Tone in Literature
Tone and Attitude in Literature
Definition:Tone is the verbal stance the author assumes toward the reader and his subject as reflected in his “voice.” It is the quality of language and voice used to convey the speaker’s Attitude toward the subject or audience and is perceived through the various methods and diction used to convey the events of the work. In oral conversation the “tone of voice” may be determined by listening to the words themselves, their inflection, modulation, denotation, and connotation, pitch, stress, or other sound regulators. However, since words on a page are flat, other methods of discernment must be employed.
Mood is the overall atmosphere created by the speaker, the setting the events, or narrator.
Attitude is the feeling the speaker holds toward the characters, events, or situation he is relating to the audience.
With few exceptions and for most practical purposes TONE = ATTITUDE
Problem:The terms “tone” and “attitude” may become indistinct.
Problem:Students often equate the speaker with the author.
Problem:To misinterpret tone is to misinterpret meaning.
Process:Understanding tone requires making inferences during and after a close reading of a work. The students must distinguish the techniques used to establish “tone,” “mood,” and “attitude.”
Results:Understanding and analyzing the difference between “tone,” “mood,” and “attitude” and perceiving tonal shifts.
Objective:Students should be able to show in verbal and written discussions their understanding of the techniques used by the author to establish attitude and achieve a certain tone.
Analyzing how Tone Contributes to Meaning and Attitude in Literature – In order to answer these questions, a student will need to examine the speaker’s diction: circling words is a good strategy
- How does the author feel toward his subject?
- How does the author feel about the characters?
- How does the author feel about the events presented?
- How does the author feel about his audience (readers)?
- Can or does the author have different feelings for his subject and / or his audience?
- Does the narrator feel the same as the author?
All of these “feelings” determine the TONE and the ATTITUDE of the work.
Strategies for determining MOOD:
The mood of a piece is generally the overall atmosphere created by the diction, setting, characters, and events and is an important aspect of its style and might be described as:
- Joyful 2. Humorous 3. Ironic 4. Satiric (Horation) 5. Sarcastic 6. Sentimental 7. Melancholy
8. Satiric (Juvenalian) 9. Optimistic 10. Pessimistic 11. Superior 12. Insecure 13. Distant 14. Intimate
Associated Descriptive Vocabulary by Category
Speaker: humble, shallow, bold, insipid, haughty, imperious, proud, audacious, confident, insecure, credulous, innocent, naïve, triumphant, vivacious, insolent, sincere, inane, vain, gullible, foolish
Ironic words: playful, witty, humorous, sarcastic, sardonic, caustic, acerbic, flippant, cynical, mocking, biting, smirking, sneering, derisive, icy
Reverent: awed, veneration, amazed, impressed
Love: affectionate, cherish, fond, admiring, tender, sentimental, romantic, adoring, narcissistic, passionate, lustful, rapturous, ecstatic, infatuated, enamored, compassionate
Joyful: glad, exalted, zealous, merry, gleeful, delightful, cheerful, gay, sanguine, mirthful, enjoy, relish, bliss
Calm: serene, tranquil, placid, content
Sad: somber, solemn, melancholy, sorrowful, lamenting, despair, despondent, regretful, dismal, funereal, saturnine, dark, gloomy, dejected, grave, grief, morose, sullen, bleak, forlorn, disconsolate, distressed, agonized, anguished, depressed, barren, empty, pitiful
Angry: vehement, enraged, outraged, irritated, indignant, vexed, incensed, petulant, irascible, riled, bitter, acrimonious, irate, fury, wrathful, rancorous, consternation, hostile, choleric, frustrated, exasperated, aggravated, futile, umbrage, gall, bristle
Hate: vengeful, detest, abhor, animosity, malice, pique, rancor, aversion, loath, despise, scorn, contempt, disdain, jealous, repugnant, repulsed, resent, spiteful, disgusted
Fear: timid, apprehensive, anxious, terrified, horrified, agitated, sinister, alarmed, startled, uneasy, qualms, angst, trepidation, intimidated, spooked, dread, phobia, appalled
Attitude:
One of the most frequently examined concepts on both the AP Language and the Literature exams is that
of the attitude of the speaker. It is at once obscure, abstract, and elusive for most high school students. Yet,
with a systematic approach, it can be determined. Often it requires that the student examine the smallest unit
of composition – the written word – for denotation and connotation, register, and other aspects of emotional
perspective. The attitude of a speakercan run the gamut from objective and journalistic to emotional and
biased. The attitude is reflected in both his tone of voice and the mood of the story. It is the feelings the
author holds towards hissubject: the people in his narrative, the events, the setting, or even the theme. It
might be the feeling he holds for the reader. At times the attitude might be serious or humorous, detached or
involved, ironic or straightforward.
