America is said to be a melting pot of different cultures and ethnicities, and this unique aspect of American society has a large impact on many people's childhoods. One of these people, author Junot Díaz, wrote the short story The Money, published in 2011 in the New Yorker. In this short story, Díaz uses a childlike tone combined with formal, academic diction to create a unique perspective of a childhood experience when their apartment was "burgled." The author's frequent use of slang and childish language successfully uses pathos to appeal to the readers' emotions, but the story is also written with scholarly diction which obviously reflects the high level of education of the author. This conflict of diction is intended by the author to depict a unique perspective of the life of a young Dominican immigrant and the journey of growth to becoming a successful author, once again appealing to the readers' emotions. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay In this article, the author first sets the stage by describing the difficult financial conditions he and his family experienced growing up, then moves on to tell the story of when his family returned from "vacation" , only to discover that the apartment had been burglarized. However, the stolen items were not typical of a burglary, leading the perpetrator to suspect his two friends of committing the crime. Eventually, his suspicions were confirmed and the perpetrator decided to collect the money and return it to his mother. Throughout this piece there is an interesting conflict over the author's diction. In particular, the author chooses to heavily use slang and children's language in an otherwise formal and scholarly article. For example, the author refers to his mother as "Mami" and his two friends as "dopes" and "stupid morons." This childish diction is inconsistent with the rest of the story, but it was intentional by the author to make the story more realistic and authentic. By using informal language like slang, the author manages to effectively connect the story to his roots as a poor Dominican immigrant. This type of language appeals to readers' emotions because it allows the reader to engage and identify with the author's childhood. Through the use of slangs, the author is able to elicit sympathy, as readers can associate this childish diction with growing up in an environment where the level of education was lower and many people experienced financial difficulties, like the author's family. Although the article has slangs and childish language layered on top of each other, the majority of this piece reflects the author's high level of education and knowledge through the use of precise, educated and scholarly vocabulary. An example is in the first paragraph of the story, as the author described the purpose of the remittances, Díaz writes: "They were alone there and these remittances, beyond material support, were a way, I suppose, for Mami to negotiate. the absence, the distance caused by our diaspora” (Díaz 111). The choice of the word “diaspora” is very interesting here. The choice of this word evokes a strong emotion of separation and creates a feeling of nostalgia in readers. The author states that these remittances were just a way to alleviate this feeling of lack of home, which once again allows readers to identify with what the author experienced as a child as an immigrant to the United States. The author writes this story creatively in two contradictory dictions. , one being formal and scholarly, and the other childish and casual. This juxtaposition between diction.