Diction

Diction is the distinctive tone or tenor of an author’s writings. Diction is not just a writer's choice of words it can include the mood,
attitude, dialect and style of writing. Diction is usually judged with reference to the prevailing standards of proper writing and speech
and is seen as the mark of quality of the writing. It is also understood as the selection of certain words or phrases that become peculiar to
a writer.
Example: 

Certain writers in the modern day and age use archaic terms such as ‘thy’, ‘thee’ and ‘wherefore’ to imbue a Shakespearean mood to their
work.

Diction Examples

Diction is a writer or speaker’s word choice that helps define the written or spoken word and express your style. In English, there are
many synonyms to choose from, but each word has a slightly different meaning and evokes different senses and emotions. Choosing the
right words for your purposes is an important part of becoming a strong writer.

Though diction is highly personal, it’s also important to remember your audience when choosing an appropriate style. Consider the
examples below to help you understand the way diction changes the writer’s message.

Formal vs. Informal Diction

In writing, the rules of grammar ensure that what you say will be understood by your audience. However, within the general framework
of the English language, you can also choose to write formally or informally.

Formal diction involves choosing words that are polite and proper. Formal language is often filled with descriptive words that are quite
precise, and sentences may be longer. Informal diction, on the other hand, often assumes that the audience already knows what you’re
talking about and generally uses shorter words. Sentences may be incomplete or ignore some finer points of grammar and usage.

To get a sense of how formal and informal diction affects the message, consider these greetings:

Formal: Hello, young man. It is a true pleasure to make your acquaintance. How are you feeling today?

Informal: Hey, kid. Nice to meet ya. What’s up?

In the first example, the speaker uses longer words such as “pleasure” and “acquaintance” as well as longer sentences. By contrast, the
informal speaker uses monosyllabic words like “kid”, slang like “ya” and very short sentences. Though both examples convey the same
information, they do so with different levels of formality.

Formal: The man spoke to his father in a low voice so others could not hear.

Informal: That guy told his dad secrets on the down-low.

Formal: Would you care to explain the reasoning behind your decision to leave the gathering early?

Informal: Why’d you leave the party so soon?

Formal: Her terrible temper won’t endear her to many if she refuses to control her outbursts.

Informal: If she doesn’t stop biting people’s heads off, she’ll lose all her pals.

Going to Extremes
There are different degrees of formality in writing, and these range from highly formal research papers to quick texts you might send to a
friend. Formal writing can go to extremes when writers use jargon. Jargon is highly technical language or specialized terms that only
people in a certain group or industry understand. For example, consider this job description:

The candidate must be adept at both the latest communications technology and heritage voice systems to keep all stakeholders
informed of developing trends in the workspace.

Could you tell that the paragraph above is looking for a secretary? The overly complex terms like “communications technology” and
“heritage voice systems” are jargon, and these words often obscure meaning instead of making things clear. A rewrite to remove formal
jargon could look like this:

The new secretary should be able to use both email and phone systems and share useful information with coworkers.

On the opposite end of the formality spectrum are colloquialisms. Colloquial language is highly informal and may include regional
expressions and spellings that reflect dialect and non-standard pronunciations. For example:

She was hotter than a hen on a July Sunday.

This sentence is highly informal, and it assumes that the reader understands that the hen is hot not just because it’s summer, but because
she’s likely to end up in the soup pot for Sunday dinner as part of rural tradition. In some ways, colloquialisms such as this one can be
just as exclusive as jargon, appealing only to groups who are in the know about local traditions and expressions.

Examples of Formal Diction in Literature

Diction sets the tone so if the diction used is formal the whole tone of the writing is formal. This can give a sense of seriousness, power or
even artistic effect, as in these examples.

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife. However little known
the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighborhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding
families, that he is considered as the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters.” – Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen

“What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason, how infinite in faculty! In form and moving how express and admirable! In action
how like an Angel! In apprehension how like a god! The beauty of the world! The paragon of animals! And yet to me, what is this
quintessence of dust? Man delights not me; no, nor Woman neither; though by your smiling you seem to say so.” – Hamlet, William
Shakespeare

“The sun set; the dusk fell on the stream, and lights began to appear along the shore. The Chapman lighthouse, a three-legged thing erect
on a mud-flat, shone strongly. Lights of ships moved in the fairway—a great stir of lights going up and going down. And farther west on
the upper reaches the place of the monstrous town was still marked ominously on the sky, a brooding gloom in sunshine, a lurid glare
under the stars.” – Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad

Examples of Informal Diction in Literature

Using informal diction, including slang and colloquialisms, gives writing a lighter tone, making the piece more down to earth and less
lofty.

“But I reckon I got to light out for the territory ahead of the rest, because Aunt Sally she’s going to adopt me and sivilize me, and I can’t
stand it. I been there before.” – The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain

“Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's
around—nobody big, I mean—except me. And I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if
they start to go over the cliff—I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and
catch them. That's all I do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to
be.” – The Catcher in the Rye, J. D. Salinger

“Sometimes God gits familiar wid us womenfolks too and talks His inside business. He told me how surprised He was ‘bout y’all truning
out so smart after Him makin’ yuh different; and how surprised y’all is goin’ tuh be if you ever find out you don’t know half as much ‘bout
us as you think you do. It’s so easy to make yo’self out God Almighty when you ain’t got nothin’ tuh strain against but women and
chickens.” – Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston

Know Your Audience

Because both jargon and colloquial writing can exclude some readers from understanding your point, it’s important to consider your
audience before you begin to write. If you are writing for a small group of people at work who all know your terminology, jargon may be
appropriate. Likewise, colloquialisms can help fiction writers develop characters that talk like real people.

In most cases, though, it’s best to write in a more formal style than you would use to speak to a friend. Academic writing requires careful
attention to grammar and use of precise vocabulary so that your meaning is clear. Save slang terms and other informal expressions for
emails and texts to friends or telling a story face to face. When you let your audience guide your diction, you’re more likely to
communicate your ideas effectively.

What Is Diction?
Diction can best be described as the writer and speaker’s own personal style, as evidenced by the words they choose. Along with literary
devices like tone, diction helps to establish a writer’s voice.

Different levels of diction are appropriate not just to their context but also to different audiences. Just as you would not address the
president of a company with, “Yo, dawg!” you would not greet a classmate by shaking their hand and saying,”I can’t tell you how pleased I
am at this chance for us to get further acquainted.”

In writing, the goal is to maintain a level of diction that is both appropriate and consistent. “High diction” is a formal writing style best
suited for essays and university entrance letters. “Low diction,” which might contain slang, is appropriate in emails and texts. While you
can mix levels of diction on purpose for effect, uneven diction is generally a characteristic of bad writing.

How Do You Identify Diction in Writing?

All writing contains diction. What you want to pay attention to is the level of diction an author uses, the intent of that diction —
sometimes, for instance, diction helps establish a first person narrator’s persona — and its appropriateness to the work.
Note that, in industries, like medicine, law, and academia, diction is filled with “jargon,” words that are particular to that field and rarely
used outside of it. This diction can be hard for a layperson to understand.

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!

Diction can also mean “pronunciation,” but we’ll ignore that definition for now since this article is mainly about writing, not speaking.

 II. 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.

 III. 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.”
 

IV. 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.