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Lecture 6:Style and Diction Outline I.Style II.Specificity III.Concreteness IV.Conciseness V.Exactness I.Style 1.What is style?2.Layers of style 3.Popular words vs.learned words 4.What style to adopt for student writers 5.In-class practice 1.What is style?Usually,it is more difficult for a Chinese student to use an English word contextually right than to use it grammatically right.If you want to use a word that is contextually correct or to choose the right word to produce right effect,you have to take the following factors into consideration:(1)The social relationship between the reader and the writer,or the audience and the speaker,or correspondents(which may be that of a friend to friend,son to mother,husband to wife,nurse to kindergarten kids,professor to student,or boss to employee,etc.)(2)The occasion(which may be a family reunion,a class party,a bedroom chat,a grand wedding,a funeral ceremony,or an official reception,etc.)(3)Subject matter(which may be about serious political issues,an academic subject,a film,a new sweater,swimming,or food.)(4)The mode of discourse(spoken or written)These considerations are a matter of style:adjusting your language to fit different context or situations.2.Layers of style There are five layers of style:1the oratorical or frozen style(演说演说体体),2the deliberate or formal style(正式正式体体),These two styles are generally used in written reports,official documents,business letters,scholarly and scientific articles,or in a dignified public speech prepared beforehand with a written draft.3the consultative or moderate style(商议体),4the casual or colloquial style(口语体),These two styles occur in everyday use.Consultative style is a polite and fairly neutral style;it is used when we are talking to a person whom we dont know well,or to someone who is senior in terms of age or social position.The casual style,implying informality,familiarity,or friendliness,is mainly used in conversation between people who know each other very well or in personal letters,etc.5the intimate style(亲昵体).The intimate style,showing a very close relationship,may be used between family members,lovers,etc.These styles can be arranged on a scale showing decreasing formality.The frozen and the intimate are two extremes and do not have much practical use for college writing.So these five levels of style can be simplified further into three:the formal,the neutral or moderate,and the informal or colloquial.None of these three styles is better than the other.The most important thing that you should be concerned with is the choice of an appropriate style and the consistency use of it.3.Popular words vs.learned words A great part of the total English vocabulary consists of words that are common to educated and uneducated speakers alike.They are indispensable for everyday communication,both written and spoken.These words belong to the whole populace.They are called popular words.Popular words form the core of English vocabulary.Popular words are neither most nor least formal.Most of the words you have read are popular words.That is why it is safe for college students to use words belonging to this group.Popular Learned agree concur end terminate break fracture clear lucid clever intelligent show exhibit quit resign make easy facilitate prove verify surrender capitulate wordy verbose 4.What style to adopt for student writers The moderate for most college writing,e.g.writing assignments,term papers,exams.The informal for journal entries,letters/notes to family members and close friends.Something between the moderate and the formal for application letters.5.In-class practice:what style do you think would be appropriate for the following writing situations?1)A letter to a visiting Canadian professor asking for permission to sit in on a course he/she is teaching.Moderate 2)A letter to a close friend of yours,an English major at a university abroad.Informal 3)A book report on an American novel you have read.Moderate 4)A letter to the graduate school of a university asking for information.Either formal or moderate 5)An article for an English newspaper of your university.Either moderate or informal depending on the topic II.Specificity “Specific is the opposite of“general.Words are said to be specific when they refer to individual persons,objects,or events.Words are general when they refer not to individual things but to groups or classes.As you can see in the following pairs of sentences,a reader can get more detailed information from specific diction:1.Her husband is a scientist.(general)Her husband is a biochemist.(specific)2.The child has a contagious disease.(general)The child has measles.(specific)3.His grades last term were poor.(general)Last term he received two Fs and a D.(specific)“Specific and“general are relative.A word may be specific compared with one other word,and general compared with a second.As you can see in the following diagram,a general term can be made specific by a modifier that restricts the reference to a particular member of the group.Most General:people Less General:worker farmer student scientist statesman Still Less General:pupil college student graduate Specific:freshman sophomore senior More Specific:the sophomore I met with yesterday Though specific words should be used mostly in preference to general words,both general and specific words are necessary to clear communication.The most important thing is that a general word stands for several different things and evokes a hazy picture,while a specific word refers to a particular thing and produces a clear picture in your readers mind.When you want a word to refer to a group of things rather than a particular thing,it is right for you to use a general word.If it is to present a clear picture in your readers mind,a specific word is helpful and more expressive.III.Concreteness In some cases,to be specific in wording you must use concrete words.Concrete is the opposite of abstract.Words are said to be concrete when they refer to particular things that can be perceived by your senses:details of appearance,sound,smell,touch,and taste.They are said to be abstract when they refer to qualities that many things seem to share.For example,qualities described with words like“nice,“good,“bad can be shared by many things.These are among the frequently used utility words by beginning Chinese student writers of English.Comparing the following pairs of sentences,you can find that because of the use of some concrete words in the second sentence,you are free of the vagueness seen in the first.1.Their neighbor is a very nice old lady.