{"id":76,"date":"2019-01-22T19:55:57","date_gmt":"2019-01-22T19:55:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/atd-monroecc-collegecomp\/?post_type=chapter&p=76"},"modified":"2019-01-22T19:55:57","modified_gmt":"2019-01-22T19:55:57","slug":"different-voices","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/atd-monroecc-collegecomp\/chapter\/different-voices\/","title":{"raw":"Different Voices","rendered":"Different Voices"},"content":{"raw":"

Different Voices<\/h1>\r\nNote the two different voices here talking about the same subject. Which boss would you rather work for?\r\n
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<\/h3>\r\n\"SameBoss 1:<\/strong>\r\nIt has come to my attention that computers are not being turned off at the end of the workday. This is a possible security breach, as well as a waste of electricity, and failure to shut down electronic equipment will not be tolerated. Please ensure that your computers are off before you leave each night or there will be consequences for individuals who do not comply.\r\n\r\nBoss 2:<\/strong>\r\nHello, everyone!\u00a0I know that here at Plants, Inc., we\u2019re all committed to a green work environment. So I\u2019m asking for your help with respect to computers. We\u2019ve seen a number of computers inadvertently left on in the evenings. I want to ask for your cooperation in turning off your computer before you leave, which helps conserve electricity. Thanks for your help!\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\nNotice the different tones in the two passages. Tone is part of the voice and reveals the attitude of the writer, which can range from friendly to angry to cold to intimate.\r\n\r\nIf you\u2019re writing a personal essay, about an experience in your life, then the voice you use will reveal how you feel about the experience. You\u2019ll most likely write using the personal pronouns\u00a0I<\/strong>\u00a0or\u00a0we<\/strong>. You\u2019ll let your personality emerge in the language you choose.\r\n\r\nIf you want to convey a humorous or outrageous event, then your words and your tone will reflect that. You might exaggerate, use informal, even silly sounding words or use acerbic, or understated language. Your sentences might be short and convey energy. If, on the other hand you are writing about a loss, your words will be more serious, your tone somber and your sentences might be longer, more thoughtful and reflective. As the writer, you get to decide how you want to describe your experience.\r\n\r\nNotice the different voices and sentence structure in the excerpts from these two popular memoirs.\r\n
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<\/h3>\r\nMemoir 1:<\/strong>\r\nWe didn\u2019t call it the kitchen in our house. We called it the Burns Unit.\r\n\r\n\u201cIt\u2019s a bit burned,\u201d my mother would say apologetically at every meal, presenting you with a piece of meat that looked like something\u2014a much-loved pet perhaps\u2014salvaged from a tragic house fire. \u201cBut I think I scraped off most of the burned part,\u201d she would add, overlooking that this included every bit of it that had once been flesh.\r\n\r\n~from\u00a0The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid\u00a0<\/u>by Bill Bryson\r\n\r\nMemoir 2:<\/strong>\r\nLater I realized that I must have repeated the details of what happened to everyone who came to the house in those first weeks, all those friends and relatives who brought food and made drinks and laid out plates on the dining room table for however many people were around at lunch or dinner time, all those who picked up the plates and froze the leftovers and ran the dishwasher and filled our (I could not yet think my) otherwise empty house even after I had gone into the bedroom (our bedroom, the one in which there still lay on a sofa a faded terrycloth XL robe bought in the 1970s at Richard Carroll in Beverly Hills) and shut the door.\r\n\r\n~from\u00a0A Year of Magical Thinking<\/u>\u00a0by Joan Didion\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\nIf your assignment is to write a more academic paper, then you will want to consider using the academic voice, which will be discussed on the next page.","rendered":"

Different Voices<\/h1>\n

Note the two different voices here talking about the same subject. Which boss would you rather work for?<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

<\/h3>\n

\"SameBoss 1:<\/strong>
\nIt has come to my attention that computers are not being turned off at the end of the workday. This is a possible security breach, as well as a waste of electricity, and failure to shut down electronic equipment will not be tolerated. Please ensure that your computers are off before you leave each night or there will be consequences for individuals who do not comply.<\/p>\n

Boss 2:<\/strong>
\nHello, everyone!\u00a0I know that here at Plants, Inc., we\u2019re all committed to a green work environment. So I\u2019m asking for your help with respect to computers. We\u2019ve seen a number of computers inadvertently left on in the evenings. I want to ask for your cooperation in turning off your computer before you leave, which helps conserve electricity. Thanks for your help!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Notice the different tones in the two passages. Tone is part of the voice and reveals the attitude of the writer, which can range from friendly to angry to cold to intimate.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re writing a personal essay, about an experience in your life, then the voice you use will reveal how you feel about the experience. You\u2019ll most likely write using the personal pronouns\u00a0I<\/strong>\u00a0or\u00a0we<\/strong>. You\u2019ll let your personality emerge in the language you choose.<\/p>\n

If you want to convey a humorous or outrageous event, then your words and your tone will reflect that. You might exaggerate, use informal, even silly sounding words or use acerbic, or understated language. Your sentences might be short and convey energy. If, on the other hand you are writing about a loss, your words will be more serious, your tone somber and your sentences might be longer, more thoughtful and reflective. As the writer, you get to decide how you want to describe your experience.<\/p>\n

Notice the different voices and sentence structure in the excerpts from these two popular memoirs.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

<\/h3>\n

Memoir 1:<\/strong>
\nWe didn\u2019t call it the kitchen in our house. We called it the Burns Unit.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a bit burned,\u201d my mother would say apologetically at every meal, presenting you with a piece of meat that looked like something\u2014a much-loved pet perhaps\u2014salvaged from a tragic house fire. \u201cBut I think I scraped off most of the burned part,\u201d she would add, overlooking that this included every bit of it that had once been flesh.<\/p>\n

~from\u00a0The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid\u00a0<\/u>by Bill Bryson<\/p>\n

Memoir 2:<\/strong>
\nLater I realized that I must have repeated the details of what happened to everyone who came to the house in those first weeks, all those friends and relatives who brought food and made drinks and laid out plates on the dining room table for however many people were around at lunch or dinner time, all those who picked up the plates and froze the leftovers and ran the dishwasher and filled our (I could not yet think my) otherwise empty house even after I had gone into the bedroom (our bedroom, the one in which there still lay on a sofa a faded terrycloth XL robe bought in the 1970s at Richard Carroll in Beverly Hills) and shut the door.<\/p>\n

~from\u00a0A Year of Magical Thinking<\/u>\u00a0by Joan Didion<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

If your assignment is to write a more academic paper, then you will want to consider using the academic voice, which will be discussed on the next page.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t

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Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t
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CC licensed content, Shared previously<\/div>