Tone – Style – Syntax  Handout

 

Tone is defined as the writer or speaker’s attitude toward the subject.

 

Developing A Tone Vocabulary

 

Angry                            sad                            sentimental

Sharp                            cold                              fanciful

Upset                             complimentary              urgent                        

Silly                             joking                              condescending

Boring                            poignant                              sympathetic

Afraid                            detached                            contemptuous

Happy                             confused                            apologetic

Hallow                             childish                            humorous

Joyful                            peaceful                            horrific

Allusive                            mocking                            sarcastic

Sweet                            objective                            nostalgic

Vexed                            vibrant                            zealous

Tired                            frivolous                            irreverent

Bitter                            audacious                            benevolent

Dreamy                            shocking                            seductive

Restrained              somber                            candid

Proud                             giddy                            pitiful

Dramatic                            provocative              didactic

 

Another list of tone words

Satiric                            pedantic                            colloquial

Whimsical              indignant                            compassionate

Dramatic                            bantering                            impartial

Learned                            flippant                            insipid

Informative              condescending              pretentious

Somber                            patronizing              vibrant

Urgent                             facetious                            irreverent

Confident                            clinical                            sentimental

Mock-heroic              mock-serious              moralistic

Objective                            inflammatory              diffident

Complimentary              benevolent              contemptuous

Ironic                            burlesque                            sympathetic

Petty                            detached                            taunting

Factual                            cynical                            angry

Restrained              incisive                            turgid

Elegiac                            allusive                            sardonic

Disdainful              scornful                            contentious

Lugubrious              effusive                            insolent

Candid                            fanciful                            concerned

 

Words That Describe Language             

Jargon                            pedantic                            poetic

Vulgar                            euphemistic              moralistic

Scholarly                            pretentious              slang

Insipid                            sensuous                            idiomatic

Precise                            exact                            concrete

Esoteric                            learned                            cultured

Connotative               symbolic                            picturesque

Plain                            simple                            homespun

Literal                            figurative                            provincial

Colloquial              bombastic              trite

Artificial                            abstruse                            obscure

Detached                            grotesque                            precise

Emotional               concrete                            exact

 

 

 

Another List of Words but in Categories

 

 

Reverence              Love                            Joy

Awe                            affection                            exaltation

Veneration              cherish                            zeal

Solemn                            fondness                            fervor

                            Admiration              ardor

Happiness               tenderness              elation

Glad                            sentiment                            jubilant

Pleased                            romantic                            buoyancy

Merry                            Platonic

Glee                            adoration                            Calm

Delight                            narcissism              serene

Cheerful                            passion                            tranquil

Gay                            lust                            placid

Sanguine                            rapture                           

Mirth                            ecstasy                            Hope

Enjoy                            infatuated                            expect

Relish                            enamor                            anticipate

Bliss                            compassion

 

Sadness                            Anger                            Hate

Somber                            vehement                            vengeance

Melancholy              rage                            abhorrence

Sorrow                            outrage                            animosity

Lament                            antipathy                            enmity

Despondent              indignant                            pique

Regret                            vexation                            rancor

Dismal                            incensed                            aversion

Funereal                            petulant                            loathing

Saturnine                            irascible                            despise

Dark                            riled                            scorn

Gloomy                            bitter                            contempt

Dejection                            acrimony                            disdain

Grave                             irate                            jealousy

Grief                            fury                            repugnance

Morose                            wrath                            repulsion

Sullen                            rancor                            resentment

Woe                            consternation              spite

Bleak                            hostility                            disgust

Remorse                            miffed

Forlorn                            choleric                            Fear

Agony                            aggravation              timidity

Anguish                            futility                            apprehension

Depression              umbrage                            anxiety

Misery                            gall                            terror

Barren                            bristle                            horror

Empty                            exasperation              dismay

Pity                                                        agitation

Lugubrious              Ironic Tones              sinister

Distress                            biting                            alarm

                            Playful                            startle

Ironic Tones              witty                            uneasy

Smirking                            humorous              qualms

Sneering                            sardonic                            trepidation

Derisive                            flippant                            intimidation

Icy                            cynical                            appalled

Acerbic                            mocking                            dread

Often a change or shift in tone will be signaled by the following:

 

 

There are at least four areas that may be considered when analyzing style:  diction, sentence structure, treatment of subject matter, and figurative language.

