TONE

Tone: the attitude of the speaker toward the subject

The author expresses his thoughts and feelings about his subject in many ways: his choice of words, the resolution of the story, the choice of facts presented, images and description, the questions raised and the answers given.

Here are several words used in describing the tone of a work of literature.

cheerfulsympatheticmockingironic

optimisticridiculingaffectionatebitter

pessimisticpropheticobjectivecontented

criticalangryinspireddefeated

complimentaryimpassionedseriousgloomy

sarcastichumoroussaddetermined

Choose one of the above to describe each of the following passages:

1. "This battle with Mr. Covey was the turning-point in my career as a slave. It rekindled the few expiring embers of freedom, and revived within me a sense of my own manhood. It recalled the departed self-confidence, and inspired me again with a determination to be free." (from The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass, p. 389)

Tone:______

2. "Mom just kept watching the TV. I guess she figured she could scold him for starving us, scold him about the unpaid rent or the job somewhere in the world waiting for him to try harder, but she was tired of all that. She knew if she cluttered his ears with too much griping, it would only thicken his stubbornness." (from Parrot in the Oven by Victor Martinez, p. 35)

Tone:______

3. Lord Capulet: "Welcome, gentlemen! Ladies that have their toes

unplagued with corns will walk about with you."

(from Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare, 1.5, ll.18-19)

Tone:______

4. "Edna turned back to me. "Grant, please tell Emma how sorry I am about Jefferson. I would do it myself, but I'm just too broken up over this matter. I ran into Madame Grope just the other day, lord, how sad she looks. Just dragging along. Poor old thing. I had to put my arms round her." (from A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines, p. 45.)

Tone______

5. "Now help me light three sticks of incense. The smoke will take our wishes to heaven. Of course, it's only superstition, just for fun. But see how fast the smoke rises---oh, even faster when we laugh, lifting our hopes, higher and higher." (from The Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan, p. 532)

Tone______