Diction By: Rebecca Cruz

Kurt Vonnegut switches from neutral to informal language in "SlaughterHouse-Five" through his different characters and his narration of the story. For example, at the end of chapter five Vonnegut exercises his use of both neutral and informal language by stating that "on the morning after the wet dream, Billy decided to go back to work in his office shopping plaza business was booming as usual." The basis of the diction he uses in these sentences is neutral; there are no overly formal words or overly informal words as the bulk. But by using "wet dream" and "booming" Vonnegut sprinkles strong type words into his sentences.