1. Interpreting What We Read
The Art of Critical Reading
Mather ▪ McCarthy
PART 3
Interpreting What We Read
Chapter 7
Tone
© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

2. The Art of Critical Reading The Art of Critical Reading
Mather ▪ McCarthy
The Art of Critical Reading
Mather ▪ McCarthy
Inferring Tone
Tone refers to the emotional quality of an article. Just as a speaker’s voice can convey a wide range of tones, so can a writer’s voice.
We infer a writer’s tone by paying attention to such things as word choice, phrasing, and subject matter.
Chapter 7: Tone 2
© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

3. The Art of Critical Reading The Art of Critical Reading
Mather ▪ McCarthy
The Art of Critical Reading
Mather ▪ McCarthy
Irony and Satire
Irony refers to a contrast between what people say and what they actually mean. The intended meaning of an ironic comment is often the opposite of the stated meaning.
Satire refers to comments that exaggerate flaws or failings for the purpose of making them seem ridiculous. Because satire relies on distortion, it is often humorous. Almost anything can be satirized, including people, institutions, and ideas.
Chapter 7: Tone 3
© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

4. The Art of Critical Reading The Art of Critical Reading
Mather ▪ McCarthy
The Art of Critical Reading
Mather ▪ McCarthy
Test-taking Tip
Taking Multiple-Choice Tests Continued
Here are some more tips for taking multiple-choice tests:
1. When the question asks you to pick a missing word, look for grammar clues such as a and an.
2. Sometimes one of the answers will be all of the above, and if you are pretty sure that two of the three answers are correct, go with all of the above.
Chapter 7: Tone 4
© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

5. The Art of Critical Reading The Art of Critical Reading
Mather ▪ McCarthy
The Art of Critical Reading
Mather ▪ McCarthy
3. Two questions on the test may be similar, and you can use the correct answer for one question to help you find the correct answer for the other.
4. If there is no penalty for guessing, make an educated guess rather than leaving a question blank.
5. If you are using a computerized scoring sheet, be sure to eliminate any stray marks.
Chapter 7: Tone 5
© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

6. The Art of Critical Reading The Art of Critical Reading
Mather ▪ McCarthy
The Art of Critical Reading
Mather ▪ McCarthy
Vocabulary
This unit begins with words with inter, intra, and medius, ped, capt and cept, and cap and corp. It concludes with “blood relations” and cide.
inter—between, among; intra—within, inside, medius--middle
interpersonal
between persons.
intrapersonal
self-knowledge as in intrapersonal intelligence.
interloper
a person who intrudes into the affairs or business of others.
Chapter 7: Tone 6
© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

7. The Art of Critical Reading The Art of Critical Reading
Mather ▪ McCarthy
The Art of Critical Reading
Mather ▪ McCarthy
interlude
an intervening episode; an interval in the course of action.
interject
to interrupt with; to insert.
intercede
to come between or plead on another’s behalf.
intervene
to come between.
intermediate
coming between two other things or happenings; in the middle.
intermediary
medius means “middle.” An intermediary is a go-between or mediator.
Chapter 7: Tone 7
© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

8. The Art of Critical Reading The Art of Critical Reading
Mather ▪ McCarthy
The Art of Critical Reading
Mather ▪ McCarthy
ped—child (Not to be confused with the Latin prefix ped also means “foot” as in pedal and pedestrian.)
pediatrician
a doctor who takes care of babies and children.
pedagogy
comes from the Greek word part paidos, meaning “child,” and agogos, meaning “leader.” In Latin, a pedaogue was a slave who escorted children to school and supervised them. Later the term came to refer to a teacher. Today the word refers to teaching or the science of teaching.
 pedophile
an adult who has a sexual desire for a child.
Chapter 7: Tone 8
© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

9. The Art of Critical Reading The Art of Critical Reading
Mather ▪ McCarthy
The Art of Critical Reading
Mather ▪ McCarthy
pedantic
showing off learning in a boring way, or one who pays too much attention to the boring details of a subject.
capt, cept—hold, seize, take
captivity
the condition of being held by force.
capability
the power to do something.
capacious
able to hold much.
Chapter 7: Tone 9
© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

10. The Art of Critical Reading The Art of Critical Reading
Mather ▪ McCarthy
The Art of Critical Reading
Mather ▪ McCarthy
deception
If we practice deception, we are “taking” something from someone by fraud.
intercept
to take or seize on the way (between).
cap—head; corp--body
decapitate
to cut off the head
caption
a title at the head of an article in a newspaper or magazine.
Chapter 7: Tone 10
© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

11. The Art of Critical Reading The Art of Critical Reading
Mather ▪ McCarthy
The Art of Critical Reading
Mather ▪ McCarthy
corpulent
fat and fleshy; stout body build.
corporation
a business, city, college, or other body of persons having a government charter, which gives it some of the legal powers and rights of a person.
corps
a group of people joined together in some work; a section or special branch of the military. Corps has the same pronunciation as apple “core.”
corpse
the dead body of a person.
Chapter 7: Tone 11
© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

12. The Art of Critical Reading The Art of Critical Reading
Mather ▪ McCarthy
The Art of Critical Reading
Mather ▪ McCarthy
The next section discusses “blood” relations and the suffix cide, which means “kill.”
mater, matri—mother; cide—kill; pater, patri—father; homo—man; soror—sister; genus—birth, begin, race; frater, fratri--brother
maternal
relating to a mother, such as maternal instincts.
maternity
the state of being a mother.
matricide
The suffix cide, as in insecticide and pesticide, means “kill,” so matricide is murdering one’s mother.
Chapter 7: Tone 12
© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

13. The Art of Critical Reading The Art of Critical Reading
Mather ▪ McCarthy
The Art of Critical Reading
Mather ▪ McCarthy
paternal
relating to a father.
paternity
the state of being a father.
patricide
murdering one’s father.
fraternity
a brotherhood. College fraternities are groups of males who live together like brothers.
fratricide
murdering one’s brother.
Chapter 7: Tone 13
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14. The Art of Critical Reading The Art of Critical Reading
Mather ▪ McCarthy
The Art of Critical Reading
Mather ▪ McCarthy
sorority
a sisterhood. College sororities are groups of females who live together like sisters.
sororicide
murdering one’s sister.
homicide
the murder of one human being by another.
*We previously learned that homo means “same.” But homo also has a second meaning of “man,” which is the meaning that applies to the word homicide and other words.
Homo sapiens
mankind; human beings. Sapiens means “wisdom,” so Homo sapiens are humans with wisdom. This is the scientific term for all human beings.
Chapter 7: Tone 14
© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

15. The Art of Critical Reading The Art of Critical Reading
Mather ▪ McCarthy
The Art of Critical Reading
Mather ▪ McCarthy
genius
A genius is a person with very high intelligence. The word genius has an interesting etymology. It comes from genus, meaning “birth.”
genocide
the systematic killing of a national or ethnic group.The word genocide was first applied to the attempted extermination of the Jews by Nazi Germany.
Genesis
the beginning, the origin. The first book of the Bible is called Genesis because it gives an account of the Creation.
genealogy
a history of a person’s descent from ancestors. Your “family tree” or birth history shows your genealogy.
Chapter 7: Tone 15
© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.