 

  1. Diction (choice of words) – Describe diction by considering the following:

 

    1. Words may be monosyllabic (one syllable in length) or polysyllabic (more than one syllable in length).  The higher the ratio of polysyllabic words, the more difficult the content.
    2. Words may be mainly colloquial (slang), informal (conversational), formal (literary), or

old-fashioned.

    1. Words may be mainly denotative (containing an exact meaning), e.g. dress, or connotative (containing a suggested meaning), e.g., gown.
    2. Words may be concrete (specific) or abstract (general).
    3. Words may be euphonious (pleasant sounding), e.g., butterfly, or cacophonous (harsh sounding), e.g., pus.

 

  1. Sentence Structure – Describe the sentence structure by considering the following:
    1. Examine the sentence length.  Are the sentences telegraphic (shorter than five words in length), medium (approximately eighteen words in length), or long and involved (thirty words or more in length)?  Does the sentence length fit the subject matter;  what variety of lengths is present?  Why is the sentence length effective?
    2. Examine sentence patterns.  Some elements to consider are listed below:

1.  A declarative (assertive) sentence makes a statement, e.g., The king is sick.  An imperative sentence gives a command, e.g., Stand up.  An interrogative sentence asks a question, e.g., Is the king sick?  An exclamatory

sentence makes an exclamation, e.g., The king is dead!

2. A Simple sentence contains one subject and one verb, e.g., The singer bowed to her adoring audience.  A compound sentence contains two independent clauses joined by a coordinate conjunction (and, but, or) or by a semicolon, e.g., The singer bowed to the audience, but she sang no encores.  A complex sentence contains an independent clause and one or more subordinate clauses, e.g., You said that you would tell the truth.  A compound-complex sentence contains two or more principal clauses and one or more subordinate clauses, e.g., The singer bowed while the audience applauded, but she sang no encores.

3.  A loose sentence makes complete sense if brought to a close before the actual ending, e.g., We reached Edmonton / that morning / after a turbulent flight / and some exciting experiences.  A periodic sentence makes sense only when the end of the sentence is reached, e.g., That morning, after a turbulent flight and some exciting experiences, we reached Edmonton.

4.  In a balanced sentence, the phrases or clauses balance each other by virtue of their likeness or structure, meaning, and / or length, e.g., He maketh me to lie down in green pastures;  he leadeth me beside the still waters.

5.  Natural order of a sentence involves constructing a sentence so the subject comes before the predicate, e.g., Oranges grow in California.  Inverted order of a sentence (sentence inversion) involves constructing a sentence so the predicate comes before the subject, e.g., In California grow oranges.  This is a device in which normal sentence patterns are reversed to create an emphatic or rhythmic effect.  This is reversed to create an emphatic or rhythmic effect.  Split order of a sentence divides the predicate into two parts with the subject coming in the middle, e.g., In California oranges grow.

6.  Juxtaposition is a poetic and rhetorical device in which normally unassociated ideas, words, or phrases are placed next to one another, creating an effect of surprise and wit, e.g., “The apparition of these faces in the crowd;/ Petals on a wet, black bough” (“In a Station of the Metro” by Ezra Pound).

7.  Parallel structure (parallelism) refers to a grammatical or structural similarity between sentences or parts of a sentence.  It involves an arrangement of words, phrases, sentences, and paragraphs so that elements of equal importance are equally developed and similarly phrased, e.g., He was walking, running, and jumping for joy.

8.  Repetition is a device in which words, sounds, and ideas are used more than once for the purpose of enhancing rhythm and creating emphasis, e.g.,   “. . . government of the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

9.  A rhetorical question is a question which expects no answer.  It is used to draw attention to a point and is generally stronger than a direct statement, e.g.,  If Mr. Ferchoff is always fair, as you have said, why did he refuse to listen to Mrs. Baldwin’s arguments?

 

    1. Examine sentence beginning.  Is there a good variety or does a pattern emerge?
    2. Examine the arrangement of ideas in a sentence.  Are they set out in a special way for a purpose?
    3. Examine the arrangement of ideas in a paragraph to see if there is evidence of any pattern or structure.

