Your Assignments
04.03A Elements of Style Analysis
Style Analysis
Directions: There are two parts to this assignment, so read the instructions for Parts 1 and 2
carefully.
Part 1: Copy and paste your selected passag
...
Your Assignments
04.03A Elements of Style Analysis
Style Analysis
Directions: There are two parts to this assignment, so read the instructions for Parts 1 and 2
carefully.
Part 1: Copy and paste your selected passage, including title and author, in the space below. Use
the organizer to make notes and observations about the elements of the author’s style. Guiding
questions are included to help you develop an in-depth analysis, but every question does not have
to be answered in order to have an insightful analysis.
A Dog's Tale by Mark Twain
My father was a St. Bernard, my mother was a collie, but I am a Presbyterian. This is what my
mother told me; I do not know these nice distinctions myself. To me they are only fine large
words meaning nothing. My mother had a fondness for such; she liked to say them, and see other
dogs look surprised and envious, as wondering how she got so much education. But, indeed, it
was not real education; it was only show: she got the words by listening in the dining-room and
drawing-room when there was company, and by going with the children to Sunday-school and
listening there; and whenever she heard a large word she said it over to herself many times, and
so was able to keep it until there was a dogmatic gathering in the neighborhood, then she would
get it off, and surprise and distress them all, from pocket- pup to mastiff, which rewarded her for
all her trouble. If there was a stranger he was nearly sure to be suspicious, and when he got his
breath again he would ask her what it meant. And she always told him. He was never expecting
this, but thought he would catch her; so when she told him, he was the one that looked ashamed,
whereas he had thought it was going to be she. The others were always waiting for this, and glad
of it and proud of her, for they knew what was going to happen, because they had had
experience. When she told the meaning of a big word they were all so taken up with admiration
that it never occurred to any dog to doubt if it was the right one; and that was natural, because,
for one thing, she answered up so promptly that it seemed like a dictionary speaking, and for
another thing, where could they find out whether it was right or not? for she was the only
cultivated dog there was. By-and- by, when I was older, she brought home the word
Unintellectual, one time, and worked it pretty hard all the week at different gatherings, making
much unhappiness and despondency; and it was at this time that I noticed that during that week
she was asked for the meaning at eight different assemblages, and flashed out a fresh definition
every time, which showed me that she had more presence of mind than culture, though I said
nothing, of course. She had one word which she always kept on hand, and ready, like a lifepreserver, a kind of emergency word to strap on when she was likely to get washed overboard in
a sudden way—that was the word Synonymous. When she happened to fetch out a long word
which had had its day weeks before and its prepared meanings gone to her dump-pile, if there
was a stranger there of course it knocked him groggy for a couple of minutes, then he would
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come to, and by that time she would be away down the wind on another tack, and not expecting
anything; so when he’d hail and ask her to cash in, I (the only dog on the inside of her game)
could see her canvas flicker a moment—but only just a moment—then it would belly out taut
and full, and she would say, as calm as a summer’s day, “It’s synonymous with supererogation,”
or some godless long reptile of a word like that, and go placidly about and skim away on the next
tack, perfectly comfortable, you know, and leave that stranger looking profane and embarrassed,
and the initiated slatting the floor with their tails in unison and their faces transfigured with a
holy joy.
Element Quote or Example from Text Observation About
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