SIFT - Bestofaplanguage's BlogSIFT Symbols Imagery ... unfamiliar Examine both the title and the text for symbolism. IMAGERY • the use of language to create sensory impressions and

SIFTSymbolsImageryFigurative LanguageTone and Theme

DYANNE Loput

SYMBOLS• the substitution of one element for another

• a method whereby the known is used to explore the unknown

• a familiar object or idea used to represent the unfamiliar

Examine both the title and the text for symbolism.

IMAGERY• the use of language to create sensory

impressions and to evoke specific responses to characters, objects, events, or situations

• the use of vivid, descriptive language to create meaningful “word pictures” in a literary work

The writer “shows” rather than “tells.”

Example:On the hill-top above me sat the rising moon; pale yet as a cloud, but brightening momently: she looked over Hay, which, half lost in trees, sent up a blue smoke from its few chimneys; it was yet a mile distant, but in the absolute hush I could hear plainly its thin murmurs of life.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Example:At the next table a woman stuck her nose in a novel; a college kid pecked at a laptop. Overlaying all this, a soundtrack: choo-k-choo-k-choo-k-choo-k-choo-k--the metronomic rhythm of an Amtrak train rolling down the line to California, a sound that called to mind an old camera reel moving frames of images along a linear track, telling a story.

"Riding the Rails" by Andy Isaacson

Example:In our kitchen, he would bolt his orange juice (squeezed on one of

those ribbed glass sombreros and then poured off through a strainer) and grab a bite of toast (the toaster a simple tin box, a kind of little hut with slit and slanted sides, that rested over a gas burner and browned one side of the bread, in stripes, at a time), and then he would dash, so hurriedly that his necktie flew back over his shoulder, down through our yard, past the grapevines hung with buzzing Japanese-beetle traps, to the yellow brick building, with its tall smokestack and wide playing fields, where he taught.

"My Father on the Verge of Disgrace" by John Updike

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE(and other devices)

• the inclusive term for words that are used in ways that depart conspicuously from their literal applications, so as to achieve special meanings or effects

• literal language designates what most speakers would perceive as the standard meaning of the words or as their standard order of syntactical sequence

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE(Figures of Thought / Figures of Speech)

• Simile• Metaphor• Personification• Pathetic fallacy• Synecdoche• Metonymy• Irony• Hyperbole• Understatement• Paradox• See class Glossary

for more terms

• Oxymoron• Litotes• Periphrasis• Pun• Apostrophe• Rhetorical Question• Anaphora• Antithesis• Chiasmus• Allusion• See class Glossary for

more terms

TONE• the narrator’s attitude toward the subject

• conveyed via diction, imagery, and detail

• contributes to the reader’s understanding

A Few Words to Describe Tone:angry hollow restrainedbitter joyful mockingsomber pedantic zealousmelancholy apologetic detacheddiffident humorous contemptuousfactual didactic coldlugubrious fanciful urgentsardonic nostalgic inflammatorywhimsical vibrant facetiouscynical poignant ironicbenevolent sentimental scornfulpatronizing childish informativeobjective candid irreverent

FORMAL DICTION• also known as “high” diction

• creates an elevated tone

• often contains polysyllabic words, sophisticated syntax, and elegant word choice

Example:“Discerning the impracticable state of the poor culprit’s mind,

the elder clergyman, who had carefully prepared himself for the occasion, addressed to the multitude a discourse on sin, in all its branches, but with continual reference to the ignominious letter. So forcibly did he dwell upon this symbol, for the hour or more during which his periods were rolling over the people’s heads, that it assumed new terrors in their imagination, and seemed to derive its scarlet hue from the flames of the infernal pit.”

The Scarlett Letter(Nathaniel Hawthorne)

NEUTRAL DICTION• uses standard language and vocabulary

without elaborate words

• may include contractions

Example:“The shark swung over and the old man saw his eye was not alive

and then he swung over again, wrapping himself in two loops of the rope. The old man knew that he was dead but the shark would not accept it. Then, on his back, with his tail lashing and his jaws clicking, the shark plowed over the water as a speedboat does. The water was white where his tail beat it and three-quarters of his body was clear above the water when the rope came taut, shivered, and then snapped. The shark lay quietly for a little while on the surface and the old man watched him. Then he went down very slowly.”

Old Man and the Sea(Ernest Hemmingway)

INFORMAL DICTION• also known as “low” diction

• language of everyday use

• relaxed and conversational

• often includes common and simple words, idioms, slang, jargon, and contractions

Example:“Three quarts of milk. That’s what was in that icebox yesterday. Three whole quarts. Now there ain’t none. Not a drop. I don’t mind folks coming in and getting what they want, but three quarts of milk! What the devil does anybody need with three quarts of milk?”

The Bluest Eye(Toni Morrision)

TYPES OF DICTION• Slang: refers to a group of recently coined words often used

in informal situations. Slang words often come and go quickly, passing out of usage within months or years

• Colloquial expressions: non-standard, often regional, ways of using language appropriate to informal speech and writing (for example, “ayuh” from Maine)

• Jargon: consists of words and expressions characteristic of a particular trade, profession, or pursuit

• Dialect: a non-standard subgroup of a language with its own vocabulary and grammatical features; writers often use regional dialects or dialects that reveal a person’s economic or social class (Mark Twain does this well)

TYPES OF DICTION• Concrete diction: specific words that describe physical qualities or

conditions

• Abstract diction: language that denotes ideas, emotions, conditions, or concepts that are intangible.

• Denotation: the exact, literal definition of a word independent of any emotional association or secondary meaning

• Connotation: the implicit rather than explicit meaning of a word; consists of the suggestions, associations, and emotional overtones attached to a word

It is essential that you understand clearly the concepts of denotationand connotation and their role in making meaning of text.Misinterpreting denotation and connotation in a literary worktranslates into misinterpreting tone and theme.

Finding Tone and Analyzing Words

• Low or informal diction (dialect, slang, jargon, colloquial expressions)

• Elevated language or formal diction• Abstract and concrete diction• Denotation and connotation• Neutral diction

LEAD-N

THEME• an observation of life which serves as the

controlling idea in a literary work

• seldom presented word for word, but is more often found as an abstract idea which surfaces through the actions and dialogue of characters, the use of symbols and recurring images, or the manipulation of other literary devices

• the overall moral, philosophical, psychological, or social ideas that underlie a literary work

Remember:All rhetorical and literary devices

lead to TONE and THEME.• What life-lessons did the characters learn?• What life-lessons did you learn?• Do the characters comment on life, the world, or human nature?• Does the narrator comment on life, the world, or human nature?• What thematic possibilities exist in the literature?• Which seems to be the most probable based upon evidence from the text?

Many stories have more than one theme, and there is seldom just one “right” answer.

Happy Reading!

Resources:• The AP Vertical Teams Guide for English

(The College Board)

• Essential Literary Terms with Exercises(Sharon Hamilton)