
Tone: The writer’s/speaker’s attitude
toward his/her subject or audience. This is
described by a single adjective (ex. a
sarcastic tone, a playful tone, a bitter tone).

Tone is important because understanding a
writer or speaker’s attitude towards his/her
subject enables us to decipher meaning and
purpose.
Examine the diction in the passage.
Using your knowledge of the diction,
determine the possible tone(s) of the
passage.
3. Check your tone determinations by
examining imagery, detail, and syntax and
seeing if they match the tone(s) you have
identified.
1.
2.

an acronym that aids you in analyzing a
fiction or nonfiction prose passage.
D
I
D
L
S
Diction
Imagery
Detail
Language
Syntax
Diction: Word choice
 Writers choose their words with purpose. If
we can analyze diction, it can help us
understand their theme and purpose.
 In order to analyze diction, we have to be able
to analyze…
Denotation: The dictionary or literal meaning of a
word.
Ex: Plump = a full, round, and pleasing figure
Connotation: All the meanings, associations, or
feelings that a word suggests.
Ex: Fat = while similar in denotative meaning to
plump, it has a very harsh and mean connotation
Examine the diction in the
following sentences. What are
the connotations here? Which
sentence has a more positive
connotation, and which has a
more negative connotation?
You look unique today.
You look odd today.
You look weird today.
What are the connotations
for each of the following
sentences?
 The student walked into
the classroom.
 The student strutted into
the classroom.
 The student bounced into
the classroom.
What are the connotations
for each of the following
sentences?
 The old man’s house was
the color red.
 The old man’s house was
blood red.
 The old man’s house was
apple colored.
Categorize the following words as having a
positive, negative, or neutral connotation.
Chuckle
Cackle
Laugh
Self-confident
Haughty
Proud
Old
Mature
Ancient
Sensory Language: Words
and phrases that appeal to
the senses of sight,
hearing, touch, smell,
and/or taste. Sensory
details create…
Imagery: Vivid descriptions
that re-create sensory
experiences for the reader,
creating “word pictures”
Ex: “a thundering downpour of
rain”
To what sense(s) does this
example appeal? What
image does it create?
The writer "shows" rather than "tells," thus
allowing the reader to participate in the
experience more fully. Therefore imagery
helps to produce mood and tone.
 When reading a piece containing imagery,
you need to ask yourself two questions.

 What do I hear, taste, smell, or feel?
 What effect is the author trying to convey with
these messages?

Once you have identified a possible tone
from the diction, confirm the tone by
looking at imagery.
Imagery helps to create…
Mood: The feeling or atmosphere that the
writer creates for the reader using imagery
and setting details.
BE VERY CAREFUL NOT TO CONFUSE MOOD
AND TONE!! THEY ARE TWO VERY
DIFFERENT THINGS!!

Notice that the feeling created is not the
creator’s attitude (tone) about the subject of
the clip, but rather, an overall feeling that is
being created by the whole of the scene with
hopes that the viewer will feel this emotion
(mood) too.

Listen to the following clip:
 What is the overall feeling that is being created
(how does it make you feel)?
 What makes you feel this way?

What about this clip:
 What is the overall feeling that is being created
(how does it make you feel)?
 What makes you feel this way?

Notice that they are the SAME, but
different… what does this illustrate?
 What senses do the following
quotes appeal to, and what
image and mood do they
create all together?
 “Flashes of lightning illuminated the ink-




black sky.”
“Another cobweb stuck to her cold,
clammy skin.”
“The foul smell of dead mice hung in the
air.”
“She could not get the metallic taste of
fear out of her mouth.”
“There was an ominous scratching on
the door.”
Details: The facts included OR omitted by the
writer/speaker.
The speaker’s perspective shapes which details
are given or left out; thus, details are helpful
in determining his/her attitude or tone
toward that subject.

How do the details in each of the examples below indicate
a difference in tone?
 Example 1:
▪ His face was red.
▪ His face burned with anger.
 Example 2:
▪ Many people attended the funeral.
▪ Over three hundred people attended the funeral.
 Example 3:
▪ His mother made dinner for him.
▪ His mother made chicken pot pie from scratch for his
dinner.
Language: Refers to the entire body of words in
a text to determine the kinds of words and
language being used. This is not to be
confused with diction, where we look at
specific word choices.
WE WILL NOT WORK WITH LANGUAGE FOR NOW.
Syntax: Sentence Structure. When examining syntax, look for the
way the sentence construction reflects attitude, purpose, and
meaning.
Examine…
 Sentence length. Are the sentences telegraphic (shorter than
5 words in length), medium (approximately 18 words in length),
or long and involved (30 words or more in length)? Does the
sentence length fit the subject matter? What variety of
lengths is present?
▪ Short sentences are punchy and intense.
▪ Long sentences are distancing, reflective and more abstract.
▪ Short sentences are often emphatic, passionate or flippant,
whereas longer sentences suggest greater thought.
Examine…
 Sentence beginnings. Is there a good variety or does a pattern
emerge?
 The arrangement of ideas in a sentence. Are they set out in a
special way for a purpose?
 The arrangement of ideas in a paragraph. Is there evidence of
any pattern or structure?
“He had been prepared to lie, to bluster, to remain sullenly
unresponsive; but, reassured by the good humored intelligence of
the Controller’s face, he decided to tell the truth, straightforwardly.”
–Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
 What impression of the character is implied through the
repetition of the “to ___” phrases?