Reading comprehension success - LearningExpress 2005

Lesson 14 How They Say It, Part Two: Tone
Language and Style

Lesson summary

The way you perceive a person’s tone of voice has a great deal to do with how you understand what that person is saying. The same is true of tone in writing; it’s vital to pick up on clues to tone in order to understand a written piece fully. This lesson shows you how.

Say this word out loud: “Sure.”

How did you say it? Did you say it with a smile, as in “Sure, anytime”? Or did you say it flatly, as if responding to a command? Or did you stretch the word out, “Suuuurre,” as if you didn’t believe what someone just said? Or did you ask it, as in, “Are you sure this is okay?”

Perhaps you didn’t realize there were so many ways to say this one single word, “sure.” But there are. Why? The word itself isn’t different; its denotation (dictionary meaning) isn’t different; so how can the same word express so many different things?

The difference in the meaning of all these sures comes from the tone—how you say the word, and thus how your listeners will feel when they hear you say it.

Tone: the mood or attitude conveyed by words or speech

When you speak and listen, you can hear the tone of your voice as well as the tone of the person to whom you are speaking. But how do you catch tone in writing? How do you know how the writer wants his or her words to sound? “Sure” by itself doesn’t tell us whether you should whisper or shout it. You need to look at the context surrounding that word to find clues about the proper tone to use.

Think about how tone is created in speech. When you say “sure,” the tone changes according to how loudly or softly you say the word and how slowly or quickly you say it. Tone is also conveyed (or supported) by the speaker’s expressions and body language. In writing, of course, you do not have these visual resources, but you do have plenty of clues to help you determine tone. Those clues come from the elements of language and style that you’ve studied so far: point of view, diction, and style.

► How Tone Influences Meaning

It may help you to think of a sentence as a collection of ingredients (words and phrases) that result in a dish (idea). These elements of language and style are like the spices that you need to give that sentence a certain flavor. Different spices will result in a different flavor (tone).

Look at the following two letters. Both convey essentially the same information, but they have two rather different tones.

Letter A

Dear Client:

Thank you for your letter. We will take your suggestion into consideration. We appreciate your concern.

Letter B

Dear Valued Customer:

Thank you for your recent letter regarding our refund policy and procedure. We are taking your suggestion quite seriously and truly appreciate your concern.

Which of these letters has a more positive tone? As you can see, letter B is more positive. Why? What do you notice about letter B that is different from letter A? List your observations below:

Example: I noticed that letter A is addressed “Dear Client,” while letter B is addressed “Dear Valued Customer.”

Perhaps you noticed that letter B uses key words like “valued customer” and “truly appreciate.” Letter B also refers to the specific contents of the reader’s letter, thus letting the reader know that his or her letter has been read. Furthermore, letter B tells the reader not just that the company “will take your suggestion into consideration”—which sounds a bit like an empty promise—but that the writers are taking the suggestion “quite seriously.”

You may also notice that the sentences in letter B are longer than those in letter A, whose sentences are shorter and somewhat choppy. If you read those short sentences out loud, how do they sound? They’re not very inviting, are they? They sound somewhat mechanical and empty of any feeling.

Use your observations to answer the following questions.

1. The tone of letter A is best classified as

a. sincere.

b. complimentary.

c. indifferent.

Choice c, indifferent, best describes the tone of letter A. There is no indication that the writers of letter A have actually read their client’s letter, so there’s no indication that they plan to take the client’s suggestion seriously. They are indifferent to it. Also, the sentence structure indicates that the writers have not put much thought into writing this letter; as a result, the sentences sound abrupt and even unappreciative.

2. The tone of letter B is best classified as

a. cheerful.

b. sincere.

c. apologetic.

In contrast to letter A, the writers of letter B are b, sincere. They know exactly what their customer wrote about—there’s the importance of specific details again! They’ve also taken the time to individualize the letter; and they’ve added words that show they value their customer and their customer’s feedback.

Varieties of Tone

Just as there are endless varieties of tone when we speak, there are endless varieties of tone in writing.

Here’s a short list of some of the more common words used to describe a writer’s tone:

cheerful   sarcastic

complimentary ironic

hopeful   wistful

sad    foreboding

gloomy   playful

apologetic  sincere

critical   insincere

insecure   authoritative

disrespectful  threatening

humorous  indifferent

If any of these terms are unfamiliar to you, please look them up in a dictionary now.

Practice

Now look at several sentences and paragraphs to see if you can correctly identify their tone. As you read them, think of how the paragraphs sound. You may even want to read them out loud. With what kind of voice do you read? What’s your tone? Use your instincts, as well as your observations, to choose the correct tone for each paragraph. Answers and explanations come immediately after the practice paragraphs.

3. I think the theme of this novel probably has something to do with revenge.

a. playful

b. uncertain

c. cheerful

4. Without a doubt, the theme of this novel is revenge.

a. gloomy

b. disrespectful

c. authoritative

5. Your essay? Oh, it was just fabulous. Really, I’ve never seen anything like it.

a. insincere

b. critical

c. disrespectful

6. This is one of the best essays I’ve ever seen. It’s clear, concise, and convincing.

a. complimentary

b. wistful

c. hopeful

7. Bill had stayed up all night preparing for this presentation. He had everything ready: charts, graphs, lists, statistics. This was the biggest meeting of his career. He was ready. He smiled as the cab pulled up to 505 Park Avenue, and he gave the taxi driver an extra large tip. He entered the building confidently and pushed #11 on the elevator. Suddenly, as the doors of the elevator closed, he realized that he had left his briefcase in the cab.

a. cheerful

b. ironic

c. critical

Answers

3. b. The writer is obviously afraid to be authoritative and uses phrases like “I think,” “probably,” and “something to do with” to reflect this uncertainty.

4. c. The writer is clearly comfortable in making a definitive statement. There is no hesitation in the tone here. Instead of suggesting, the writer declares: “Without a doubt...”

5. a. Because of the opening question and because the next sentences are so vague, a reader can assume that the writer either hasn’t read the essay or didn’t like it. Also, “really” indicates that the writer is afraid the reader won’t be convinced by the statement, so he tries to emphasize it. Furthermore, “I’ve never seen anything like it” isn’t necessarily a compliment—it could really mean many different things, not all of them good.

6. a. Unlike question 5, this paragraph really is complimentary. The writer specifies three things that make the reader’s essay exceptional: It’s “clear, concise and convincing.” The use of more specific adjectives makes this writer’s praise seem sincere.

7. b. Irony is the mood created when things happen in a manner that is opposite of what was expected to happen. Here, Bill had prepared diligently for the big meeting and had everything ready. But contrary to his expectations of having a very successful presentation, he had no presentation at all because he left his materials in the taxi cab. The irony is heightened by his confidence.

► Summary

An ability to determine tone is an essential component of reading comprehension. Often, writers will let their tone convey their meaning, so you need to look carefully for clues in the writer’s language and style to determine how writers want their words to sound.

Skill Building until Next Time

■ Listen carefully to people today and notice how much you depend on tone to determine exactly what people mean when they speak to you. Notice also how you use tone to convey meaning when you speak to other people.

■ Go back to the practice exercise where you identified the tone of those five passages. Try changing the tone of some of those passages.