Paper 5 – Language & Tone

Read Chapters 6 & 7 in Analyzing Short Stories.

In Paper 5, include all the elements discussed in Paper #4. Now add a paragraph on language and a final paragraph on tone. This paper should be approximately 800 words long.Story choices: “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson or “The Way Up to Heaven” by Roald Dahl.

In the language paragraph, please do the following:

  1. Identify any two literary techniques the author uses (choose from the list below), and give examples of each. Note: if you quote directly, use quotation marks. For such techniques as symbolism or irony, you will probably use your own words.
  2. Discuss the meaning of each example in the context of the story as a whole.

Techniques:

  1. literal imagery—words that appeal to the senses (hearing, sight, smell, taste, touch) that mean literally what they say (ex: red-hot coals”)
  1. figurative language (non-literal language)
  2. metaphor—a non-literal comparison saying something is something else

(ex: “All the world’s a stage”) or an implied comparison between two

unlike things (ex: “Our football team crashed and burned this season” or “Emily and her acid tongue”)

  1. simile—a non-literal comparison using “like” or “as” (ex: “he flapped his

arms like a rooster about to crow” or The old people were still as statues.”)

c, personification—giving human characteristics to the non-human (ex:

“The moon smiled down on the lovers.”)

  1. allusion—references to other literary works, mythology, history, the Bible, etc.

(ex: “a casual Samaritan”)

  1. symbol—something that represents or suggests something else (ex: The fox fur

in “Miss Brill” represents the lover, children, and friends that Miss Brill

doesn’t have.)

  1. irony—a discrepancy between appearance and reality

verbal irony—one thing is said, another implied

situational irony—one thing is expected, another occurs

dramatic irony—the reader is aware of circumstances affecting a

character which s/he does not know

6. dialogue—conversation between two or more characters

The explanation for the paragraph on tone is on the next page.

Tone

For your discussion of tone, please write a paragraph which includes the following:

  1. a description of the tone of the story; use one to three adjectives (see sample list

below):

  1. a discussion of how the tone is created (i.e. which elements are stressed to

create the tone)

Tone is that quality which reveals an author’s attitude toward his subject; it is an author’s emphasis on some element(s) to express his attitude toward the characters and events in his/her story. It is the author’s treatment of the material, the way or manner in which the story is presented.

Tone is NOT:

--an individual character’s mood (even if it’s the main character);

--the subject matter of the story (“war” or “love”), but the way or manner the

subject is presented;

--personal response (e.g. this story was “boring” or “stupid”).

Remember, the key word is author; tone is the way the author presents the story.

Sample list of adjectives:

romantic understated suspenseful

serious exaggerated nostalgic

solemn tragic eerie

mysterious sentimental ironic

bitter didactic satiric

grim humorous pessimistic

sympathetic light-hearted cynical

impersonal comic judgmental

enlightening

Required research component: use three sources in this paper: the primary sources (the story itself) and two secondary sources. See the instructions given at the end of the paper #4 assignment.