MODULE 1

CREATIVE WRITING

TOPIC- Lesson 2
Creative Writing
DICTION
OBJECTIVES
CONTENT STANDARD
The learners have an understanding of imagery, diction, figures of speech, and variations on
language
PERFORMANCE STANDARD
The learners shall be able to… produce short paragraphs or vignettes using imagery, diction,
figures of speech, and specific experiences
LEARNING COMPETENCIES
Use imagery, diction, figures of speech, and specific experiences HUMSS_CW/MP11/12-Iab-4
WARM UP ACTIVITIES

Watch Your Diction

 You need an access to a paper dictionary for this activity.

 Using a dictionary, find five words you have never used before.
 You should write down the words and its definitions.
 Prepare a short speech on any topic. The only requirements are that you must use all five of the
new words in your speeches and the speech cannot be about defining the new words. For
instance, saying, ''Deteriorate means to fall apart,'' would be unacceptable whereas, ''My bike is
deteriorating so I asked my mom for a new one,'' would be acceptable.
 Deliver your speech using a recorder available at your pace.
 Listen to your recording and highlight/write down the improper dictions you’ve heard from the
recording. Write it in your activity notebook.
 For the recording, you may pass it thru fb or email if not available, wait for your teacher to get it
from you.

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CONTENT/LECTURE

WHAT IS DICTION?
Diction (pronounced DIK-shun) refers to word choice and phrasing in any written or spoken text. Many
authors can be said to have their own “diction,” because they tend to use certain words more than others or
phrase things in a unique way. In fact, every author (including you) has developed a unique diction!
Examples and Explanation
Literally everything ever written is an example of diction! But here are a few particularly interesting examples
Example 1
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy
rod and thy staff, they comfort me. (Psalms 23:4)

The King James Bible has a very distinctive diction, using words like “yea” and “thy.” Many of these
terms were fairly standard at the time the King James version was originally written, but nonetheless they
are easily recognizable today as “biblical” diction
Example 2
Is your writing as transparent as a mixture of comminuted particles of rock with water of varying
consistency? Or is it as clear as mud? (Graham Hopkins, The Write Stuff)

Graham Hopkins’ article on unclear writing opens with this wonderful example of how diction changes the
way we read sentences. The two phrases mean exactly the same thing (“clear as mud”), but the first
version uses all kinds of long words and overly complex phrases to express this idea. Hopkins’ point was to
show how needlessly complex diction can detract from the quality of a piece of writing. The grass with
tired and burning muscles. The grass tickled his skin and sweat cooled on his brow.
In this example, imagery is used to describe the feeling of strained muscles, grass’s tickle, and sweat
cooling on skin.

TYPES OF DICTION

There are as many types of diction as there are writers, and there will never be a complete list of all of them.
Moreover, all these different styles vary along multiple variables, such as formal/informal, simple/complex, and
modern/archaic. The most basic distinction, however, is between formal diction and informal diction.

A. Formal Diction
When you are writing an essay, dissertation, business letter, or other formal communication, it’s
important to use formal diction. That is, you should avoid contractions (isn’t, don’t) and colloquialisms
(slang). It’s also important to make sure that your grammar and word usage are “textbook” correct, since
mistakes in this category can make your work look sloppy or careless.

B. Informal Diction
In many contexts, it’s fine to use informal diction. This includes personal emails to people you know
well, and certain creative projects. (Most modern novels are written with a fairly informal diction, as
opposed to older novels, which tended to be more precise and formal.) Informal diction is sometimes
referred to as “vernacular,” which means “everyday speech.”
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THE IMPORTANCE OF DICTION

Diction is the main thing that sets the tone of a piece. If your diction is formal, then the piece as a whole
will come across as formal; if it’s quirky, then your writing will seem quirky, and so on. Diction doesn’t
have any specific rhetorical purpose – it just creates the overall “sense” of your work.

In novels and short stories, diction can also help you craft a portrait of your characters. The way
someone talks tells us a lot about them, and good authors use this to their advantage in character-
creation. For example, a highly educated character would be more likely to use arcane words and
complex sentence structure, while a more down-to-earth character would avoid such diction. Similarly, a
younger character would be more likely to use slang than an older one.

EXAMPLES OF DICTION IN LITERATURE

Example 1
Every life is in many days, day after day. We walk through ourselves, meeting robbers, ghosts, giants,
old-men, young men, wives, widows, brothers-in-love. But always meeting ourselves. (James Joyce,
Ulysses)

James Joyce was famous for using outlandish, non-standard diction in his novels. In this example, we
can see nonstandard terms like “brothers-in-love” and “walking through ourselves,” giving us a clue
that he’s writing in a unique style that few people other than the author can really understand.

Example 2
Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens. (J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings)

Tolkien thought of his Lord of the Rings as a work of mythology rather than a conventional novel, and
we can see this in his diction. His language is not at all vernacular – that is, no one really speaks this
way in our world! But it serves to evoke a mythical past and a world of magic and monsters, just the
way Tolkien intended.