In the famous short story “A Rose for Emily” if one examines the word choice of the author, his figures of
speech, syntax, and diction, the speaker’s attitude becomes evident. Told from the perspective of first-
person (plural) peripheral observer, the attitude of the speaker is ambivalent. Miss Emily is spoken of as
being “dear, inescapable, impervious, tranquil, and perverse.” Since she is a member of one of the “old”
families in a tradition-bound culture with an aristocratic hierarchy, her townsmen of a lower social caste such
as the narrator hold her in awe and respect. Because of her firmness of character, courage, and
independence, she arouses admiration and respect in others; yet, since her actions are extremely strong,
suggestive even of insanity, she is also regarded with a sympathetic condescension.Thus, she is both “looked
up to” and” looked down upon.” Additionally there is a tinge of jealousy on the part of the narrator. After
her father’s death, “A few of the ladies had the temerity to call, but were not received, and the only sign of
life about the place was the Negro man – a young man then – going in and out with a market basket. Just as
if a man – any man – could keep a kitchen properly., the ladies said, so they were not surprised when the
smell developed. It was another link between the gross, teeming world and the high and might Griersons.”
And later he remarks of Miss Emily, “That was when people had begun to feel sorry for her . . . So when she
got to be thirty and was still single, we were not pleased exactly, but vindicated; even with insanity in the
family she wouldn’t have turned down all of her chances if they had really materialized.
Finally, “ . . . It got about that the house was all that was left to her; and in a way, people were glad. At
last they could pity Miss Emily. Being left alone, and a pauper, she had become humanized. Now she too
would know the old thrill and the old despair of a penny more or less.”
When Miss Emily dies, the townspeople enter her house, and in a bed in a room “decked and furnished as for a bridal” they find what remains of Homer. The narrator, one of the curious townsfolk interested in the affairs, comments, “The body had apparently once lain in the attitude of an embrace, but now the long sleep that outlasts love, that conquers even the grimace of love, had cuckolded him.” The subject of the sentence is most immediately and most concretely Homer’s decayed body and Emily’s death. The attitude of the speaker toward this subject is revealed, in part by the figure of speech he has created to describe this con-clusion to the “love’ affair. Using metonymy, a figure of speech in which something associated with the sub-ject is used in its place, the narrator does not name death directly but euphemistically calls it a “long sleep.”
the long sleep that outlasts love Death
the long sleep that conquers even the grimace of love Death
This indirect method of expression separates the speaker from his subject and suggests, perhaps, control and emotional detachment. The word “cuckolded’ endows inanimate death with the very animate action of running off with Emily – and thus, it is implied, leaving Homer, the “husband” of the adulteress. This “long sleep” (death), then, is a lover who has stolen Emily from Homer. Homer is dead; unmarried; did not while he was alive want to marry Emily; wanted, in fact, to leave her. And yet the speaker likens the lifeless Homer to a man whose wife has run off with a lover. The attempted jilter, Homer, is jilted.
The distance the narrator establishes between himself and his subject allows for this bit of sophisticated irony. The tone suggests that these comments may be as much the author’s, William Faulkner’s, as the narrator’s.
