Voice Lessons

Who wrote this?

“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.”

“Your Majesty. Please… I don’t like to complain. But down here below, we are feeling great pain.”

"From there to here, from here to there, funny things are everywhere!"

How did you know?

What is voice?

• It makes reading interesting.

• It makes us recognize certain authors such as Dr. Seuss

• It keeps us involved.• It adds color and texture

to communication.

• When you see a painting, it makes us recognize the artist as Van Gogh or Picasso.

• When you hear a song and know who is singing, that is voice.

• It is the expression of personality or the fingerprint of creativity.

Voice is created through conscious choices.

• The writer, painter, or musician purposefully chooses his or her “tools” (words, colors, instruments) and uses them in ways to create a certain effect.

• Ask yourself these questions.

1. What is he/she (or the work) saying? (What does it mean?)2. How do you know? (What evidence from the work?)3. How does he/she do that? (What tools does he/ she use to create meaning, and how does he/she use these tools?)

1. What is Van Gogh saying about himself? Complete the statement as if you were the Van Gogh in the picture.

I am…

I feel…

2. How do you know what Van Gogh is saying about himself? What evidence can you find in the picture that supports your statements.

3. Now, you try. Do the same with Marc Chagall, another famous artist.

Elements of Voice

• 1. Diction: This is the author’s choice of words. • It is the foundation of all good writing.

• 2. Detail: These are the facts, observations, and incidents that develop a topic. • Writing is flat and boring without detail.

• 3. Figurative language: This is the use of words in an unusual way to reveal new meaning, meaning that is not literal and makes the reader think.

Elements of Voice cont.

• 4. Imagery: The use of words to capture a sensory experience ( what you hear, see, taste, touch, and smell).• Imagery brings life to what you write and makes it seem

real.• 5. Syntax: This includes sentence structure, word order,

and punctuation. • 6. Tone: This is the expression of attitude in writing.• Writers express tone through the use of diction, detail,

imagery, figurative language, and syntax.

Read the simple sentence below:

The little pink fish swam upstream and died.

1. Is this sentence sad? Does the sentence make you feel sad, or like crying, when you read it? Why or why not?

2.What specific characteristics in the sentence keep it from being sad? --These are the tools writers have to choose from as they create voice.

3.You try it? Write a sad version of the sentence, “The little pink fish swam upstream and died.”

4.What did you do to make it sad? What conscious choices did you make?

Diction: The author’s choice of words

• The perfect word is clear, concrete, and exact.• It perfectly expresses the feeling and ideas you want to

get across.• Some words are forbidden; they have lost their freshness

and impact. • Eliminate the following forbidden words from your

vocabulary: Good, nice, pretty, beautiful, fine, bad, thing, really, very, terrible, wonderful, and a lot.

Now think of two words that have the same denotation but a different

connotation.

• Denotation: the literal meaning of a word

• Odor & Aroma: smells

• Connotation: the meaning suggested by a word, the feeling evoked by a word

• Odor – a bad smell• Aroma – a good smell

Words can be formal or informal, depending on the writer’s audience and purpose

Audience and Purpose are Vital

• Write the opening lines to a letter to the principal asking him to eliminate the dress code.• Who’s your audience?• What’s your purpose?

• Write a brief texting conversation between two pre-teen girls.• What did you do differently?