EXAMINING TONE AP L AN G U AG E , S E M E S T E R 1 WHAT IS TONE? • Tone is the expression of the author’s or speaker’s attitude toward the subject or toward the audience. • Tone is the means by which the author’s attitude is communicated to his or her audience. • Diction, imagery, detail, figurative language, and syntax are the techniques through which an author’s tone is conveyed. TONE VS. ATTITUDE • On the AP English Language and Composition exam, the words “tone” and “attitude” are used almost synonymously. • So, you can consider tone and attitude as the same thing – the author’s or speaker’s feelings about the subject and/or audience. • On AP exams, you may be asked to identify an author’s tone and to discuss how he or she conveys that tone in a particular piece of writing. • This is a two-part task: identify and analyze. WRITTEN TONE • The obvious difference between written and oral tone is that the writer must use words alone to convey his or her attitude. • The visual and auditory clues a listener receives are not available to the reader. • Author’s tone is described by adjectives. • For example, you might say, “The author of this book sounds… cynical , depressed , sympathetic , cheerful , outraged , positive , angry , sarcastic , prayerful , ironic , solemn , vindictive , intense , or excited . ” • Remember that tone is not an action; it is an attitude. • Tone is not explained or expressed directly. • Readers must “read between the lines” to feel the author’s attitude and identify the tone. TONE IS IMPORTANT! • Keep in mind that tone is an element of all verbal communication, whether oral or written. • Even a statement such as “Resident Parking” has a tone: straightforward, matter-of-fact, informative. • Note that even slight changes can affect the tone conveyed. • “Resident Parking Only” sounds a bit sterner, and a non-resident may sense that he or she is being not only informed, but warned. • If the word “Only” is underlined, or an exclamation mark is added, the tone becomes more emphatic still. RECOGNIZING TONE • Show how do you go about identifying a writer’s tone? • The first step is to recognize the choices the author has made, particularly word choice (diction) and phrasing (syntax). • Vivid imagery and figurative language can also help convey the writer’s attitude. TAKING A LOOK AT AN EXAMPLE • One the next slide we are going to examine a selection from an editorial in Collier’s magazine in the early 1950s. • Senator Joseph McCarthy had claimed that various publications that criticized him were involved in Communism. • Advertisers began to pull their ads from these publications. Senator McCarthy has set himself up as the final authority on loyalty and Americanism. He insists that his accusations are not to be doubted, and his judgment is not to be questioned. Yet, a few weeks after he wrote his letter to Time’s advertisers, he testified in Syracuse, New York that the Washington Post and the New York (Communist) Daily Worker “parallel each other quite closely in editorials.” And when he was asked whether he would consider the Christian Science Monitor a “leftwing smear paper,” he replied, “I can’t answer yes or no.” Those are the statements of a man who is either woefully unperceptive or wholly irresponsible. And when such a man asks that his wild-swinging attacks be accepted without question, he is, to borrow his own words, not only ridiculous but dangerous. We are not concerned that, on the basis of this editorial, the senator may now add us to his company of “left-wing smearers,” or that he may also warn our advertisers of the danger of supporting another publication which pollutes the waterholes of information. What does concern us is the real danger of Communist infiltration in government, and the fact that this danger is too serious to be obscured and clouded by Senator McCarthy’s eccentricities, exaggerations and absurdities. EXAMINING AUTHOR’S TONE • In the previous excerpt, the words or phrases that evoke a sense of the editorial’s tone have been underlined. • These words reveal the editorial’s disdain for McCarthy. • The writer suggests McCarthy’s pompousness with the phrases “he has set himself up as the final authority” and “insists…not to be doubted.” • The writer claims that McCarthy must be “woefully unperceptive” or “wholly irresponsible.” • The diction builds a picture of a dangerous man: “wildswinging attacks”, eccentricities, exaggerations and absurdities.” • The writer cleverly uses Senator McCarthy’s own words (“to borrow his own words”) and calls the senator “not only ridiculous but dangerous.” DEGREES OF INTENSITY • When you are asked to identify tone, try to use labels that correspond to the intensity of the tone expressed. • Similarly, when you are asked to write original sentences or paragraphs that convey a certain tone, choose words and phrases that correspond in intensity to the tone you are trying to express. DEGREES OF INTENSITY, CONTINUED… • For example, if you want to communicate an appreciative tone, you might say, “The weather was pleasant, with a balmy breeze that kept us comfortable.” • An awe-struck tone, however, would require stronger words and maybe a shift in diction: “Could it be? Was such a magnificent sunset even possible in Paradise, much less in our little town?” • The difference in intensity of the two examples is evident in their diction and syntax. • The words “pleasant,” “balmy,” & “comfortable” are straightforward statements of fact, versus the words “magnificent,” “possible,” “Paradise,” and the rhetorical questions that suggest a sense of disbelief. TONE IN MCCARTHY EXCERPT • After examining the diction in the passage on McCarthy, we might label the tone as critical or negative, but this is not strong enough. • The writer is clearly appalled by Senator McCarthy’s attacks, so “upset” might be more accurate. • The words are so vehement, though, that we might want to refer to the tone as “indignant” or “caustic,” burning like acid. • This is where developing a good vocabulary to describe tone becomes useful. • We can accurately identify the editorial’s tone as critical, negative, upset, indignant, or caustic, but some labels are more precise than others. COMPLEMENTARY AND CONTRASTING TONES • In the selections you are asked to analyze for tone on the AP exams, you can usually identify two, or even more, tones. • Two tones within the same selection may be complementary tones, reinforcing each other, or contrasting tones, differing significantly from each other. • These shifts are usually subtle, but shifts in the connotations of words or in the types of images or figures of speech used can indicate a shift in tone. TWO TONES FOR MCCARTHY • In the excerpt on McCarthy, the tone shifts in the final paragraph. • The writer makes clear that the reason the magazine is concerned about McCarthy’s “eccentricities, exaggerations, and absurdities” is that they obscure “the real danger of Communist infiltration in government.” • Suddenly, the writer expresses agreement with the senator that there is a Communist threat in America but says that McCarthy’s “absurdities” might prevent stopping the “real” Communists. • So in addition to “critical,” “negative,” “upset,” “indignant,” and “caustic,” we could also describe the tone as “cautionary,” “rational,” even “patriotic.”
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