Directions: ?Analyze the nature of the diction used in “Room”, how it builds the persona of the narrator, and how it affects the passage as a whole by answering the below analysis questions.

1. Jack capitalizes parts of the room. List some examples. Why do you think the author capitalizes these words?

2. The use of made-up words, such as “scritchy,” “knowed,” and “wonderfulest.” What is the effect of this?

3. The passage makes use of many fragments and run-ons. Why?

4. The key portion of this text is “He’s alive for real, he’s the biggest alive thing I ever saw, millions of times bigger than the ants or Spider.” Contextual Information: ?The narrator is Jack, a five-year-old born into captivity by a woman who was kidnapped as a teenager. Jack was conceived by his mother and the kidnapper, who continues to abuse her on a nightly basis. To protect him, Jack’s mother raises Jack with an education of the outside world, but tells him that the things he reads about or watches on television are not real. The only real things are in their Room, which he has turned into his universe. The appearance of the mouse presents a turning point to Jack; it is the first time a living thing has entered into his Room, with the exception of their captor each night.

5. This contextual information would not be necessary to discuss the diction of this poem, but consider it now. How does the interaction between Jack and his mother show this conflict? Discuss why this line may be significant.

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