Literary Device: Diction

1
Literary Device Diction

• Diction is the word choice of an author within
  their written works, especially in terms of word
  usage intended to clarify, characterize, or make
  a texts message effective.
• Example The bitter, rotten fruit swelled
  sickeningly in the heat, oozing a
  gruesome pulpy pus as the afternoon
  sun baked it into further fever.

Examine the italicized words in the sentence
above and determine what tone this charged
diction creates. What two adjectives would you
use to describe the tone?
2
from Fall of the House of UsherEdgar Allan Poe

• During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless
  day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds
  hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been
  passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly
  dreary tract of country and at length found
  myself, as the shades of evening drew on, within
  view of the melancholy House of Usher. I know
  now how it was - but, with the first glimpse of
  the building, a sense of insufferable gloom
  pervaded my spirit. I say insufferable for the
  feeling was unrelieved by any of that
  half-pleasurable, because poetic, sentiment with
  which the mind usually receives even the sternest
  natural images of the desolate or terrible.

3
from Fall of the House of UsherEdgar Allan Poe

• I looked upon the scene before me - upon the mere
  house, and the simple landscape features of the
  domain, upon the bleak walls, upon the vacant
  eye-like windows, upon a few rank sedges, and
  upon a few white trunks of decayed trees - with
  an utter depression of soul which I can compare
  to no earthly sensation more properly than to the
  after-dream of the reveler upon opium the bitter
  lapse into everyday life, the hideous dropping
  off of the veil. There was an iciness, a
  sinking, a sickening of the heart, an unredeemed
  dreariness of thought which no goading of the
  imagination could torture into aught of the
  sublime. What was it - I paused to think - what
  was it that so unnerved me in the contemplation
  of the House of Usher? It was a mystery all
  insoluble

4
Fall of the House of Usher Authors Purpose

• How would you describe the overall mood or tone
  of the excerpt above? List at least two
  adjectives.
• _____________ and ______________
• Examine the diction used to describe several
  major elements from the passage. Record your
  findings in the table below

gloomy
ominous
Quality of Weather Time of Day House of Usher Surrounding Landscape General Mood Atmosphere




the melancholy House
dull, dark
insufferable gloom
...utter depression of soul
soundless day
the bleak walls
the clouds hung oppressively low
an iciness, a sinking, a sickening of the heart
the vacant eye-like windows
...an unredeemed dreariness of thought
the shades of evening
few rank sedges
5
Fall of the House of Usher Authors Purpose

• How does the diction support the authors tone
  within the excerpted opening paragraph of his
  short story? __________________________________
  _________________________________________________
  ________________________________________________
  _________________________________________
• What is the authors purpose in establishing this
  type of tone at the beginning of his short story?
  (Hint What do most horror and mystery authors
  need to quickly establish and why?)_____________
  __________________________________________________
  __________________________________________________
  ________________

Through Poes word choice, the author not only
establishes the overall dark mood and tone of the
short story his diction clearly additionally
establishes a sense of setting, atmosphere, and
provides a window into the starting mindset of
the narrator.
By providing an immediate introduction into the
macabre, Poe establishes the necessary darkened
tone in which the reader expects to encounter
terrifying and exceptionable happenings.
6
Answer the essay question below

• In Edgar Allan Poes Fall of the House of
  Usher, the author creates a suspense-filled
  landscape saturated with a sense of gloomy
  mystery. Using direct text evidence and
  compelling commentary, write a well-organized
  response examining how the authors diction
  dictates the tone of the opening portion of the
  short story.

Red Major Writing TaskBlue Minor
Insights/Instructions