ELEMENTS OF LANGUAGE:

Idioms, Dialect, Slang: The Skinny


In talking about LANGUAGE earlier in the year, we looked closely at word choice, DICTION, as an important part of LITERARY STUDY. The STYLE of LANGUAGE, or in other words the pattern of LANGUAGE, is noteworthy as well.

Take these three STYLISTIC examples:

Can you match the text with the appropriate term?

1. IDIOM	A. In "Two Kinds," Jing-mei's mother omits the articles "a", "an", and "the" in her speech. "Of course you can be prodigy, too..."
2. DIALECT	B. When Jing-mei mentions her mother's dead children, "I wish I were dead! Like them" the story reaches its climax. After Jing-mei springs this line on her mother, the transformation on her mother's face is profound. In describing the transformation, Jing-mei says: "It was as if I had said the magic words. Alakazam!--and her face went blank..."
3. SLANG	C. In Fences, Troy tries to justify his affair with Alberta with the following: "I stood on first base for eighteen years..."

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NEXT: Lesson 3 Language Study: The Skinny on Idiom, Dialect, Slang