Synthesis of Course Material: Reading

Reading

Close Reading: We learned about DIDLS, the techniques an author uses to create a tone or emphasize the meaning of the piece.  Through many close reading practices, I began to better understand some of the concepts, such as diction and imagery, and learned for the first time why some of the concepts mattered, such as syntax. It was hard at first to understand why DIDLS mattered so much, but after picking apart an essay and finding examples of each element of DIDLS, it made more sense and was easier to use in my own writing.

            DICTION: the words a writer choses.  A reader should look at the difference between connotation and denotation, and why an author would opt to pick one word over the other.

            IMAGERY: the picture that the writer creates through descriptive language (or lack thereof)

            DETAILS: the specific elements included in the writing (the author must have chosen these for some purpose)

            LANGUAGE: the devices the author uses, such as alliteration, similes, metaphors, etc.

            SYNTAX: how the author forms sentences (devices such as asyndeton and polysyndeton fall in this category)

 Analyzing Poetry: We learned to use SSTIFS (Situation, Speaker, Tone, Imagery, Figurative language and the rest of DIDLS, Structure) to analyze poetry.  There are different types of sonnets, the English/Shakespearean sonnet and the Italian/Petrarchan sonnet.  The English sonnet has 14 lines, is written in iambic pentameter, has a heroic couplet at the end, and has four quatrains before the couplet.  The lines are rhymed abab cdcd efef, and there is usually a “volta” (or turn) at the couplet, in which the sonnet turns on itself or shifts the way in which the subject is being treated.  The Italian sonnet is composed of octaves in the rhyme scheme abbaabba and the volta occurs in line 9.