1、English writing,Diction,What?,diction the choice and use of words in writing or speech,Why?,The difference between the right word and the almost-right word is as great as that between lightning and the lightning bug. “用詞準(zhǔn)確與用詞幾乎準(zhǔn)確，這兩者之間的差異就如閃電與螢火蟲之間的差異。” - Mark Twain,Importance of diction,Good Englis

2、h means proper words in proper places. 1). Upon my first colleges class, I seated myself at the rear of the huge lecture hall and attempted to avoid being observed. However, a skinny girl who occupied the seat immediately in front of mine twisted around and grinned. She proceeded to engage me in a w

3、hispering conversation numerous times during the hour. I made a decision to change my location.,comparison,2). When I went to my first college class, I sat in the back of the big room and tried not to be seen. But a slender girl sitting just in front of me turned and smiled. She spoke softly with me

4、 several times and smiled. She spoke softly with me several times during the hour. I decided to change my seat.,1.Stylistic color of words(詞的語(yǔ)體色彩）,three types: formal common colloquial,Formal words,There is nothing new in the recognition, within a given language, of a distinction between common usua

5、ge and uses of the language for more restricted purposes and often enough, perhaps characteristically, more elevated purposes. The monolithic (單一的；統(tǒng)一的) nature of English is not questioned when literary essayists like Emerson contrast peotry and common speech. The latter is recognized in America to b

6、e the proper subject for the investigation of linguists who, however, now show some incipient (起初的) inclination to investigate poetry, too, and other noncasual (無(wú)關(guān)聯(lián)的) utterances (話語(yǔ))iin a given language.,Common words,When I was a kid, and reading every science fiction book in the local library, I us

7、ed to wonder exactly how the future would happen. By that I dont mean what the future would be like science fiction already told me that but rather how wed actually get there. Science fiction books seemed to agree, for example, that in the future there would be no money all transactions would be mad

8、e via identity cards and centralized computers. But that seemed dubious to me: how, I wondered, are you going to get everybody to give up money in the first place?,Colloquial Words,You have your tension. Sometimes you come close to having an accident, that upsets you. You just escape maybe by a hair

9、 or so. Sometimes maybe you get a disgruntled passenger on there, and starts a big argument. Traffic. You have someone who cuts you off or stops in front of the bus. Theres a lot of tension behind that. You got to watch all the time. Youre watching the drivers, youre watching other cars. Most of the

10、 time you have to drive for the other drivers, to avoid hitting them. So you take the tension home with you.,2.The Meaning of Words,conceptual meaning (本義) associative meaning(引申義). 例如： woman-female adult human being man- male adult human being woman-being frail,being prone to tears or being gentle.

11、 man- strong mentally or physically,specific vs general concrete vs abstract dynamic vs static,3.Semantic Types of Words,3.1 General words vs Special words,Professionals-scientists, doctors, teachers, lawyers, journalists a good man-kind, honest, just, generous, sympathetic, warm-hearted, selfless,

12、honorable good food-tasty, delicious, nourishing, rich, wholesome, fresh, appetizing, abundant Laugh-smile, grin, beam, giggle, titter, snigger, chuckle, guffaw, chortle,3.2 Concrect words vs Abstract words,Concrete words-rose、chair Abstract words -democracy”, “politics”, “culture”, “spirit” 舉例 (1) Man is rapidly destroying the Earth. (2) “Whats the smell?”I asked the man beside me in the bus.,3.3 Dynamic words vs Static Words,1) I am hungry. vs My stomach clamours for food. (2) There are two important points in his speech. vs His spee