{"id":318,"date":"2020-03-16T17:44:20","date_gmt":"2020-03-16T17:44:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-esc-introtocollegereadingandwriting\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=318"},"modified":"2020-06-20T15:34:26","modified_gmt":"2020-06-20T15:34:26","slug":"authors-language","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-esc-introtocollegereadingandwriting\/chapter\/authors-language\/","title":{"raw":"Language &amp; Tone","rendered":"Language &amp; Tone"},"content":{"raw":"Language and tone can highlight an author's point of view.\u00a0 Language and tone also influence the quality and logic of an argument. As a reader, you can see if a writer is impartial or biased by evaluating the text's language and tone.\r\n\r\nLanguage refers to word choice and emphasis as well as how words are put together and punctuated in sentences. Tone refers to how the author uses words to convey an attitude. There are a number of questions that you can ask when analyzing an author's use of language and tone in order to determine how they contribute to the author's message. For example:\r\n\r\n<img class=\" wp-image-1223 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4969\/2020\/03\/21185001\/43-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"290\" height=\"290\" \/>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Is the language formal or informal?\u00a0 Impersonal or personal?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Does the language show any bias in terms of word choice or tone?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Is the language appropriate for the intended audience and purpose?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Is the language overly emotional?\u00a0 Overly complicated? Overly simple?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Are sentences clear and direct, or lengthy and complicated in syntax?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>What does punctuation contribute, if anything, to the text's tone?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nCompare the language and tone in the two sample paragraphs below.\u00a0 As a reader, what do you infer about the author's point of view?\u00a0 How would you characterize the tone of each sample?\u00a0 What do you think about the quality and logic of each selection?\r\n<div class=\"textbox\">Many species of plants and animals are disappearing right before our eyes! If we don\u2019t act really fast, it might be too late to save them. Human activities, including pollution, deforestation, hunting, and overpopulation, are devastating the natural environment.\u00a0 Without our help, many species will not survive long enough for our children to see them in the wild.\u00a0 Take the tiger, who has already been \"taken\" to a great extent. Today, tigers occupy just 7 percent of their historical range, and many local populations are already extinct.\u00a0 Hunted for their beautiful pelt and other body parts, the tiger population has plummeted from one hundred thousand in 1920 to just a few thousand.\u00a0 Contact your local wildlife conservation society today to find out how you can stop this terrible destruction.<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"textbox\">Many species of plants and animals are diminishing because of human activities. For example, tigers today occupy just seven percent of their historical range; the tiger population has decreased from one hundred thousand in 1920 to just a few thousand.\u00a0 Many local populations of tigers are already extinct.\u00a0 There are many causes for decreased species of plants and animals\u2014pollution, deforestation, hunting, and overpopulation.\u00a0 Because the natural environment is so intertwined, we need to consider how to stem some of these causes in order to maintain a balance of nature.\u00a0 Local as well as national wildlife conservation societies offer strategies for individuals and groups to facilitate awareness and action.<\/div>\r\nIn the first sample, the author comes across as effusive.\u00a0 The text urges the reader that action has to happen quickly.\u00a0 The author's language, punctuation, and word choice all help elicit this reaction. In contrast, the author comes across more calmly and rationally in the second sample.\u00a0 The tone is more muted than in the first sample, and the text suggests that readers need to raise their awareness in addition to immediate action\u2014the call to action is not immediate. The ideas are similar in both sample paragraphs, but you can see the different effects achieved by manipulating language and tone.\r\n\r\nThere are many, many possible tones, including the following:\r\n<table class=\"lines\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse;width: 100%\" border=\"1\">\r\n<tbody>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td style=\"width: 50%\">formal<\/td>\r\n<td style=\"width: 50%\">Informal<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td style=\"width: 50%\">serious<\/td>\r\n<td style=\"width: 50%\">funny<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td style=\"width: 50%\">sarcastic<\/td>\r\n<td style=\"width: 50%\">sincere<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td style=\"width: 50%\">optimistic<\/td>\r\n<td style=\"width: 50%\">pessimistic<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td style=\"width: 50%\">naive<\/td>\r\n<td style=\"width: 50%\">cynical<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td style=\"width: 50%\">aggressive<\/td>\r\n<td style=\"width: 50%\">calm<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td style=\"width: 50%\">and more...<\/td>\r\n<td style=\"width: 50%\"><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\nThe following video discusses how tone contributes to the meaning of a text.