1. 2.14/2.15 Wed/Thu Objectives: Analyze texts rhetorically.
Discuss the development of tone in texts.
warm-up: Gatsby passages
activity 1: Gatsby/diction ultimate street-fighter dance-off
activity 2: Tone notes
close: Tone analysis
HW DUE: Gatsby 4-6 hard copy and on turnitin
HW for 2.19/2.20: Sedaris excerpt from Me Talk Pretty One Day and ladder stuff (PDF on my website) and vocab. 7
Upcoming:
2.19/2.20:  vocab. 7 due
2.23/2.26:  Gatsby 7-9 assessment
2.27:  ACT day
2.28 (“B” day)/3.1 (“A” day):  Diction, syntax, tone test
3.2/3.5:  Rhetorical analysis FRQ
3.6/3.7:  Begin rhetoric unit (NOTE:  “B” day will be going first for this entire unit, all the way up to the AP Lang test.  Adjust accordingly!)
3.6/3.7:  Grammar 5 Due
3.16/3.19:  vocab. 8 due
4.10/4.11:  grammar 6 due
4.18/4.19:  vocab. 9 due
5.16:  AP Lang test
5.23/5.24:  vocab. 10 due

2. Class Reminders If you are absent when something is due:
You MUST prove to me that you’ve completed it by the time it’s due
You MUST bring me a hard copy of that item the day you return
If you are absent when there’s a quiz/assessment:
You MUST make it up by 5 days after the original assessment date
YOU will reach out to ME to discuss day options
I will NOT reach out to you
After 5 days (not A/B days), the zero stays in the gradebook

3. 2.14/2.15 warm-up: Pick two things
Both from ch. 4-6
One thing is the most important plot thing that happens.
The other thing is the most important symbolic thing that happens.
And, sure, they can be the same thing.

4. 2.14/2.15 activity: Gatsby 4-6 assessment
What will it be today?
Hmmm . . .

5. 2.14/2.15 activity: Gatsby 4-6 assessment
It’s a quiz!
When you’re done, staple to HW
Grab “Big Boy” by David Sedaris and get reading!

6. 2.14/2.15 notes: Tone
So you’ve basically been answering tone questions all year.
For example . . .

7. 2.14/2.15 notes: Tone
30. Which of the following best describes Henry’s tone throughout the speech?
Respectful but passionate and forceful
Desperate and pleading
Angry and intimidating
Confused yet demanding and bullying
I love writing tone questions!

8. 2.14/2.15 notes: Tone The Lang test writers love tone questions, too!
2008 exam
The tone in the passage can best be described as
dramatic
confidential
impressionistic
thoughtful yet playful
moralistic and rigid

9. 2.14/2.15 notes: Tone
In context, the tone of lines 8-12 can best be described as
heedless
scandalized
critical
surprised
encouraging

10. 2.14/2.15 notes: Tone Sometimes they refer to tone as “attitude.”
The attitude of the author toward the English language is one of
high regard for the early scholars of English grammar
acceptance of changes in English despite a strong sense of loss
disdain for those condoning the linguistic flexibility of English
interest in the past of and optimism for the future of English
a hatred for words like “skrrrrrt” but a grand love of words like “stooooooop”

11. 2.14/2.15 notes: Tone
So I guess College Board and I think tone is important.
But it can sometimes be difficult to nail down if I don’t give you four multiple choice variants each having a set of two words.
For example, what would you say the tone of this class is?
I suppose in answering that, you need to consider some other factors.
What is the purpose of the class?
Who is the audience?
Who is delivering the message?
These things should influence tone. In fact, the only way to understand tone is to analyze it as a result of several factors.
The first two should be obvious.

12. 2.14/2.15 notes: Tone The first two factors that influence tone are:
Purpose: what the speaker hopes to achieve
Audience: for whom the speaker intends the text
But there’s something important to remember.
Tone could be several different ideas.
There could be a tone to the text.
There could be a tone the author has.
There could be a tone to a speaker which might be separate than that of the author.
Let’s take a look at Sedaris.

13. 2.14/2.15 notes: Tone
It was Easter Sunday in Chicago, and my sister Amy and I were attending an afternoon dinner at the home of our friend John. The weather was nice, and he'd set up a table in the backyard so that we might sit in the sun. Everyone had taken their places, when I excused myself to visit the bathroom, and there, in the toilet, was the absolute biggest turd I have ever seen in my life - no toilet paper or anything, just this long and coiled specimen, as thick as a burrito. I flushed the toilet, and the big turd trembled. It shifted position, but that was it. This thing wasn't going anywhere. [ ] I was trapped. [ ] I scrambled for a plunger and used the handle to break the turd into manageable pieces, all the while thinking that it wasn't fair, that this was technically not my job. Another flush and it still didn't go down. Come on, pal. Let's move it. [ ] Quick, I thought. Do something. By now the other guests were probably thinking I was the type of person who uses dinner parties as an opportunity to defecate and catch up on my reading.

