01.08 Author's Word Choice - FLVS English I

What is tone in literature?

The author's attitude

What sense does this excerpt evoke? "Maybe we should give you a bath, then," she said. She nodded, and my guards carried me to another stretcher. This one had restraining straps running its length. They dropped me onto it and it was ice-cold and soaked through.

Touch

Standard diction is typically used in ________ and informal language is typically used in ________.

newspapers; text messages

What level of diction is typically used in personal or familiar communication?

Informal

Match each statement to the tone it expresses. 1. I was thrilled that my cousin was coming to stay with us. 2. My heart broke when I saw the children in the hospital. 3. You're so silly; you can't wear pajamas to school. 4. She has no talent; she's a fool if she thinks she'll be cast in the play. 5. The woman bit her fingernails and tapped her foot while waiting for her test results.

1 - D) Joyous 2 - A) Empathetic 3 - E) Playful 4 - C) Cruel 5 - B) Anxious

Which word best describes the mood in this excerpt from Little Brother? He slammed his hand down on the desk and then pointed his finger at me. "The problem, Mr Yallow, is that you've been engaged in criminal conspiracy to subvert this school's security system, and you have supplied security countermeasures to your fellow students. You know that we expelled Graciella Uriarte last week for using one of your devices." Uriarte had gotten a bad rap. She'd bought a radio¬jammer from a head¬shop near the 16th Street BART station and it had set off the countermeasures in the school hallway. Not my doing, but I felt for her.

Aggressive

Which word best describes the mood in this excerpt from Little Brother? We passed a lot of people in the road on the way to the Powell Street BART. They were running or walking, white-faced and silent or shouting and panicked. The closer we got to the BART, the worse the press of bodies became. By the time we reached the stairway down into the station, it was a mob-scene, a huge brawl of people trying to crowd their way down a narrow staircase. I had my face crushed up against someone's back, and someone else was pressed into my back.

Frantic

Select the line from the excerpt that shows a remorseful (sorry) tone? Mom gave me a long hug, and I noticed how thin her arms had gotten, how saggy the skin on her neck was. I always thought of my mother as young, pale, rosy-cheeked and cheerful, peering shrewdly through her metal-rim glasses. Now she looked a little like an old woman. I had done that to her. The terrorists had done that to her. The Department of Homeland Security had done that to her.

I had done that to her.