Chapter 6 TONE AND STYLE

Just for fun  Grammar Rules Grammar Rules

Tone  This refers to the methods by which writers and speakers reveal the attitudes and feelings toward the material, toward their readers and toward the general situation they are describing or analyzing.

Style  The ways in which writers assemble words to tell the story, to develop the argument, to dramatize the play, or to compose the poem. Style cannot be separated from the action or scene it self.

Diction  The Writer’s selection of words. Words must be accurate and comprehensive, so that all the actions, scenes and ideas are perfectly understandable to readers.  The right words control the way the reader responds to the material

Formal, Neutral and Informal Diction  Formal or High diction  This would be diction that is a formal way of speaking. “It is I”  No slang, No contractions  Neutral or Middle  This would be more like every day language. “It’s me”  Slang and contractions are acceptable. Any language that would be the same as everyday language is acceptable.  Informal or Low  This would be ungrammatical language “I don’t never…”

Specific-General, Concrete-Abstract Language  Specific/General refer to categories  Specific language is language that directly relates to subject “My dog Teddy is barking”  General statements can be applied to many things and are broad statements. “All people like pets”  Concrete/Abstract refers to qualities or conditions  Concrete – Immediate perception “Ice cream is cold”  Abstract – broader qualities “Ice cream is good”

Specific-General Language Very Specific Peach Less Specific Fruit General Desert

Denotation and Connotation  Denotation  A limiting term  Connotation  An implying term (suggestive)  Cat/Kitten similar denotatively – Different connotations  Kitten gives a playful connotation

Tone, Irony and Style  Irony  Verbal Irony – Contradictory statements  Situational Irony – When the actions or events contradict what should be.  Dramatic Irony – When the reader knows what the characters do not  Style  Understatement – The expression does not fully describe the importance of the situation  Hyperbole or Overstatement – the words are far in excess of the situation and the reader understands it is actually much less than what is said  Double Entendre – Verbal irony that has a double meaning.

Tone, Humor and Style  Key to humor – Something to laugh at – a person, thing, situation, custom, habit of speech or dialect or arrangement of words.  We must also have disproportion or incongruity (Something that violates what we expect)