Diction Choices – Expressions of Language
How did the author's use of language affect your understanding of the reading selection from your chosen novel? Did you have any trouble understanding any of the dialogue? Do you feel that the word choice and expressions add richness and depth to the characters? How would the novel's story be told differently if the setting were to take place today?
Show your understanding of how language expressions affect writing and characterization by rewriting one of the scenes from your selected novel. The scene should come from the reading assigned from this topic. Once you have selected a scene that interests you, rewrite the scene with any slang, jargon, and idioms used today. Make sure that your language is consistent; the same character would not use slang from both the Midwest as well as the South.
Be sure to use correct punctuation for the character's dialogue regarding quotation marks, commas, periods, question marks, and exclamation points. Generally, a new paragraph begins each time the speaker changes. Observe below how the examples of dialogue are formatted in prose using dialogue attributions (the part of the sentence that tells you who the speaker is):
Dialogue with a statement
Jerome said, "I'm going to work at the movie theater this summer."
"I'm going to work at the movie theater this summer," said Jerome.
Dialogue with a question
Chris said, "How much are they going to pay you?"
"How much are they going to pay you?" said Chris.
Dialogue with an exclamation
Jerome said, "They're paying twelve bucks an hour!"
"They're paying twelve bucks an hour!" Jerome said.
Dialogue attribution mid-sentence
"Whoa," said Chris, "that's a lot of money!"
Your rewritten scene must be at least five hundred words in length. You will likely not want to "translate" each sentence line by line from the novel, but keep the character names the same even as you make changes to the setting of the story. Remember to use a mix of prose and dialogue in your scene. Before you begin, review the Write a Scene Checklist to make sure that you include all of the items required for full credit.
Once you have completed your rewritten scene, please submit your work to the dropbox.