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George Brown College COMM 1007 College English
Week 5 Article Review, Evaluating Language & Tone, Analysing Rhetoric [email protected]
This Week’s Aims
1. Critical Analysis: Article Review
2. Language & Tone 3. How to Write About
Language & Tone 4. Evaluating Language
& Tone Exercises 5. Analysis of Language
& Tone: Model 6. Critical Analysis:
Evaluating Language & Tone Paragraph Map
1. Article Review
See Blackboard
2. Language
& Tone
Language & Tone Tone is the attitude, atmosphere, or mood of a piece of writing. Authors often use specific tones in their writing as part of a strategy to connect with the audience and to be more persuasive. Analyzing an author’s tone will help you to: ● understand how the author is approaching the topic. ● determine how an author is using logic, emotion, or credibility to persuade
the reader. ● detect bias in an author’s argument. ● evaluate the effectiveness of the author’s argument.
The tone of a piece of writing is determined mostly by the words the author chooses. While two or more words may have the same dictionary definition, they will often have different connotations. Connotations are the feelings or ideas we associate with words. These feelings and ideas are based on how the words are typically used in certain communities, cultures or contexts.
Example 1 Below we can see the difference between a negative (-) connotation and a positive (+) connotation.
a. My aunt is nosey; she always asks me questions. b. My aunt is curious; she always asks me questions.
Someone reading the first sentence may assume that the aunt’s questions are irritating, while the second sentence may cast her interest in a more positive light. The dictionary definitions of the words “nosey” and “curious” are alike, but their connotations are entirely different. Nosey has a negative connotation: it suggests being prying or meddlesome. A nosey person is someone who doesn’t mind his or her own business. Curious has a positive connotation: it suggests being genuinely interested in a subject or someone’s well-being. A curious person wants to learn more about a given subject or wants to know how they can help you.
Example 2 Below we can see the difference between a negative (-) connotation and a positive (+) connotation.
a. My uncle is cheap; he never pays full price at the market. b. My uncle is thrifty; he never pays full price at the market.
In the examples above, we can see that shift from cheap to thrifty changes the characterization from a negative to a positive one. Once again, this kind of subtle shift can alter the way that the reader interprets the information being provided.
Cheap has a negative connotation, suggesting someone is selfish with money. A cheap person may never split a bill with friends or spend money on other people. No one wants to be characterized as “cheap”.
Thrifty has a positive connotation, suggesting someone is wise with money. A thrifty person will always try and find the best price on a purchase and spends the time making the most out of their wealth. This person is savvy and seemingly in control.
Words to Describe Language & Tone
Authors can attempt to persuade readers by appealing to emotions (pathos.) Our emotions are strong motivators for action and opinion, so writers will often try to persuade (and sometimes even manipulate readers) by focusing on their feelings.
Tone is one of the tools that a writer has for trying to persuade readers. One way of thinking about the role of tone in a piece of writing is to consider the emotion it seems designed to evoke, and why an author might be trying to evoke that emotion.
Here are some examples of the kinds of tone that an author might convey in order to appeal to the emotions of readers:
Words to Describe Language & Tone
Words to Describe Language & Tone
Words to Describe Language & Tone
3. How to Write
About Language &
Tone
How to Write About Language & Tone Describing Tone
Being able to discuss how authors use tone can be a valuable part of any analysis and evaluation of how they try to support arguments and to persuade readers.
The first step to providing such analysis and evaluation is to identify which words demonstrate the author’s use of tone, and the next step is to explain how it seems intended to persuade readers.
How to Write an Evaluation of Tone
Once you can identify and describe how authors use tone in their writing, the next step is to analyze how use of tone is supposed to persuade readers.
What does the author seem to be trying to achieve with the use of a specific tone? How might this use fit into the author’s larger argument?
When you have identified the author using tone in an attempt to persuade or support, follow these steps:
How to Write About Language & Tone
Step 1: Underline words, expressions and connotations in the passage that indicate the author’s tone.
Step 2: Choose word(s) from this class (or online) to describe the tone of the author based on the words you underlined.
Step 3: Evaluate how persuasive the author’s argument/claim is by explaining your description of tone with the textual evidence you underlined in the passage.
How to Write About Language & Tone
What tone is being used in the following passage? How to Write About Language & Tone
In the example above, we can see the author using a number of different analytical tools. The author is pointing to Brown’s use of tone and connotation, but also to Brown’s use of a comparison, which is often classified as a logical appeal.
Authors will often use a variety of tools when they write, and so when you analyze and evaluate how an author tries to support an argument, you can and should also look at the text by using a variety of analytical tools (tone, evidence, rhetoric, counterargument, etc.).
How to Write About Language & Tone
What tone is being used in the following passage? How to Write About Language & Tone
4. Evaluating
Language & Tone Exercises
1 - 5
Evaluating Language & Tone
Exercises 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5
See Blackboard Complete Exercises 1 - 5
5. Analysis of
Language & Tone: Model
Analysing Tone Model
Analysing Tone Model
6. Critical Analysis:
Evaluating Language & Tone
Paragraph Map
Evaluating Language & Tone Paragraph Map
See
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… next week…
… see Blackboard...
… this week… see Blackboard...
1. Review the PowerPoint slides 2. Complete the Article Review, to help you
begin generating ideas for your Critical Analysis (20%).
3. Complete the Evaluating Language & Tone Exercises, copy and paste one, two, or three of your answers to Blackboard. Be sure to compare with, and comment on, another person’s post! I will share some of the “answers” early next week.
