ALLAH VALLEY ACADEMY

Allah Valley Drive,Surallah, South Cotabato,

Philippines 9512

Student’s Name: ______________________________________________________Section: _______________

Teacher’s Name: _____________________________ Date: _________________

Week 3

LESSON 3: IDENTIFYING THE AUTHOR’S TONE AND POINT OF VIEW

In speaking, we can easily tell the emotions behind the words from a person’s tone. The sentence “That’s okay.”
changes in meaning based on the speaker’s tone in relaying the same message. We tend to believe more the emotions behind
the words (i.e., the connotative meaning) than the words’ denotative meaning. For example, if a person looks into your eyes,
holds your hands, and whispers, “That’s okay,” in a firm and assuring way, then you know that the person is sincere.
However, if the person says the same sentence, “That’s okay,” in a snappy tone and then turns and walks away from you
while rolling his or her eyes, then you know from both the body language and the tone that the person is not sincere but may
be displeased or angry.

In writing, we also convey a tone. The tone is the author’s

attitude toward the topic or issue. Do not misinterpret the tone BIG IDEA
(such as sarcasm), or you will also misinterpret the message. Your choice of words can affect the
The reader can tell whether the author has a positive, negative,
meaning and tone that you wish to
or neutral point of view at a certain thing or issue based on the
tone of the author’s choice of words. convey.

When an author takes side in an issue, the author is said to

BIG IDEA be biased. There are many factors that may affect an author’s point of view. We
Positive and neutral words are used in will discuss two of them here: personal experiences and cultural exposures.
formal writing.
Personal Experiences

One’s personal experiences can greatly affect one’s point of view. Look at actors and actresses who can effectively
portray challenging roles. They would usually mention that they draw from personal experiences in acting out a very
emotional scene. In writing, an author’s personal experiences and attitudes toward those experiences affect his or her point of
views. For example, a president of a company who had been through many of the company’s ups and down will be able to
share much wisdom about running a business.

On the other hand, a fresh graduate from a business school may come in with a stronger personality, very high
ideals, and well- defined goals. However, because this person lacks experiences, there are some realities of the business that
may still be so obscures and unrealized on his or her part.

Another example is one’s particular experience on the service of a particular restaurant. For example, let’s look at
Ms. April, who took her clients to a restaurant called Kainan Course for a breakfast meeting. The service crew of the
restaurant was very accommodating and friendly. They made sure that all the customers were comfortable in their places.
They offered additional information on the menu and gave wonderful suggestions. The ambiance, the tasty food, and the
friendly staff were positive experiences that satisfied Ms. April and her clients. They shared these wonderful experiences to
others, who in turn also tried Kainan Course.

After several months, the restaurant did manpower rotation on its staff members. Some were promoted and others
were laid off. New applicants were accepted and trained. Some policies for the workers were implemented, and these were
not welcomed happily by the staff. Because half of the staff were new and the other half were unhappy because of what
happened to their fellow workers who were laid off, some animosity grew among the staff members.

Because of these, slight changes also happened on the quality of the customer service of the restaurant. The staff
members who used to take good care of the customers slowly grew cold and unfriendly. These bad attitudes affected the
ambiance of the restaurant as well. Soon, the excellent taste of the food became ordinary and even bland.

One time, Ms. Anne, a friend of Ms. April who have heard her talk about the excellent service and good food of this
restaurant, happened to drop by Kainan Course and decided to try it because she remembered Ms. April’s recommendation.
But unknown to Ms. Anne, the time she came was the time the restaurant was going through internal turmoil.

What do you think was Ms. Anne’s experience in the restaurant? Will Ms. Anne talk about the restaurant the same
way that Ms. April did?

12 | L e a r n i n g K i t - E N G L F O R A C A D A N D P R O F P U R P O S E S 1 2
 These examples clearly highlight the influence of personal experiences to one’s point of view. When you read an
academic text or any article for this matter, it pays to always think of the author’s background and personal experiences. Ask
yourself if the author’s personal experiences in life reflects his or her tone and point of view.

CULTURAL EXPOSURES

There’s an old story of people who lived in an island. They were born like normal people except for one thing – they
were born with blue sunglasses. Everything they saw – the sand, the sun, and the plants and animals – was through the blue
lens of the glasses. These people were called the blue people from the Blue Island.

Not far away was another island, and the people who lived there were pretty much the same as normal human
beings except for one thing – these people were born with yellow sunglasses. Everything they see were through the yellow
lens of the glasses. These people were called the yellow people from the Yellow Island.

One time a blue person happened to surf too far from the Blue Island. He got carried away by the waves and winds
close to the next island, which was the Yellow Island. A Yellow person, thankfully, saw him gasping for breath and waving
his hands wildly. The Blue person was rescued successfully and was taken to the Yellow Island to recuperate.

Now, the yellow people were friendly and accommodating, and they were very proud of everything in their Yellow
Island. They started showing him everything they had. They fed him their yellow food and taught him their yellow ways. But
there was one problem. While the blue person was very willing to try everything the yellow people wanted him to do and see,
he couldn’t quite understand what they meant when they talked about colors. Finally, he figured out, and he shared his
dilemma to the yellow people.

Because the blue person cannot take out the blue lens he was born with, he just placed the yellow lens given to him
by the yellow people on top of his blue lens. Suddenly, he started seeing things in a different color other than blue. He began
to understand the yellow people a lot better. He stayed in the yellow island for a long time until he was pretty sure he knew
everything in the ways of the yellow people. One day, he decided to leave the Yellow Island and go back to the Blue Island to
share his wonderful discovery of another color other than blue.

He went back to his own blue people in their Blue Island and told them how that in another island not far away
from them, lived the green people in their Green Island.

The End

Our own culture is our own identity that can never be completely erased from us. Similar to what you have read in
the story, no matter how much we expose ourselves to other cultures, we will still have that “blue” lens in us. You have to
understand that the more exposed you are to other cultures, the more different colors or lenses you’ll be wearing, and you
will always see things in a different “color” and not in exactly the same “color” that a person without cultural exposure can
see.

With the ASEAN integration and globalized world economy,

BIG IDEA
you have to keep an open mind to the different cultures of the
You should think globally and act
world. Allow yourself to be exposed to different cultures and
locally.
experience their “yellow” ways. But you should also never forget
that you are wearing your own “blue” lens, and no matter how
much you think you understand another culture, there will always be that slight bias coming from you.

Cultural exposures, along with other personal experiences, can affect a person’s perspective. For example, a foreign
businessman who has been nabbed in the Philippines will surely not agree with some people when they say that Filipinos are
very hospitable. When he goes back to his home country, he will tell people how dangerous it is to live in the Philippines.

13 | L e a r n i n g K i t - E N G L F O R A C A D A N D P R O F P U R P O S E S 1 2
Some of the professional travelers write their personal thoughts on their blog to reflect their experiences, either good or bad.

So when you read academic texts or any articles, especially those coming from personal blogs, keep in mind that the
author’s perspective is based on the lens he or she is originally wearing, plus all the other colored lenses that he or she had
acquired over the course of his or her cultural exposures and personal experiences.

Extend Your Knowledge

To know more about the author’s tone and point of view, visit
https://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/successful-writing/s10-01-purpose-audience-tone-and-cont.html

ESSENTIAL LEARNING

A text has a tone that can be positive, negative, or neutral depending on the author’s choice of words. An author’s
point of views may also be affected by his or her personal experiences and/ or cultural exposures.

Understand and analyze the topic…

14 | L e a r n i n g K i t - E N G L F O R A C A D A N D P R O F P U R P O S E S 1 2