Review of Tone Tone is the writer’s attitude towards their subject. Sometimes this is explicitly stated – Sometimes it is implied, an author’s word choice lets the readers know how they feel

Dave Barry's Greatest Hits, Barry You never found out why these men spend so much time shaking hands [in beer commercials].  Maybe shaking hands is just their simple straightforward burly masculine American patriotic way of saying to each other: "Floyd, I am truly sorry I drank all that beer last night and went to the bathroom in your glove compartment." What is Barry’s tone in explaining the relationships between men as they are portrayed in beer commercials? A)  serious     B)  humorous      C)  angry

The Way Things Work, David Macaulay The kind of nuclear reaction that happens inside a nuclear reactor is called nuclear fission. The fuel is uranium or plutonium, two very heavy elements which have many protons and neutrons in their nuclei. Fission starts when a fast-moving neutron strikes a nucleus. The nucleus cannot take in the extra neutron, and the whole nucleus breaks apart into two smaller nuclei. What is Macaulay’s tone in this passage? A)  uncertain/confused  B)  scared/apprehensive C)  factual/unbiased

"Freedom," John Ruskin You will send your child, will you, into a room where the table is loaded with sweet wine and fruit-some poisoned, some not?-you will say to him, "Choose freely, my little child! It is so good for you to have freedom of choice; it forms your character-your individuality! If you take the wrong cup or the wrong berry, you will die before the day is over, but you will have acquired the dignity of a free child.“ What is Ruskin’s tone in this passage (consider his apparent feelings about young children having freedom)? A)  sincere/honest      B)  sarcastic/mocking   C)  joyful/rejoicing

How many of these words can you define? EQUIVOCAL POLEMICAL MALICIOUS ERUDITE DIDACTIC QUERULOUS SANGUINE APATHETIC SARDONIC CYNICAL MOROSE PEDANTIC CALLOUS

I’m boiling with rage, and yet I mustn’t show it I’m boiling with rage, and yet I mustn’t show it. I’d like to stamp my feet, scream, give Mummy a good shaking, cry, and I don’t know what else, because of the horrible words, mocking looks, and accusations which are leveled at me repeatedly every day, and find their mark, like shafts from a tightly strung bow, which are just as hard to draw from my body.

What is the tone of the passage. How does Frank create that tone What is the tone of the passage? How does Frank create that tone? Look at words, details, figurative language, sentence length etc. Your turn – Write a paragraph expressing anger about something. Don’t state that you’re angry – show your anger through word choice, details, figurative language etc.

What a thrill – My thumb instead of an onion The top quite gone Except for a sort of a hinge Of skin A flap like a hat, dead white. Then a red plush.

What is the poet’s attitude towards the cut What is the poet’s attitude towards the cut? What words, images, details create that tone? Plath uses colors to intensify the tone “dead white” and “red plush” what attitude towards the cut and towards life itself is expressed through these words? YOUR TURN – DESCRIBE AN AUTOMOBILE ACCIDENT FROM A COMPLETELY OBJECTIVE POINT OF VIEW – AS A COMPLETE OUTSIDER