Question

Read the following paragraph from John Muir's "The Calypso Borealis" and pay close attention to the words in UPPERCASE. In one paragraph of three to five sentences, explain Muir's use of diction and the mood his choice of words creates. Use proper spelling and grammar in your response.
The rarest and most beautiful of the flowering plants I discovered on this first grand excursion was Calypso borealis (the Hider of the North). I had been fording streams more and more DIFFICULT to cross and wading bogs and swamps that seemed more and more extensive and more DIFFICULT to FORCE one's way through. Entering one of these great tamarac and arbor-vitae swamps one morning, holding a general though very CROOKED course by compass, STRUGGLING through TANGLED drooping branches and over and under broad heaps of FALLEN trees, I began to FEAR that I would not be able to reach dry ground before dark, and therefore would have to pass the night in the swamp and began, FAINT and HUNGRY, to plan a nest of branches on one of the largest trees or windfalls like a monkey's nest, or eagle's, or Indian's in the flooded forests of the Orinoco described by Humboldt.

thank you in advance :)

Answer 1

Muir's use of diction creates a mood of urgency and fear. The highlighted words - difficult, difficult, force, crooked, struggling, tangled, fallen, fear, faint and hungry - come together to make you feel that the author is in danger. The imagery is clear so that it comes alive in your mind. Diction can help create a mood which can help bring everything else together.

Hope this helps.