Example 3
Doubt thou the stars are fire, doubt that the sun doth move. Doubt truth to be a liar, but never doubt I
love. (William Shakespeare, Hamlet)

Shakespeare had a remarkably unique diction – or at least, it sounds that way to us today. It’s actually
not easy to tell how much of this is Shakespeare’s unique diction, and how much is the dialect of
Elizabethan England. Either way, modern readers can easily tell that Shakespeare is writing through
such features as the pronouns (thee/thou) and verb conjugations (doth instead of does).

EXAMPLES OF DICTION IN POP CULTURE

Example 1
Slang terms are a great example of vernacular diction. They are particularly useful because they change
dramatically between subcultures and eras. The phrase “dude, that’s rad” suggests the skater culture of
the 1990s, whereas the term “homeboy” suggests the hip-hop culture of the same period (many of these
terms are coming back into fashion in the endless cycle of pop culture reincarnation). Obviously, it’s
important to avoid such colloquialisms in formal writing, and you have to use them with caution in other
forms of writing as well, particularly if you do not belong to the group with which a particular slang
term is associated. In many contexts, using slang in this way could be considered offensive.

Example 2
The popular science-fiction series Firefly gives a particularly distinctive diction to its characters. Since
the show is a hybrid of the sci-fi and western genres, its characters tend to speak in the style made
popular by westerns – they sound like cowboys despite the fact that they live on a spaceship. This helps
set the tone of the series and gives fans a way of understanding the “wild west” spirit of its setting.
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RELATED TERMS
Idiom
Idiom has a couple of different meanings. On one definition, it’s basically a synonym for “diction” – it’s
the way a particular author or group of authors choose to express themselves. On the second definition,
it’s a conventional phrase or “saying.” On this definition, idioms are a big part of what defines an
author’s diction. An author who uses a folksy idiom like “I ain’t no spring chicken” is using a very
different diction from one who says “I hardly think that I am so naïve as to fall victim to such
prevarication.” But they’re basically saying the same thing.

Dialect
Each community has its own version of its language. People in Alabama have a different way of
speaking English from people in Toronto, and people in Cairo have a different version of Arabic from
people in Damascus. These regional sub-languages are called dialects. In addition to having a different
accent, people in these different regions also have unique combinations of words and phrases that exist
nowhere else – in other words, diction varies tremendously from one region to another.

Jargon
Certain professions, such as the law, business, and government, also have their own sort of diction that
acts like a mini-dialect. We call this jargon, but it could also be described as the unique diction of each
profession.
APPLICATION

Below are the verses from the bible Book of Psalms King James Version.
Examine the words used in the verses and identify and explain the different
dictions used. Write your answers on your activity notebook.

91 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

2 I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.

4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and
buckler.

5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;

6 Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.

7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.

8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.

9 Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;

10 There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.

11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.

14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath
known my name.

15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour
him.

16 With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.
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CREATIVE WRITING

EVALUTION

Identify the imagery and its kind used in the sentences

below. Write it on your activity notebook.

1. Which of the following is written in a formal diction?

a. The adventurers rode thru the forest with their swords drawn.
b. We shouldn’t have to do this kind of junk, anyway!
c. Steve and Adam will be out of town this weekend.
d. I would be very pleased to snag a job at WLC’s development office.
2. Where should you use diction?
a. Formal essays
b. Creative writing
c. Dialogue
d. Everywhere – you can’t avoid it!
3. What is jargon?
a. The diction of a specific field or profession
b. Modern-day vernaculars
c. Using too many words in a single sentence
d. Overly complex diction
4. Why should you use caution in imitating the diction of professional scholars?
a. Because academic diction should only be used by professionals
b. Because this could count as plagiarism
c. Because many professional scholars are poor writers
d. All of the above
5. What does diction refer to?
a. The organization of a writing piece
b. Combining fiction and nonfiction
c. The author’s words choice
d. Rules

SUPPLEMENTAL CONTENT

1. https://quizizz.com/admin/quiz/5ba52ef0b4b13e0019ae24a3/diction-analysis
2. https://literaryterms.net/diction-quiz/?
answer_to_question_1=1&answer_to_question_2=4&answer_to_question_3=1&answer_to_question_4
=2&quiz_submitted=Enter
3. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+91&version=KJV
4. https://literaryterms.net/diction/
5. https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf=ALeKk00z6Wi4X-I1UCOTtOn_fM_b5MIkuQ
%3A1593747347712&source=hp&ei=k6f-
XvTlKOaVr7wPm5ai8Ac&q=diction+in+creative+writing&oq=diction+in+re&gs_lcp=CgZwc3ktYWI
QARgFMgQIIxAnMgQIIxAnMgIIADICCAAyAggAMgIIADICCAAyAggAMgIIADICCAA6BwgAE
EYQ_wE6BggAEBYQHjoICAAQFhAKEB5QpQNY8yJgg1ZoAnAAeAGAAaETiAG9N5IBCzMtMS
4zLjEuOS0ymAEAoAEBqgEHZ3dzLXdpeg&sclient=psy-ab