TONE AND P ASSAGE A NALYSIS P RACTICE

T ONE Tone is more than merely an author’s attitude toward his/her subject, audience, and characters; it is the stylistic means by which an author conveys his/her attitude(s) in a work of literature. Tone is an integral part of a work’s meaning because it controls the reader’s response, which is essential to fully experiencing literature. In order to recognize tonal shift and to interpret complexities of tone, the reader must be able to make inferences based on an active reading of the work. -Foster

W HEN DISCUSSING TONE, CONSIDER SUCH QUESTIONS AS : What seems to be the speaker’s attitude in the passage? Is there more than one attitude or point of view expressed? Does the passage have a noticeable emotional mood or atmosphere? NEVER substitute the listing of terminology for analysis. ALWAYS connect the literary term (and example) directly to the effect it creates in the passage.

T ONE P RACTICE Topic: “Dear John” letter (a break-up letter) Tone: harsh, angry, irate Content (what clues): Style (how it is written, what clues):

T ONE P RACTICE : Topic: “Dear John” letter (the break-up letter) Tone: apologetic, compassionate Content (what clues): Style (how it is written, what clues):

T ONE P RACTICE : Topic: Best Day Ever! – Tone: ecstatic, joyful, giddy Content (what clues): Style (how it is written, what clues):

Example: During the whole of the dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing along, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract or country, and at length found myself, as the shades of the evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher. Tone: melancholic and somber, the atmosphere is oppressive Content (what clues): At dusk on a cloudy autumn day, a solitary horseman passes an isolated house Style (how it is written, what clues): the diction (dull, dark, oppressive, dreary, melancholy) the syntax (writing style) is highly descriptive. There are complex sentences, long vowels so it reads slowly, only periods for punctuation.

1. The vacant ice looked tired, though it shouldn’t have. They told him it had been put down only ten minutes ago following a basketball game, and ten minutes after the hockey match it would be taken up again to make room for something else. But it looked not expectant but resigned, like the mirror simulating ice in the Christmas store window, not before the miniature fir trees and reindeer and cozy lamp- lit cottage were arranged upon it but after they had been dismantled and cleared away. Tone: Content (what clues): Style (how it is written, what clues):

2. In my young years I took pride in the fact that luck was called a lady. In fact, there were so few public acknowledgments of the female presence that I felt personally honored whenever nature and large ships were referred to as feminine. But as I matured, I began to resent being considered a sister to a changeling as fickle as luck, as aloof as an ocean, and as frivolous as nature. Tone: Content (what clues): Style (how it is written, what clues):

3. A throng of breaded men, in sad-colored garments, and gray, steeple-crowned hats, intermixed with women, some wearing hoods and others bareheaded, was assembled in front of a wooden edifice, the door of which was heavily timbered with oak, and studded with iron spikes. Tone: Content (what clues): Style (how it is written, what clues):

4. Today is very boring, it’s a very boring day, there is nothing much to look at, there is nothing much to say. There’s a peacock on my sneakers, there’s a penguin on my head, there’s a dormouse on my doorstep; I am going back to bed. Tone: Content (what clues): Style (how it is written, what clues):

5. Perhaps because bats are nocturnal in habit, a wealth of thoroughly unreliable legend has grown up about them, and men have made of the harmless, even beneficial little beasts a means of expressing their unreasoned fears. Bats were the standard paraphernalia for witches, the females half of humanity stood in terror that bats would become entangled in their hair. Phrases crept into the language expressing man’s revulsion or ignorance—“Bat’s in the Belfry,” “Batty,” “Blind as a Bat.” Tone: Content (what clues): Style (how it is written, what clues):

O UTLINE * FOR THE “S TAND A LONE ” A NALYSIS P ARAGRAPH T.S.: Identifies the author; uses a rhetorically accurate verb; and establishes the major thesis/position/purpose of the work. C.D.: Explanation and evidence for how the author conveys/supports this position or purpose. (Use specific examples.) C.M. Commentary that develops analysis of the author’s intended purpose and the effect of his rhetorical strategies. C.M. Explains how the rhetorical strategies you discussed in the previously sentences helps the writer achieve his purpose (Consider using an in order to statement). C.D. Additional evidence on how the author conveys/supports this position or purpose. (Use specific examples.) C.M. Commentary that develops analysis of the effect of the author’s rhetorical strategies. C.M. Explains how the rhetorical strategies you discussed in the previously sentences helps the writer achieve his purpose (Consider using an in order to statement). C.S. (Concluding Sentence) (Consider the effect of the writer’s rhetorical strategies on the audience and the overall impact toward achieving author’s purpose.) *This outline is intended as an instructional example only. Feel free to deviate from the outline as desired.