Critical Concepts that Focus on Language

There are five components of communication that shape it’s meaning: language, structure, reasoning, character and emotion. Language includes verbal forms of speech and writing. These components have meanings to them including colors, film-frames, images, gesture, expressions, sounds and textures. Three frameworks to study language are style, semiotics and metaphor. Style is the “verbal clothing of ideas” (Cohen, 1998). In fiction writing, the style is the language that is used to construct the story line and primes. They use diction, character and dialogue to construct the language. A good speaker is able to use words appropriately in their right context while providing clarity and speak vividly.  Semiotics is the science of signs. It takes the meaning in the stem and allows us to see it used elsewhere. It invites the critic to ignore the boundaries of intentional, symbolic-verbal communication and study all the meanings in the word. The third idea is metaphor. A metaphor is a process of moving from one idea to another. It is how a person understands the discussion in the style of the phrase. And example would be a rollercoaster of emotions. A rollercoaster doesn’t have emotions, but you are able to see that the emotions went up and down, side-to-side based on how it was worded.