Style
Always keep this in mind:
HOW DOES TECHNIQUE COMMUNICATE MEANING?
(EACH ELEMENT OF STYLE LISTED BELOW CREATES MEANING.)
Checklist: Elements of Literary Style
(Elements to consider when evaluating a writer's style)
Words to describe diction:
philosophical, polysyllabic, Latinate, concrete, familiar, colloquial.jargon, pedantic,
poetic, vulgar, euphemistic, moralistic, scholarly, pretentious, slang, insipid,
sensuous, idiomatic, precise, exact, concrete, esoteric, learned, cultured, connotative,
symbolic, picturesque, plain, simple, homespun, literal, figurative, provincial,
colloquial, bombastic, trite, artificial, abstruse, obscure, detached, grotesque,
precise, emotional, concrete, abstract, exact
Words to describe tone:
angry, sad, sentimental, sharp, cold, fanciful, upset, urgent, complimentary, silly,
joking, condescending, boring, poignant, sympathetic, afraid, detached,
contemptuous, happy, confused, apologetic, hollow, childish, humorous, joyful,
peaceful, horrific, allusive, mocking, sarcastic, sweet, objective, nostalgic, vexed,
vibrant, zealous, tired, frivolous, irreverent, bitter, audacious, benevolent, dreamy,
shocking, seductive, restrained, somber, candid, proud, giddy, pitiful, dramatic,
provocative, didactic.
Video: All about Writing Style
(The information is exactly correct, be it for any standardized test or,
more importantly, any formal writing.
Example
Tone Analysis...analysis...analysis...analysis
Utilizing both witty and dejected tones and enhancing it with simple diction,
Woolf expresses her disapproval of the patriarchal society’s perception of women as a
lesser gender. Although her subject calls for typical displays of fury born from social
inequality, her witty tone implies an attempt to prove that women are capable of the same
intellectual humor as men. She initiates wit in her novel with a dialogue between
Clarissa and Peter Walsh when the protagonist states, “I prefer men to cauliflowers”
(Woolf 3). A sentence as simple as such signifies Woolf’s juxtaposition of the value of
men as equal to that of vegetation. By doing so, she reverses the psychology that
devalues women and translates it to demeaning men. Typically, a patriarchal society
diminishes the labor of women as menial and substandard. It assumes that cooking,
cleaning, and caring for children do not constitute the same societal worth as holding
governmental positions and business life. Woolf overturns the belief that a woman can
only perform undemanding roles by equating the opposite sex to a groundling vegetable.
Virtually, she communicates that men are the food upon which women feast, available
for them to consume or discard, depending on the women’s preference.
Her wit materializes men, similarly to how women are objectified. Additionally, “squabbling,"
“frump," and “powder-puff” (Woolf 71) hint at such objectification. For women who cannot find
their own identity, they predictably become “play-things” and visual pleasure for men. They
are unable to discern the value of their own life and only aim to appease their husbands’
desires. In this manner, Woolf mocks her contemporaries.
Her dejected tone equalizes the humor and directs attention back to the subject of
forced submission. “Damnable humbug," “impiously," and “temperate madness” (Woolf
101) refers to the demeanor of Sir William Bradshaw, a prominent psychiatrist in the
novel. Woolf substantiates and applies these three descriptions to the conduct of all men,
whom she believes oppress their wives through marriage. By exploiting a celebrated
male figure, she suggests that Sir Bradshaw’s success and affluence remains clouded by
his off-putting persona. Further linking the susceptibility with men, she implies that
marriages are mostly influenced by a woman’s attraction to her mate’s “accomplishments
and riches." Because these form immediate desirability, the female is blinded by the
prospect of gaining her husband’s prominence without realizing the likelihood of a
sorrowful, unfulfilled marriage. Wealth and fame can only reach a diminutive extent in
appreciation. Woolf contends that equality and true love preserve the health of a union.
Socratic Seminar Questions
* World Connection Question: This type of question establishes a link
between the textual world and the real world.
* Close-ended question: This type of question normally has a “correct”
answer and allows all those in the class come to agreement about
characters or events in the text.
* Open-Ended Question: This type of question will require both
textual support/proof along with discussion and logic to explore the possible answer.
* Universal Theme/Core Question: This type of question deals with the themes of the text and will encourage a discussion about the universality of the text.
* Literary Analysis Question: This type of question deals with HOW meaning is created in the text. This will provide an analysis of the use of stylistic choices (figurative/rhetorical -- see below).