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University Study Guides
English & Composition
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Diction
Diction refers to word choice. There are different types of word choices that are appropriate to different settings.
- In academic writing, formal diction is expected, but different types of choices in your word types can be used to create different types of characters.
- If characters in narrative prose use limited diction, you communicate their intellect to your reader by showing, not telling.
Wize Tip
When you write academic prose, you want to communicate your mastery over the subject matter, so diction matters to show your reader your authority.

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Subjective vs Objective Diction
Objective Writing
In academic and journalistic writing, the aim is always to be "objective."
Of course, we can't always be truly "objective," but if we are really good at it, we can certainly aim that way.
Subjective Writing
Subjective writing refers to making value judgments about something.
- This type of writing is what you'll see in book reviews, where the aim is to say whether something is good or bad.
Wize Tip
However, in writing about texts for school, the aim isn't to offer a value judgement on the aesthetic quality of the text or the author's life choices, but rather to analyze the text on its own terms.

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Bias
Writing "objective" texts is hard, and often writers have certain biases that we can be aware of.
- Typical biases have to do with privilege.
- We can commonly understand Euro-centric ways of understanding the world where certain things are "givens."
- If you can unearth the "givens" for an author, chances are, you can understand their biases.