 

  1. Treatment of Subject Matter

 

Describe the author’s treatment of the subject matter by considering the following.  Has the author been

 

  1. Figurative Language

 

    1. Simile is a comparison of two different things or ideas through the use of the words like or as.  It is definitely a stated comparison, where the poet says one thing is like another, e.g., The warrior fought like a lion.
    2. Metaphor is a comparison without the use of like or as.  The poet states that one thing is another.  It is usually a comparison between something that is real or concrete and something that is abstract, e.g., Life is but a dream.
    3. Personification is a kind of metaphor which gives inanimate objects or abstract ideas human characteristics, e.g., The wind cried in the dark.
    4. Hyperbole is a deliberate, extravagant, and often outrageous exaggeration.  It may be used either for serious or comic effect, e.g., The shot that was heard ‘round the world.
    5. Understatement (Meiosis) is the opposite of hyperbole.  It is a kind of irony which deliberately represents something as much less than it really is, e.g., I could probably manage to survive on a salary of two million dollars per year.
    6. Paradox is a statement which contradicts itself.  It may seem almost absurd.  Although it may seem to be at odds with ordinary experience, it usually turns out to have a coherent meaning and reveals a truth which is normally hidden, e.g., The more you know the more you know you don’t know.  (Socrates)
    7. Oxymoron is a form of paradox which combines a pair of contrary terms into a single expression. This combination usually serves the purpose of shocking the reader into awareness, e.g., sweet sorrow, wooden nickel.
    8. Pun is a play on words which are identical or similar in sound but which have sharply diverse meanings.  Puns may have serious as well as humorous uses, e.g., When Mercutio is bleeding to death in Romeo and Juliet, he says to his friends, “Ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave man.”
    9. Irony is the result of a statement saying one thing while meaning the opposite.  Its purpose is usually to criticize, e.g.,  It is simple to stop smoking.  I’ve done it many times.
    10. Sarcasm is a type of irony in which a person appears to be praising something while he is actually insulting the thing.  Its purpose is to injure or hurt, e.g., As I fell down the stairs head-first, I heard her say, “look at that coordination.”
    11. Antithesis involves a direct contrast of structurally parallel word groupings generally for the purpose of contrast, e.g., sink or swim.
    12. Apostrophe is a form of personification in which the absent or dead are spoken to as if present, and the inanimate as if animate. Those are all addressed directly, e.g.,  The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind.
    13. Allusion is a reference to a mythological, literary, historical, or Biblical person, place or thing, e.g., He met his Waterloo.
    14. Synecdoche (Metonymy) is a form of metaphor.  In synecdoche, a part of something is used to signify the whole, e.g., All hands on deck.

*Also, the reverse, whereby the whole can represent a part, is synecdoche, e.g., Canada played the United States in the Olympic hockey finals.

*Another form of synecdoche involves the container representing the thing being contained, e.g.,  The pot is boiling.

*One last form of synecdoche involves the material form which an object is made standing for the object itself, e.g., The quarterback tossed the pigskin.

*In metonymy, the name of one thing is applied to another thing with which it is closely associated, e.g., I love Shakespeare.

 

 

 

Elements of Rhetoric

 

  1. STYLE

 

 

 

 

  1. MODES OF DISCOURSE  (Purpose)

 

 

 

 

 

Some generalizations about literature are as follows:

 

1.  Authors usually devalue materialism.

2.  As a rule, authors do not value formal religion. They do, however, generally value individual reverence.

3.  Authors value mutability.

4.  Authors are rarely neutral about the carpe diem theme.

5.  Authors’ thinking often runs counter to their own cultural training.

6.  Authors are not only our social historians but also our social critics.

7.  In the conflict between the individual and society, authors normally value the individual more than the society.

8.  Most authors attack overweening pride.

9.  Most authors have a critical tone toward war.

10.  In much literature, the family is a source of the most passionate kind of conflict.

 

 

 

 

 

Words that Describe the Reader’s Perception of the Speaker are as follows:

 

humble                            shallow

bold                            fatuous

insipid                            haughty

imperious                            proud

confident                            insecure

credulous                            innocent

naïve                            triumphant

vivacious                            insolent

sincere                            inane

vain                            gullible

 

 

Words that describe style and syntax are as follows:

 

Plain, spare, austere, unadorned

Ornate, elaborate, flowery

Jumbled, chaotic, obfuscating

Erudite, esoteric

Journalistic, terse, laconic

Harsh, grating

Mellifluous, musical, lilting, lyrical

Whimsical

Elegant

Staccato, abrupt

Solid, thudding

Sprawling, disorganized

Dry

Deceptively simple