Which term defines the author's selection of words and phrasing?

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Focusing on how a writer selects words and arranges them highlights what diction does. Diction covers the choices—the specific vocabulary, level of formality, imagery, and sound—that shape tone, mood, and character. Allusion is a reference to another work or event, dialect refers to a regional or social variation in language, and archetype is a universal symbol or pattern. So the term that defines the author's selection of words and phrasing is diction because it centers on the actual words and phrasing used.