Read the excerpt from Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms. The major was a little man with upturned mustaches. He had been in the war
in Libya and wore two wound-stripes. He said that if the thing went well he would see that I was decorated. I said I hoped it would go well but that he was too kind. I asked him if there was a big dugout where the drivers could stay and he sent a soldier to show me. I went with him and found the dugout, which was very good. The drivers were pleased with it and I left them there. In the excerpt, what does the diction, or words used to express an idea, show about the narrator? It makes the narrator seem disorganized. It makes the narrator seem discliplined. It makes the narrator seem confused. It makes the narrator seem lively.
The role of diction in literature is to convey a certain tone, through the choice of the author of the words, can also convey a large amount of general feelings of the writer to the work or to a specific character.
The role of diction in this text is to show that the character is disciplined and organized since he treats his officers with respect and asks for the information he needs instead to leave and try to figure things out for himself and end up causing some problem.
A. He reflects back and describes his initial optimism of the war.
Everyone initially feels that optimism going into a battle. The idea of victory is something easy to see. But it gives the idea that possibly it may not turn out exactly as he hopes in the final sentence.
