Name Date Tone The tone of a piece of writing results from the writer’s attitude toward subject, characters, or readers. [Lis the distinctive quality of the voice that we hear speaking to us. The following isa list of words that describe tone. aloof cynical humorous moralizing silly affectionate delighted ironic ‘mournful serious contemptuous disgusted mocking objective tense ‘These are just a sample of the adjectives that may describe tone, and several adjectives may apply toasingle piece of writing. We discover tone through attention to point of view, details of plot or subject, word choice, figures of speech, and the sounds and rhythms of language. Understanding and Describing Tone Read the following passages, and then answer the questions that follow Passage A Passage B ‘The occupants of the carriage were 2 small And her little sister, our Else, wore a long girl and a smaller girl and a small boy. An white dress, rather like a nightgown, and a aunt belonging to the children occupied one —_pair of little boy’s boots. But whatever our comer seat. . . . Both the aunt and the children Else wore she would have looked strange. She were conversational in a limited, persistent was a tiny wishbone of achild, with cropped way, reminding one of the attentions of a hair and enormous solemn eyes—allittle white housefly that refused to be discouraged. Most owl. Nobody had ever seen her smile; she of the aunt's remarks seemed to begin with scarcely ever spoke. (from “The Doll's House” “Don't,” and nearly all of the children’s by Katherine Mansfield, text page 182) remarks began with “Why?” (from “The Storyteller” by Saki, text page 206) J. Which passage shows you a clear visual picture of a character? 2. Which passage sounds as if the speaker could be a stranger, someone who is seeing the characters for the first time? 3. What simile in Passage A describes the characters’ conversation? Is this simile pleasant or unpleasant? 44. Which passage would you say is sympathetic in tone? Critical? __ 5.- Use at least one more word to describe the tone of each passage. (Choose a word from the list above, or decide on a word of your own.) Wane Ae eee Passage B:Creating Tone ‘Choose one tone and one subject from those below, and write two or three sentences that clearly convey your attitude toward the subject. Tone: comic, angry, affectionate, shocked, enthusiastic Subject: lunchtime at school, a pet, a rock group, schoo! sport