Evaluating Style

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Evaluating Style
Feature Menu
What Is Style? Diction Figures of
Speech Sentence Patterns Review Tone Mood Practice
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What Is Style?
Style is a writers distinctive way of using
language. Style can take many forms.
Formal/Informal
Plain/Ornate
Comical/Serious
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Diction
Diction, or word choice, is one of the main
elements of style.
Long, elegant words Short, everyday words
vivacious lively
nonplussed at a loss
pandemonium chaos
Formal words Informal words
I kindly accept your invitation. Ill be there.
in a difficult situation in a jam
was indisposed felt under the weather
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Figures of Speech
Whether a writer prefers to use figurative or
literal language also affects style.
Figurative language Literal language
He felt as trapped as a cat in a vets office. He felt completely trapped.
Her fingers were hummingbirds wings brushing over the piano keys. She played the piano with a light, quick touch.
My brother looked as if hed suddenly awakened to find himself on Mars. My brother looked utterly confused.
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Sentence Variation
Sentence variationthe ways writers construct
sentencesalso help create style.
Short, punchy sentences Long, complex sentences
Tom was tugging at a button and looking sheepish. He blushed, now, and his eyes fell. from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain Children can feel, but they cannot analyse their feelings and if the analysis is partially effected in thought, they know not how to express the result of the process in words. from Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
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Review
Compare the style of these two excerpts. Which is
more formal?
When I think of the hometown of my youth, all that I seem to remember is dustthe brown, crumbly dust of late summerarid, sterile dust that gets into the eyes and makes them water, gets into the throat and between the toes of bare brown feet. from Marigolds by Eugenia W. Collier It was in the clove of seasons, summer was dead but autumn had not yet been born, that the ibis lit in the bleeding tree. The flower garden was stained with rotting brown magnolia petals, and ironweeds grew rank amid the purple phlox. from The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst
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Tone
Tone is a writers attitude toward a subject, a
character, or the audience. Writers convey tone
through their choice of words.
tumbled joyfully
OR
rolled around noisily
majestic sweep of dunes
OR
empty waste of sand
Plot, theme, and tone
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Tone
You might find the following words helpful in
describing tone
Words for Tone Words for Tone Words for Tone
admiring affectionate bitter comic forgiving mocking sarcastic serious vengeful
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Tone
Listen to this passage from Pride and
Prejudice by Jane Austen. What is the writers
tone? What words help create the tone?
She was a woman of mean understanding, little
information, and uncertain temper. When she was
discontented, she fancied herself nervous. The
business of her life was to get her daughters
married its solace was visiting and news. from
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
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Tone
Plot, Theme, and Tone The plot and theme, or
central idea, of a story also may reveal tone.
Plot
Theme
A man rebuilds his life after a terrible accident.
Adversity can be overcome.
Tone
admiring, optimistic
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Mood
Mood is the feeling a story evokes. Writers
create mood through

• figures of speech

• diction

tender blooms in soft light
rolling hills draped by a shroud of fog
stalks etched starkly against an orange sky
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Mood
You might find the following words helpful in
describing mood
Words for Mood Words for Mood Words for Mood
eerie gloomy joyful mysterious peaceful sad
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Mood
Quick Check
What is the mood of the passage? What words and
images help create the mood?
I still keep in mind a certain wonderful sunset
which I witnessed. . . . high above the forest
wall a clean-stemmed dead tree waved a single
leafy bough that glowed like a flame in the
unobstructed splendor that was flowing from the
sun. There were graceful curves, reflected
images, woody heights, soft distances and over
the whole scene, far and near, the dissolving
lights drifted steadily, enriching it, every
passing moment, with new marvels of coloring.
from Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain
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Mood
Quick Check
What is the mood of the passage? What words and
images help create the mood?
I still keep in mind a certain wonderful sunset
which I witnessed. . . . high above the forest
wall a clean-stemmed dead tree waved a single
leafy bough that glowed like a flame in the
unobstructed splendor that was flowing from the
sun. There were graceful curves, reflected
images, woody heights, soft distances and over
the whole scene, far and near, the dissolving
lights drifted steadily, enriching it, every
passing moment, with new marvels of coloring.
from Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain
Peaceful, awe-inspiring, majestic