Style

Definition of Tone, Style, and Language

Style in fiction refers to the language conventions used to construct the story. A fiction writer can manipulate diction, sentence structure, phrasing, dialogue, and other aspects of language to create style. Thus a story's style could be described as richly detailed, flowing, and barely controlled, as in the case of Jamaica Kincaid's "Girl," or sparing and minimalist, as in the early work of Raymond Carver, to reflect the simple sentence structures and low range of vocabulary. Predominant styles change through time; therefore the time period in which fiction was written often influences its style. For example, Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown," written in the nineteenth century, uses diction and sentence structure that might seem somewhat crisp and formal to contemporary readers: "With this excellent resolve for the future, Goodman Brown felt himself justified in making more haste on his present evil purpose."

The communicative effect created by the author's style can be referred to as the story's voice. To identify a story's voice, ask yourself, "What kind of person does the narrator sound like?" A story's voice may be serious and straightforward, rambunctiously comic, or dramatically tense. In "Girl," the voice of the mother, as narrated to us in the daughter's first-person point of view, is harsh and judgmental, exposing an urgent and weathered concern for the daughter's development as she becomes a woman.

A story's style and voice contribute to its tone. Tone refers to the attitude that the story creates toward its subject matter. For example, a story may convey an earnest and sincere tone toward its characters and events, signaling to the reader that the material is to be taken in a serious, dramatic way. On the other hand, an attitude of humor or sarcasm may be created through subtle language and content manipulation. In the last line of Chopin's "The Story of an Hour," for example, an ironic spin emerges when we learn that "the doctors said she died of heart disease, of joy that kills."

diction: The author's choice of words

Style, Tone, and Language Exercise

The English language offers a vast array of choices in sentence structure, phrasing, vocabulary, verb tense, and voice. Fiction writers use this variety to their advantage in crafting a thought, description, or action. Different language choices can create a huge range of styles and tones for any given expression. These different styles and tones give the story its unique meaning. In most cases, a story’s way of being told is at least as significant as its content.

Let’s take, for example, the somewhat common experience of getting a parking ticket. Here are several ways the parking ticket experience might be expressed by the recipient.

The policeman gave me a parking ticket.

Some bored cop tagged me with another ticket.

Someone had slipped the ticket under my windshield wiper like a blade slipped under a rib.

A citation for violation of parking regulations had been affixed to my car.

I got another &*%@# ticket!

Another week goes by, another parking ticket stuck to the car—what else is new?

These various expressions create different emotional and conceptual stances relative to the ticketing experience. In other words, the language style of each expression adds its unique spin to the basic information.

INSTRUCTIONS

For the following expression, select one element from each list below to create at least two unique expressions.

Original Sentence: The myriad forms of discourse encountered in contemporary society require a matrix of relational strategies.

myriad many
several varied
forms types
kinds manifestations
discourse communication
speaking styles speech
encountered found
evident that exist
contemporary society modern life
society today’s world
matrix mix
variety large repertoire
relational strategies methods of interaction
communication techniques speaking styles

Question

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Experiment with the choices until you create an expression that seems stylistically different from the original. Compare and contrast the styles of the original sentence and your altered version by analyzing how the specific wording affects the styles.

Question

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