1. AbstractTheoretical, without reference to specifics
2. Absurd: Contrary to logic, but sometimes artistically viable
3. Affected: Assuming a false manner or attitude to impress others
4. Ambiguous: Having two or more possible meanings
5. Analytical: Inclined to examine things by studying their contents or parts.
6. Anecdotal: Involving short narratives of interesting events
7. Angry: Resentful, enraged
8. Archaic: In the style of an earlier period
9. Austere: Stern, strict, frugal, unadorned
10. Banal: Pointless and uninteresting
11. Baroque: Elaborate, grotesque, and ornamental
12. Bizarre: Unusually strange or odd
13. Bland: Undisturbing, unemotional, and uninteresting
14. Bombastic: Pretentious and pompous
15. Breezy: Quick-paced, but sometimes superficial
16. Childish: Immature (when applied to adults or to writing): Expressing contempt
17. Cinematic: Having the qualities of a motion picture
18. Classical: Formal, enduring, and standard, adhering to certain traditional methods
19. Colloquial: Characteristic or ordinary and informal conversation
20. Comic: Humorous, funny, light (there are many levels of comedy)
21. Concise: Using very few words to express a great deal
22. Confessional: Characterized by personal admissions of faults
23. ContemptuousFeeling superior, disdainful
24. Convincing: Persuasive, believable, plausible
25.Convoluted: Very complicated or involved (as in the case of sentences with many
qualifiers, phrases, and clauses)
26.Crepuscular: Having to do with twilight or shadowy areas (as in the darker and more hidden
parts of human experience)
27. Cynical: A tendency to believe that all human behavior is selfish and opportunistic
28. Decadent: Marked by decay in morals, values, and artistic standards
29. Depressing: Sad, gloomy (without any redeeming qualities of true tragedy)
30. Detached: Disinterested, unbiased, emotionally disconnected
31 .Discursive: Moving pointlessly from one subject to another; rambling
32. Dreamlike: Having the characteristics of a dream
33. Earthy: Realistic, rustic, coarse, unrefined, instinctive animalize
34. Effeminate: Soft, delicate, unmanly
35. Elegiac: Expressing sorrow or lamentation (elegy is a mournful poem)
36. Emotional: Much given to strong feelings
37. Epistolary: Involving letters
38. Erudite: Learned, scholarly
39. Eulogistic: Involving formal praise in speech or writing, usually in honor of the dead
40. Evocative: Having the ability to call forth memories or other responses
41. Expressionistic: Stressing the subjective and symbolic in art and literature
42. Facetious: Amusing, but light, unserious, frivolous
43. Farcical: Humorous in a light way, comedy with high exaggeration
44. Fatalistic: Believing that everything that happens is destined and, therefore, out of the hands of the individual
45. Flamboyant: Conspicuously bold or colorful
46. Fluid: Flowing smoothly.
47. Iconoclastic: Inclined to attack cherished beliefs and traditions
48. Impressionistic: Inclined to use subjective impressions rather than objective reality
49. Ironic: Characterized by unexpected turn of events, often the opposite of the intended.
50. Irreverent: Showing disrespect for things that are usually respected or revered.
51. Journalistic: Characterized by the kind of language used in journalism
52. Lyrical: Intense, spontaneous, musical
53.Metaphorical: Having the characteristics of melodrama in which emotions and plot are
exaggerated and characterization is shallow
54.Mournful: Feeling or expressing grief. (Certain literary forms are devoted to the
expression of grief, such as elegies.)
55. Mundane: Ordinary or common, as in everyday matters
56. Naturalistic: Tending to present things in art and literature as they appear in nature or
actuality.
57. Nostalgic: Inclined to long for or dwell on things of the past; sentimental
58. Objective: Uninfluenced by personal feelings. Making judgments based on facts
59. Ominous: Indicating or threatening evil or danger as dark clouds indicate that storm is
coming.
60. Parody: A satirical imitation of something serious, such as a comic takeoff of Romeo
and Juliet. The parody must have enough elements of the original for it to be
recognized.
61. Persuasive: Able to get a person to do something or to agree with one by an appeal to reason or other convincing devices.
62. Philosophical: Interested in the study of basic truths of existence and reality.
63. Pious: Having or displaying a reverence for God and religion. Sometimes used
pejoratively, when the display is excessive and overly righteous.
64. Poetical: Having the qualities of poetry, such as pleasing rhythms or images.
65. Pompous: Displaying one’s importance in an exaggerated way. Sometimes this quality
is found in comic characters.
66. Primitive: Simple and crude. (Primitivism in the arts tries to make use of a sophisticated
way of what seems simple and crude.)
67. Prurient: Preoccupied with lewd and lustful thoughts.
68. Psychological: Having to do with the human mind and human behavior.
69. Puritanical: Strict or severe in matters of morality.
70. Realistic: Inclined to represent things as they really are.
71. Rhythmic: Characterized by certain patterns, beats, or accents (dancing music, poetry.)
72. Romantic: Having feelings or thoughts of love, but when associated with nineteenth
century literature or any such literature it suggests a style that emphasizes
freedom of form, imagination, and emotion.
73. Sardonic: Mocking, taunting, bitter, scornful, sarcastic
74. Satirical: Using sarcasm and irony, often humorously to expose human folly.
75. Sensuous: Taking pleasure in things that appeal to the senses. (Sensual suggests a strong
preoccupation with such things, especially sexual pleasures.)
76. Stark: Plain, harsh, completely (as in “stark raving mad’). Simple or bare, when
applied to style, sometimes even bleak or grim.
77. Subjective: Relying on one’s own inner impressions, a opposed to being objective.
78. Trite: Stale, worn out, as in trite expressions.
79. Urbane: Sophisticated, socially polished
80. Victorian: Prudish, stuffy, and puritanical (qualities during with Queen Victoria’s reign.)
81. Whimsical: Inclined to be playful, humorous, or fanciful
82. Wordy: Using more words than necessary to way what you have to say.