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- DictionaryVi·gnette/vinˈyet/
noun
- 1. a brief evocative description, account, or episode: "a classic vignette of embassy life"
- 2. a small illustration or portrait photograph which fades into its background without a definite border.
verb
- 1. portray (someone) in the style of a vignette.
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What is a vignette?
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What is a vignette in Beowulf?
an engraving, drawing, photograph, or the like that is shaded off gradually at the edges so as to leave no definite line at the border. a decorative design representing branches, leaves, grapes, or the like, as in a manuscript. any small, pleasing picture or view.
a small picture or drawing, especially on the first page of a book. Each vignette represents one of the four seasons. Definition of vignette noun in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more.
1. a. : a picture (such as an engraving or photograph) that shades off gradually into the surrounding paper. b. : the pictorial part of a postage stamp design as distinguished from the frame and lettering. 2. a. : a short descriptive literary sketch. b. : a brief incident or scene (as in a play or movie) 3.
- Overview
- Preparing to Write the Vignette
- Brainstorming Ideas for the Vignette
- Writing the Vignette
- Vignette Help
A vignette is a short piece of literature used to add depth or understanding to a story. The word “vignette” originates from the French word “vigne”, which means “little vine”. A vignette can be a “little vine” of a story, like a snapshot with words. A good vignette is short, to the point, and packed with emotions.
Understand the purpose of a vignette.
A vignette should express a certain moment, mood, aspect, setting, character, or object. Most of all, it should be short, but descriptive.
In terms of length, a vignette is typically 800-1000 words. But it can be as short as a few lines or under 500 words.
A vignette will usually have 1-2 short scenes, moments, or impressions about a character, an idea, a theme, a setting, or an object.
You can use the first second, or third point of view in a vignette. But most vignettes are told in just one point of view, instead of alternating points of view. Remember you only have a short amount of space on the page for the vignette. So don’t waste valuable time confusing your reader with many points of view.
The vignette form can also be used by physicians to create a report on the status of a patient or a procedure. In this article, we will be focusing on a literary vignette, not a clinical vignette.
An association diagram is also known as a clustering technique. You will create a cluster or group of words around a theme or idea.
Take out a sheet of paper. Write your main topic or subject in the middle of the paper. For example, “Spring”.
Moving out from the center, write down other words that pop into your mind that relate to “Spring”.
For example, for “Spring”, you might write “flowers”, “rain”, “Spring break”, “new life”. Don’t worry about organizing the words as you write. Simply let the words flow around the main topic.
Once you feel you have written enough words around the main topic, start to cluster the words. Draw a circle around words that relate to each other and draw a line between the circled words to connect them. Continue doing this with the other words. Some of the terms may end up uncircled, but these lone words can still be useful.
Focus on how the words relate to the main topic. If you have clustered together several words that relate to “new life”, for example, maybe this may be a good approach for the vignette. Or if there are a lot of clustered words that focus on “flowers", this may be another way to approach “Spring.”
Decide on the style of the vignette.
Maybe you want to do a freestyle vignette where you create a scene or describe an object. Or perhaps you’d like to use the format of a letter or a blog post for the vignette.
For example, a vignette about “Spring” could describe a scene in the garden with your mother, among the flowers and trees. Or it could be in the form of a letter to your mother about that day in Spring, among the flowers and trees.
Focus on the five senses: touch, taste, smell, sight, and sound. Could a certain detail in the vignette be stronger with a description of the smell of a flower or the softness of the petals of a flower?
You can also add figurative language to strengthen the vignette, such as similes, metaphors, alliteration, and personification. But use these sparingly and only when you feel like a simile or metaphor will highlight the rest of the vignette.
For example, the use of the red balloon attached to an anchor in Cisneros’ “Boys & Girls” is an effective use of figurative language. But it works well because the rest of the vignette uses simple language, so the image at the end of the vignette lingers with the reader.
How should I choose the topic?
It depends on what you are writing the vignette for. For example, if it is for school, make sure it is appropriate. Or, if you are writing for fun, choose a topic that seems fun to you. If all else fails, think of something that happened in your life and write about it, even if it doesn't seem very interesting.
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Can a flashback be a vignette?
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See synonyms for vignette on Thesaurus.com noun a decorative design or small illustration used on the title page of a book or at the beginning or end of a chapter.
Definition of Vignette. In literature, a vignette is a short scene that focuses on one moment that is especially powerful or significant. Vignette examples can be found in plays, poems, and novels.
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English Related topics: Literature, Newspapers, printing, publishing vi‧gnette /vɪˈnjet/ noun [ countable] formal 1 a short description in a book or play showing the typical features of a person or situation 2 a small picture or design at the beginning or end of a book or chapter Examples from the Corpus v...
