WORD PLAYHow and why

do poets play with words?

REVIEW FROM TEXT Space is limited, so poets carefully

select words

REVIEW FROM TEXTKinds of diction:• Poetic diction—elevated language, common in older

and/or traditional poetry• Dialect—typical language spoken by a definable

group of people (location, race, income-level, etc)• Jargon—typical language spoken by a group of

trade and/or professional members

Levels of diction:Formal diction—dignified, impersonal, elevatedMiddle diction—spoken by most educated people Informal diction/colloquial—conversational, often

includes slang

REVIEW FROM TEXTDenotation—literal definition meaningConnotation—associations and social

meanings that shade wordwhy?

REVIEW FROM TEXTPersona—a speaker created by the poetAmbiguity—intentional freedom of

interpreting a word, phrase, action, character, and/or situation in more than 1 way

REVIEW FROM TEXTSyntax—order of words and/or sentences

WORD PLAY TERMSOnomatopoeia—words that sound like

their meanings; examples: boom, buzz, crackle, gurgle, hiss, pop, sizzle, snap, swoosh, whir, zip

Cliché—any figure of speech that once was clever and original but now is overused and/or outdated; examples: busy as a bee, time will tell

WORD PLAY TERMSOxymoron—a phrase that joins 2 opposite

words: bittersweet, cold flamePun—playing with meaning and sound;

examples: I'm trying to find a rope tying class, should I look for a knot for profit organization?, He drove his expensive car into a tree and found out how the Mercedes bends., When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds.

WORD PLAY TERMS Synesthesia—an attempt to fuse

different senses by describing one kind of sense impression in words that typically used to describe another; examples: The sound of her voice was sweet, a loud aroma, a velvety smile

Let’s practice!