14. 2.14/2.15 notes: Tone
Tone can also be developed in two other ways (all four ways working in concert, though).
What are the other two ways, you ask?
It’s the name of this unit.
Consider again the diction and syntax choices that Sedaris makes.

15. 2.14/2.15 notes: Tone
It was Easter Sunday in Chicago, and my sister Amy and I were attending an afternoon dinner at the home of our friend John. The weather was nice, and he'd set up a table in the backyard so that we might sit in the sun. Everyone had taken their places, when I excused myself to visit the bathroom, and there, in the toilet, was the absolute biggest turd I have ever seen in my life - no toilet paper or anything, just this long and coiled specimen, as thick as a burrito. I flushed the toilet, and the big turd trembled. It shifted position, but that was it. This thing wasn't going anywhere. [ ] I was trapped. [ ] I scrambled for a plunger and used the handle to break the turd into manageable pieces, all the while thinking that it wasn't fair, that this was technically not my job. Another flush and it still didn't go down. Come on, pal. Let's move it. [ ] Quick, I thought. Do something. By now the other guests were probably thinking I was the type of person who uses dinner parties as an opportunity to defecate and catch up on my reading.
Tone word lists can be helpful. So . . .

16. Accusatory: charging with wrongdoing
Apathetic: indifferent due to lack of energy or concern
Awed: in solemn wonder
Bitter: exhibiting strong animosity as a result of pain or grief
Cynical: questioning the basic sincerity and goodness of humanity
Condescending: feeling superior
Callous: unfeeling, insensitive to feelings of others
Contemplative: thoughtful, reflective
Critical: finding fault
Choleric: hot tempered, easily angered
Contemptuous: showing or feeling that something is worthless or does not deserve respect
Caustic: intensely sarcastic; stinging, biting
Conventional: lacking spontaneity, originality, and individuality
Disdainful: scornful
Didactic: educating or instructing the reader
Derisive: ridiculing, mocking
Earnest: intensely sincere
Erudite: learned, polished, scholarly
Fanciful: imaginative
Forthright: directly frank without hesitation
Pessimistic: expecting or seeing the worst; hopeless
Gloomy: dark, sad, dejected
Haughty: proud, vain to the point of arrogance
Quizzical: odd, eccentric, amusing
Ribald: offensive in speech or gesture
Indignant: angry, especially if aroused by injustice
Reverent: treating a subject with honor and respect
Intimate: very familiar
Ridiculing: slightly contemptuous; making fun of
Judgmental: authoritative and often having critical opinions
Reflective: illustrating innermost thoughts and emotions
Jovial: happy
Lyrical: expressing feelings in a beautiful or poetic way; emotional
Sarcastic: sneering, caustic
Sardonic: scornfully and bitterly sarcastic
Matter-of-fact: accepting of conditions; not fanciful or emotional
Satiric: ridiculing to show weakness in order to teach or reform
Mocking: treating with contempt or ridicule
Sincere: without deceit or pretense; genuine
Morose: gloomy, sullen, surly, despondent
Solemn: deeply earnest, tending toward serious reflection
Malicious: purposely hurtful
Objective: unbiased; able to leave personal judgments aside
Sanguine: optimistic, cheerful
Whimsical: odd, strange, fantastic; fun
Optimistic: expecting or seeing the best, hopeful, cheerful
Obsequious: polite and obedient in order to gain something
Patronizing: condescending
Pedantic: overly or inappropriately scholarly

17. 2.14/2.15 close: Tone Loc and you
Let’s apply some tone word analyses to another text.

18. 2.14/2.15 close: Tone Loc and you
Meanwhile, the United States Army, thirsting for revenge, was prowling the country north and west of the Black Hills, killing Indians wherever they could be found. –Dee Brown, Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee
What are the connotations of thirsting? What feelings are evoked by this diction?
What are the connotations of prowling? What kind of animals prowl? What attitude toward the U.S. army does this diction convey?

19. CLOSE and HW /2.15
HW: Read the excerpt from Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris.
Read and annotate
Create an abstraction ladder for the essay from top to bottom.  For each step, identify specific techniques Sedaris uses along with quotes to prove your identification.  Each step should be filled in with as much detail as possible.