Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

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Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Tone and diction can be found in any piece of literature. Whether it’s a theme song from a popular TV from the 1990s or a college-application essay, it can be found. Authors often use these two literary techniques to appeal to their audiences. Tone is most often used to encompass a specific attitude on a subject or topic implied to a set audience. Authors create this literary ambiance with the aid of diction. Diction is the author’s word choice that creates imagery and enhances vivid appeals to the senses. In the first selection “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (Theme Song)” the sentences are set up into stanzas, in song-lyric form. The speaker, Wil Smith, vocalizes his ideas to an audience of a younger demographic. In a casual, laid-back, and playful tone Wil shares his life story about how his life “got flipped turned upside down” when he moved to California and “became the prince of a town called Bel-Air”. Wil uses a lot of slang, abbreviations, and casual diction such as “chillin’, maxin’, relaxin’, b-ball, movin’, yo, drinkin’, hmmm, uh, ain’t, tryin’, and yo homes”. The chosen words and phrases influence the overall “laid-back” tenor of the selection as they assist in appealing his ideas to the audience. The words also create a strong visual of what is taking place. From you’re first glance of the second selection “William Smith: The College-Application Essay” you can tell that it is a more polished piece. The speaker is identified as William Smith. In a more serious, professional yet proper tone, William gives more of an autobiographical account of a “chaotic, topsy-turvey” time in his life. The events disclosed in the selection “recount” how he “metamorphosed into the heir apparent of the municipality referred to as Bel-Air California”. Based on the formal diction chosen by the speaker the implied audience could be to the dean or to a
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