Steps to Explaining Diction1. Identify words or phrases that capture your attention.

2. Ask yourself,

What other word or words could the author have chosen?

What is the denotation (dictionary definition) of the word? Does the word have multiple denotations that could create a dual meaning?

What are the word’s connotations (associated meanings or feelings)?

3. How does this (my answers to the questions above) relate to the purpose of the text?

Example

Longfellow chooses the word “soul” to represent the hypothetical person who

“slumbers” through life (Longfellow, l. 3). While other words such as “person”, “individual”, or “man” might have been more clear, each of these synonyms denotes an actual physical person. The word soul has multiple denotations, meaning both an individual human being as well as the spiritual component of man. Also, the word soulconnotes ideas of eternity and the afterlife. The overarching theme of the text is that one should live full, productive lives rather than merely abiding, awaiting the after-life. By using a word that connotes eternity to speak of man’s natural life, Longfellow shows a relationship between the natural and spiritual, which implies that one affects the other.

Tell me not, in mournful numbers,

Life is but an empty dream!

For the soul is dead that slumbers,

And things are not what they seem.

Stanza 1 of “A Psalm of Life”By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow