Analyzing an Author’s Style and Tone for CAHSEE. SWBAT evaluate an author’s style and diction in a reading selection and create responses about writing style and tone.

Analyzing an Author’s Style and Tone EQ: How can I analyze a reading selection to evaluate the author’s tone and style?

Character, Theme, and Setting Questions about literary passages often ask about literary elements such as character, theme, or setting.

Step 1: Be sure you understand the three basic literary elements of character, setting, and theme. Review: Theme is the main human issue; the “moral” of the story; the life lesson that the author seeks to teach.

Step 2: As with ANY reading questions, read the questions before you read the passage so that you will read with a purpose.

Step 3: Look for information in the passage that relates to the literary element(s) you are asked to find.

Step 4: Choose the answer that most correctly relates to the details you have found in the passage.

Now it’s time to review how to analyze tone.

Next EQ: How do I analyze the author’s word choices to discover his/her tone or “attitude” in the writing?

The author’s tone, or attitude, toward the characters, setting, and theme are revealed mostly through the words he/she chooses to use.

Step 1: Look at the author’s diction (word choices) Step 1: Look at the author’s diction (word choices). In particular, identify words with connotations. Evaluate what the connotations suggest about the author’s attitude toward the subject.

Step 2: Read all the answer choices, and eliminate those that are clearly not a good match with what the diction suggests about the writer’s tone.

Step 3: Examine the remaining answer choices, and choose the one that best matches the tone of the passage. Beware of answer choices that overly exaggerate the writer’s attitude.