Diction Handout

1. An example of a jargon: plop

2. Opaque- Not transparent
     Elongated- Unusually long
     Phosphorescent- Glowing with light without becoming hot
    Elusive- difficult to find, catch, or achieve
    Cadaverous- Resembling a corpse in being very pale, thin, or bony
    Awash- covered or flooded with water
   
   ~The shadow the ship cast on the sea made the water dark. But instantly, I saw something elongated and pale floating by the ship close to the ladder. Before I guessed what it could be, a naked body of a man flashed a light. It seemed that the body glowed. I gasped at the sight of a pair of long legs and feet. Then the back revealed itself, but only to the neck. One hand reached out and grasped the bottom rung of the ladder. The man was complete except for the head. It was a headless man. I gapped dropping my cigar, which formed a pop and hiss before forming complete silence. I guessed he lifted his head at this. I climbed on the spar, reaching out to see what the mystery beside the ship could be. He was holding onto the ladder like a swimmer. He seemed ghastly, silvery, fishlike.

3. The elevated language makes the story seem more mysterious. It gives you more chills to read it with big words. Paraphrasing it made it less scary.

4. Saw, gasp, clutched, climbed, gaping

5. The author leaves the captain, ship, and crew nameless to produce a mysterious tone. to make your imagination working trying to picture them and their names.

6. The denotative meaning of the title The Secret Sharer is that the person shares secrets or that the person shares thing secretly.

7.