Voice Lessons Classroom Activities To Teach Diction Detail Imagery Syntax And Tone 1st Edition Nancy Dean by Nancy Dean 9780929895352, 0929895355 instant download after payment.

My children learned to analyze voice when they were young: “She really means it this time,” they would whisper, conspirators in the intrigue of family limits. “Did you hear what Dad didn’t say?” they would knowingly observe, well aware of implications. They analyzed; they responded. Voice became central to communication. So it is. Voice, the color and texture of communication, stamps expression with the indelible mark of personality. It is the expression of who we are: the pitch and timbre of verbalization. Voice is the fingerprint of a person’s language. During twenty-eight years of secondary English teaching, I have become increasingly aware of the complexity and importance of voice in literature. Understanding voice gives students an appreciation for the richness of language and a deeper understanding of literature. Through voice we come to know authors; by exploring voice, we learn to wield language. The aim, of course, is for each student to better develop a personal voice; to do so, a student must first learn to recognize voice and analyze its elements. Understanding voice in literature starts with reading. Through guided reading, students can learn to identify and appreciate the elements of voice. Understanding the elements of voice requires practice and explicit instruction. This book provides both. Voice Lessons focuses on five elements of voice: diction, detail, imagery, syntax, and tone. 

• Diction (word choice) is the foundation of voice and contributes to all of its elements. 

• Detail (facts, observations, and incidents) is used to develop a topic, shaping and seasoning voice.

• Imagery (verbal representation of sense experience) brings the immediacy of sensory experience to writing and gives voice a distinctive quality. 

• Syntax (grammatical sentence structure) controls verbal pacing and focus. 

• Tone (expression of attitude) gives voice its distinctive personality. A brief discussion of each element follows: Diction refers to the aut