Journeys in Literature



STYLE IN WRITING

Style is your unique way of adapting your language to suit different occasions. When you develop a style, you make the words your own. You craft your writing to put something of yourself — your own personality — into it. Your language use changes depending on these factors.

• Audience — to whom you are writing

• Situation — when and where you are writing

• Aim — the purpose; why you are writing

Audience and situation determine if your writing will be serious or playful, formal, or informal.

Your aim may be to persuade, to give information, to express your thoughts and feelings, or to create literature. Each of these four aims of writing has distinctive features of style. Notice how the change in aim brings a change in language.

• Informative — At a banquet held in her honor, ten-year-old Raven Carmichael was named Hero of the Year for her rescue of a four-year-old child trapped in a drainage pipe.

• Persuasive — I urge you to name Raven Carmichael Hero of the Year because of her bravery, her quick thinking, her composure in the face of danger, and her disregard for her personal safety during the rescue of a child not much younger than she.

• Expressive — When I saw Tommy’s head go under, I figured he was stuck, so I kept feeling around until I could tear him loose from the branches and garbage washing down the ditch.

• Literary — Scurrying down the muddy embankment into the flooding ditch, Raven groped for the child’s head and arms, yanking him above water and then tearing at the sodden debris that entangled his legs.

Voice and tone

• Voice is the unique sound and rhythm of the writer’s language. It gives writing honesty and authority. It tells people how you want them to feel about your subject.

• Tone is the attitude or feeling that the writer’s words express, such as angry, optimistic, neutral, objective, romantic, sad, or mournful.

Formal or informal

Audience, situation, and aim help determine whether your language is formal or informal.

• Formal writing includes serious essays, official reports, research papers, literary criticism, and speeches on serious occasions.

• Informal writing includes personal letters, journal entries, newspaper and magazine articles, nonfiction books, novels, short stories, and plays.

Terms to know

• Colloquialisms are local or regional dialects or expressions. They may contain derogatory or controversial language.

• Slang is highly informal language often consisting of made-up words or words used in an unintended manner. Examples are dude, yup, my bad, ’cause or cuz.

• Nonsexist language is language that applies to people in general, both male and female. For example, humanity or humankind instead of mankind.

• Tired words are words that have been used so much that they have become worn out or weak. Good, great, wonderful, and nice are tired adjectives. Try to find new and powerful words.

• Clichés are overused expressions. Many are figurative comparisons, such as strong as an ox.

• Euphemisms are pleasant, more agreeable words used to replace less appealing ones.

• Gobbledygook is wordy, overly complicated sentences filled with long, difficult words.

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