Notes on The Introduction to Tone
Definition
Tone is the author's/speaker’s/narrator’s attitude towards their
subject, characters, and or audience
● This means, when we are asked to solve/investigate for the tone, we
have to ask:
○ What is the subject?
○ Who is/are the characters?
○ Who is the intended audience?
● We have to begin with the above question to start our
investigation for tone.
Attitudes’ Spoken v. Attitudes’ Written
● We can often decipher or at least get a hint of someone’s tone when we are
listening to someone speak. We hear the nuances, inflections, and cues in
their voice. But deciphering tone in written language can be difficult
because we do not have those auditory nuances and cues.
What is the attitude expressed by the following?
4 Steps to Solve for Tone
, 1. Read the passage. Identify the subject.
2. Consider any one or more of the following elements of style:
a. Analysis of diction in relation to the subject
b. Analysis of details in relation to the subject
c. Analysis of Imagery & Fig. Lang in relation to the subject
d. Analysis of syntax in relation to the subject
3. Based on step two, find the best tone word/s that captures
the author’s/speaker’s/narrator’s attitude towards the subject.
a. Use a tone word list!
4. If asked to write an essay of an analysis of tone, use your
textual evidence and analysis as based on the elements of
style considered, and connect it with your selected tone
word/words.
Example 1
But that is Cooper’s way; frequently he will explain and justify little things that do not need it and
then make up for this by as frequently failing to explain important ones that do not need it. For
instance, he allowed that astute and cautious person, Deerslayer-Hawkeye, to throw his rifle
heedlessly down and leave it lying on the ground where some hostile Indians would presently
be sure to find it-a rifle prized by that person above all things else in the earth-and the reader
gets no word of explanation of that strange act. There was no reason, but it wouldn’t bear
exposure. Cooper meant to get a fine dramatic effect out of the finding of the rifle by the
Indians, and he accomplished this at the happy time; but all the same, Hawkeye could have
hidden the rifle in a quarter of a minute where the Indians could not have found it. Cooper
couldn’t think of any way to explain why Hawkeye didn’t do that, so he just shirked the difficulty
and did not explain it at all.
Mark Twain, “Cooper’s Prose Style” Letters from the Earth
What is the
Definition
Tone is the author's/speaker’s/narrator’s attitude towards their
subject, characters, and or audience
● This means, when we are asked to solve/investigate for the tone, we
have to ask:
○ What is the subject?
○ Who is/are the characters?
○ Who is the intended audience?
● We have to begin with the above question to start our
investigation for tone.
Attitudes’ Spoken v. Attitudes’ Written
● We can often decipher or at least get a hint of someone’s tone when we are
listening to someone speak. We hear the nuances, inflections, and cues in
their voice. But deciphering tone in written language can be difficult
because we do not have those auditory nuances and cues.
What is the attitude expressed by the following?
4 Steps to Solve for Tone
, 1. Read the passage. Identify the subject.
2. Consider any one or more of the following elements of style:
a. Analysis of diction in relation to the subject
b. Analysis of details in relation to the subject
c. Analysis of Imagery & Fig. Lang in relation to the subject
d. Analysis of syntax in relation to the subject
3. Based on step two, find the best tone word/s that captures
the author’s/speaker’s/narrator’s attitude towards the subject.
a. Use a tone word list!
4. If asked to write an essay of an analysis of tone, use your
textual evidence and analysis as based on the elements of
style considered, and connect it with your selected tone
word/words.
Example 1
But that is Cooper’s way; frequently he will explain and justify little things that do not need it and
then make up for this by as frequently failing to explain important ones that do not need it. For
instance, he allowed that astute and cautious person, Deerslayer-Hawkeye, to throw his rifle
heedlessly down and leave it lying on the ground where some hostile Indians would presently
be sure to find it-a rifle prized by that person above all things else in the earth-and the reader
gets no word of explanation of that strange act. There was no reason, but it wouldn’t bear
exposure. Cooper meant to get a fine dramatic effect out of the finding of the rifle by the
Indians, and he accomplished this at the happy time; but all the same, Hawkeye could have
hidden the rifle in a quarter of a minute where the Indians could not have found it. Cooper
couldn’t think of any way to explain why Hawkeye didn’t do that, so he just shirked the difficulty
and did not explain it at all.
Mark Twain, “Cooper’s Prose Style” Letters from the Earth
What is the
