Yet knowing how way leads onto way, I doubted if I should ever come back. I shall be telling this with a sighSomewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. The reader can just picture Robert Frost walking in a wooded area of the New Hampshire forest when suddenly he comes upon a trail that divides and he wrote The Road Not Taken. A poem that has been used in countless high school graduation speeches and as a m etaphor for any situation in which a person must make an important decision. The simple themes have always appealed to Frosts readers and seems to speak to people more than a Shakespeare or Poe. Frost uses many effects that allow the poems theme to be more easily understood. For example, he writes many of his poems in the first person which makes the reader feel closer to the actual experience. In Birches he uses this technique which creates the setting of an older man who is looking back at earlier times when he played among these same trees. Another technique he uses is the informal manner in which he writes his poems. He also wrote many of his poems in continuous form rather than dividing it into traditional stanzas which allows the poem to be presented in a less formal form. The following is an excerpt from the poem Birches.But dipped its top and set me down again. .u9171de4036523505d3982ecdf0b16e8f , .u9171de4036523505d3982ecdf0b16e8f .postImageUrl , .u9171de4036523505d3982ecdf0b16e8f .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u9171de4036523505d3982ecdf0b16e8f , .u9171de4036523505d3982ecdf0b16e8f:hover , .u9171de4036523505d3982ecdf0b16e8f:visited , .u9171de4036523505d3982ecdf0b16e8f:active { border:0!important; } .u9171de4036523505d3982ecdf0b16e8f .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u9171de4036523505d3982ecdf0b16e8f { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u9171de4036523505d3982ecdf0b16e8f:active , .u9171de4036523505d3982ecdf0b16e8f:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u9171de4036523505d3982ecdf0b16e8f .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u9171de4036523505d3982ecdf0b16e8f .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u9171de4036523505d3982ecdf0b16e8f .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u9171de4036523505d3982ecdf0b16e8f .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u9171de4036523505d3982ecdf0b16e8f:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u9171de4036523505d3982ecdf0b16e8f .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u9171de4036523505d3982ecdf0b16e8f .u9171de4036523505d3982ecdf0b16e8f-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u9171de4036523505d3982ecdf0b16e8f:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Minimum Wage EssayThat would be good both going and coming back. One could do worse than be a swinger of birches. This poem again uses the format in which Frost uses a common object such as a boy swinging from a birch tree to symbolize a much more significant theme. In the first four sections of the poem Frost seems to be largely concerned with cruelness of earth and the endless possibilities of a creative imagination. In the last few lines he reasons that earth, in a way, needs its imperfections and that what makes our imaginations so different and amazing. If we were to live in a perfect world we wouldnt have anything to dream about and, therefore would not need an imagination. Frost was a simple man who lead a simple life yet he is regarded as the best Americian poet of the 20th century and perhaps ever. Although his simple form is not liked by some critics; I dont think they are who he was writing for. He wanted to appeal to the common man and I believe he did. His awards include three-dozen honorary degrees, four Pulitzer Prizes, the Bollingen Prize for Poetry, and he spoke at the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy. He once stated that his major goal in life was to write a few poems that would be hard to get rid of. Well, congratulations Mr. Frost. Works CitedField, Evgene. Poems of Childhood. New York: Charles Scribners Sons Inc. 1925Gerber, Philip L. Robert Frost. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1967. Greiner, Donald J. Robert Frost: The Poet and His Critics. Chicago: American LibraryAssociation, 1974. Lathem, Edward Connery, ed. The Poetry of Robert Frost. New York: NA, 1969. Lathem, Edward, ed. Interviews with Robert Frost. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. 1966. NA. Robert Lee Frost. CD-Rom. Microsoft, 1999. Reeve, F.D. Robert Frost in Russia. Boston: Little, Brown Publishers, 1964. Sergeant, Elizabeth Shepley. Robert Frost: The Trail by Existence. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1960. Thompson, Lawrance. Robert Frost: The Early years, 1874-1915. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1966. Unger, Leonard, ed. American Writers. New York: Charles Scribners Sons, Inc. 1961. Van Egmond, Peter. The Critical Reception of Robert Frost. Boston: G.K. Hall and Co., 1974.