1. 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.

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

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

4. 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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. 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.