Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Assignment 2

The Things They Carried: Diction
The author uses several types of diction in The Things They Carried to create different tones.  An example of the author’s diction can be seen in the chapter “The Lives of the Dead.”  Sometimes I can even see Timmy skating with Linda under the yellow floodlights.  I’m young and happy.  I’ll never die. I’m skimming across the surface of my own history, moving fast, riding the melt beneath the blades, doing loops and spins, and when I take a high leap into the dark and come down thirty years later, I realize it is as Tim trying to save Timmy’s life with a story” (232-233).  O’Brien’s use of diction in this quote helps to create a very optimistic tone.  He is recalling a very happy memory about his family who he loved very much.  He also created a hopeful tone within this diction because he is hoping for a better future.

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