One subject we have learned in this class that will stay with me for the rest of the years I take lit classes is DIDLS. We learned about this very early in the year, so that we could effectively use them in the practice of writing AP Exam Essays. They help you find a baseline and a place to start when writing essays, and also serve as wonderful support in your work.
Diction is the first letter in DIDLS, and the first one we learned. Diction is the choice of words by the author that give the piece a specific tone and voice. Ideas included in this are elevation vs. colloquialism, regionalism and dialect, connotation and denotation, and concrete vs. abstract. Imagery is the next letter. This is pretty self explanatory. It means that the word choice creates an image and appeals vividly to the senses. This includes things like alliteration, assonance, similes, and metaphors. The second D is Details. This is basically the specific facts that an author chooses to include to make a point. It is not general facts, but more opinion based and things that did not have to be added to make the story complete. L stands for Language. when looking for language, you are looking for words that describe a full text as a whole, and not just small sections of diction. S is for Syntax. This one is all about sentence structure and patterns. Short sentences, long sentences, imperatives, declatatives, present tense, conjunctions, these are all terms that refer to sentences and structure and pattern that can be used to give a certain feel and idea to a piece. Overall, DIDLS are extremely important in this course, and will be an important thing to keep in mind in my future classes.
In my synthesis, I didn't put as much emphasis on DIDL's, but I think this post compliments the rest of your syntheses well. You did a great job including a lot of detail about each letter, helping me to summarize a lot of the concepts we learned in the beginning of the year.
ReplyDeleteI put a lot of importance on DIDLS in my organization too. Your post is clear and has lots of information, but your are missing some detail in the "language" category.
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