MPE Essay 

Using DIDST to analyze the complex relationship between Claudine Rankine and her subject in the text “Citizen”.

In the text “Citizen”, the author is thinking about a specific event in her past that help shape who she is today. She learned self respect and not to always go by stereotypes. Claudine Rankine uses the DIDST (diction,imagery,detail,syntax,tone) analysis to process her ideas. But the main three she used is imagery, tone, and detail. These three elements of literature are important because they help identify messages or ideas in a text.

Tone, imagery, and detail all tie into each other because you need one to make up the other. Throughout “Citizen”, there was imagery presented in the whole thing. This is important for Claudine to use because it allows her to show her connection in a visual way.  The use of detail/images can determine a person’s tone of choice. In the beginning her tone is more sad when she talks about “dark lights” “low ceilings” then she goes into things like “you smell good”. 

 
The author’s purpose is to inform her readers about how one little occurrence helped find her identify. That’s important because we all want to have that certain image about ourselves even though we’re all different. A person’s family, culture, environment and even their personal interests  can determine your individuation. That's why Claudine Rankine uses things like you smell good repeatedly throughout the text. As we (the readers) read more and more pieces of writing like this, you find out why an author uses specific pieces of literature in their writings. It helps the readers understand how the author feels about that subject and it gives them a chance to develop ideas for themselves.