(abstract)Their neighbor is a kind and helpful lady.(concrete)2.The film I saw last night was good.(abstract)The film I saw last night was amusing and instructive.3.The weather in winter in Changsha is terrible.(abstract)The weather in winter in Changsha is cold and moist.(concrete)4.The man ate a big meal.(abstract)Robert devoured a large steak,a baked potato,a hot dog and two bottles of Qingdao.(concrete)General and abstract terms make general statements or give vague descriptions,while specific and concrete terms make specific statements.Writers must choose a level of concreteness/specificity appropriate for their writing situation.Writing that contains too many abstractions can be hard to understand and scares the reader.On the other hand,writing that is nothing but specifics gives readers too little guidance and they may be lost in details without grasping the main point.IV.Conciseness Conciseness means being direct and to the point.Redundant words or wordy writing is not concise.Do not over-use words to deliver the message in your writing.To achieve conciseness,the following measures can be taken:1.Eliminate or rewrite expressions that repeat the same point.The phrase red in color is redundant because it repeats obvious information.The following do the same:large-sized,young in age,past memories,mix together,the fact is true,etc.2.Cut out unnecessary intensifiers.Some intensifiers are unnecessary because the words they modify are strong enough.For example:Wordy:The doctor carefully examines the young patient to find the cause of his nervous disorder.Concise:The doctor examines the nervous disorder of the young patient.3.Avoid overusing the noun forms of verbs.Replace noun forms of verbs with strong,active verbs.For example:Wordy:The function of this department is the collection of funds for children not in school.Concise:This department collects funds for children not in school.4.Change phrases into single words.Use a single word instead of phrases to convey the same meaning.For example:Wordy:a man with ambition;the class showing the best performance Concise:an ambitious man;the best class 5.Change unnecessary that,who and which clauses into phrases.Change modifying clauses into phrases or single words when possible.For example:Wordy:The report,which was released recently,shocked everyone in the school.Concise:The recent report shocked everyone in the school.V.Exactness To be exact means to be correct without mistake.Sometimes you are clear of the degree of a words formality;but as a beginning writer of English,you may still have trouble using a word exactly.Problems arise especially when you have to choose a word or an expression from among a group of synonymous ones.1.For historical reasons,a group of synonyms of Modern English may have a different degree in formality because of their different origins.Many synonyms having the same denotation belong to different stylistic layers.For instance:man/person(neutral),chap(colloquial),fellow(colloquial),guy(slang).2.A group of synonymous words with the same denotative sense may have differences in degree of intensity.For example,“tiny,“diminutive,and“minute all mean“very small.But you can see they denote different degrees of smallness by comparing the following sentences:1)Some tiny rooms in white and red have been built for the kindergarten childrens amusement.2)A diminutive old lady approached,her head barely reaching the level of the shopkeepers counter.3)There is a beautiful,minute,silk flower on her cap.“Anger,“rage,“fury and“indignation are synonymous,but they vary from each other in degree of the displeasure.“Anger,the most general term,describes merely the emotional reaction,suggesting no definite degree of intensity.“Rage often implies a loss of self-control.“Fury,the strongest word in this group,suggests a rage so violent that it may approach madness.“Indignation denotes anger based on a moral condemnation of something wrong and unfair.3.Numerous pairs or groups of synonyms may have the same literal meaning,but their connotations or the feelings suggested by these words are different,i.e.,they differ from each other in emotional meaning.For instance,“small and“little may both be translated into“小 in Chinese when referring to size,but“little connotes a sense of charm,tenderness,and pathos as in the second of the following pair of sentences:1)They lived in a small town.2)I can never forget the little town where I spent my happy childhood.Other synonymous words may have appreciative or derogatory implications.The following are two groups of synonyms.You show your approval if you use a word from column A,and your disapproval if you use a word from column B.A B Slender/slim Skinny Firm Pigheaded Frugal/thrifty Niggardly/miserly Famous Notorious Statesman Politician Bravery Foolhardiness Intellectual Egghead Confidence Conceit Modest Humble Black Nigger 4.A good number of synonyms are used in different collocations.In Chinese we say“两个苹果 but never“二个苹果 to mean two apples though“两 and“二 refer to the same number,which is nothing but a matter of idiomatic collocation.Things are the same in English.“Meaning and“sense are synonyms.You may say“The word had two senses or“The word has two meanings,but not“He is a man of meaning.You say either“the English language or“the English tongue,but you can only say“mother tongue but not“mother language.“Pretty and“handsome share the common denotative meaning or the basic definition of“good-looking,but they may be distinguished by the nouns with which they are likely to be collocated:pretty girl(child,flower,garden,village,cottage,etc.),handsome boy(man,car,table,overcoat,airliner,etc.)
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