In class we've spent a lot of time talking about selection, secret messages, and diction. In this post I am going to examine the power of diction, as I believe the way someone chooses to present their words makes an enormous difference in how others will react. I know from personal experience that the way I tell my parents about a situation greatly impacts what reaction they will have. For example, if I make it clear through my diction that I am not much concerned about a poor test grade, my parents will assume that it was an isolated incident and future test grades will make up for it. That is a big way that diction can be used, to show others how important or unimportant something is. If the speaker shows a clear lack of interest in the subject through his/her diction, then the listener will likely believe that the subject lacks importance. However, if the person speaks with distress and great concern about something, the listener is likely to think that the topic is important to not only the speaker but themselves as well. Do you think that diction is as important and opinion-swaying as I do?
I think diction is more powerful in writing than in conversation. If I say I have a bad grade on a test, no matter how I say it, my parents reaction will be the same. If on the semester grade report my teacher says I did badly on one test, but fine on others my parents may not care as much. Also, I believe that if someone is familiar with you and your biases they will notice the way you choose to say things, and therefore diction is not as opinion-swaying as a teacher saying WWII was caused by France, because you do not know the teachers bias towards France.
ReplyDelete