\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=lqGvYT5CJqs\r\n<div class=\"textbox exercises\">\r\n<h3>try it<\/h3>\r\nBased on your reading of the first three paragraphs of \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-esc-introtocollegereadingandwriting\/chapter\/article-3\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forget Shorter Showers<\/a>\u201d by Derrick Jensen, answer the following questions about language and tone (answers will vary).\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<strong>How does the author come across in the first three paragraphs, based on his language and tone?<\/strong>\r\n\r\n[reveal-answer q=\"1\"] compare your answer\u00a0 [\/reveal-answer]\r\n[hidden-answer a=\"1\"]\r\n\r\nThe author comes across very strongly in the first three paragraphs.\u00a0 Actually, as I read the first paragraph, I wondered what kind of article I was reading, as the language and tone were slightly wild.\u00a0 By the time I got to the end of the third paragraph, though, I could connect its content with the rant-like sentences from the first paragraph and start seeing where the author was going.\r\n\r\n[\/hidden-answer]\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<strong>What descriptive words would you use to characterize the author's tone?<\/strong>\r\n\r\n[reveal-answer q=\"2\"] compare your answer\u00a0 [\/reveal-answer]\r\n[hidden-answer a=\"2\"]\r\n\r\naggressive, informal, very serious, hard-hitting, no-nonsense\r\n\r\n[\/hidden-answer]\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<strong>You previously identified the author's main idea and purpose. If the author had used different language and tone to introduce his ideas in the first three paragraphs, what do you think the effect on a reader would be? Another way to consider this is to ask why he chose the tone he chose.<\/strong>\r\n\r\n[reveal-answer q=\"3\"] compare your answer\u00a0 [\/reveal-answer]\r\n[hidden-answer a=\"3\"]\r\n\r\nIf written in a calmer tone, as a reader I might not have wanted to read yet another article on the depletion of our natural resources.\u00a0 The fact that the author uses a very brash tone in the first three paragraphs made me curious as to what he was writing about.\u00a0 I think that he chose this aggressive tone to correlate with his main idea about the need to be aggressive in fighting the industrial economy that is depleting our resources, and to rally readers to action.\u00a0 I don't think that being so hard-hitting is useful in most cases, as the language and tone could backfire and turn readers away, but I can see why the author consciously chose to be aggressive in this particular case.\r\n\r\n[\/hidden-answer]\r\n\r\n<\/div>","rendered":"<p>Language and tone can highlight an author&#8217;s point of view.\u00a0 Language and tone also influence the quality and logic of an argument. As a reader, you can see if a writer is impartial or biased by evaluating the text&#8217;s language and tone.<\/p>\n<p>Language refers to word choice and emphasis as well as how words are put together and punctuated in sentences. Tone refers to how the author uses words to convey an attitude. There are a number of questions that you can ask when analyzing an author&#8217;s use of language and tone in order to determine how they contribute to the author&#8217;s message. For example:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1223 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4969\/2020\/03\/21185001\/43-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"290\" height=\"290\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Is the language formal or informal?\u00a0 Impersonal or personal?<\/li>\n<li>Does the language show any bias in terms of word choice or tone?<\/li>\n<li>Is the language appropriate for the intended audience and purpose?<\/li>\n<li>Is the language overly emotional?\u00a0 Overly complicated? Overly simple?<\/li>\n<li>Are sentences clear and direct, or lengthy and complicated in syntax?<\/li>\n<li>What does punctuation contribute, if anything, to the text&#8217;s tone?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Compare the language and tone in the two sample paragraphs below.\u00a0 As a reader, what do you infer about the author&#8217;s point of view?\u00a0 How would you characterize the tone of each sample?\u00a0 What do you think about the quality and logic of each selection?<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox\">Many species of plants and animals are disappearing right before our eyes! If we don\u2019t act really fast, it might be too late to save them. Human activities, including pollution, deforestation, hunting, and overpopulation, are devastating the natural environment.\u00a0 Without our help, many species will not survive long enough for our children to see them in the wild.\u00a0 Take the tiger, who has already been &#8220;taken&#8221; to a great extent. Today, tigers occupy just 7 percent of their historical range, and many local populations are already extinct.\u00a0 Hunted for their beautiful pelt and other body parts, the tiger population has plummeted from one hundred thousand in 1920 to just a few thousand.\u00a0 Contact your local wildlife conservation society today to find out how you can stop this terrible destruction.<\/div>\n<div class=\"textbox\">Many species of plants and animals are diminishing because of human activities. For example, tigers today occupy just seven percent of their historical range; the tiger population has decreased from one hundred thousand in 1920 to just a few thousand.\u00a0 Many local populations of tigers are already extinct.\u00a0 There are many causes for decreased species of plants and animals\u2014pollution, deforestation, hunting, and overpopulation.\u00a0 Because the natural environment is so intertwined, we need to consider how to stem some of these causes in order to maintain a balance of nature.\u00a0 Local as well as national wildlife conservation societies offer strategies for individuals and groups to facilitate awareness and action.<\/div>\n<p>In the first sample, the author comes across as effusive.\u00a0 The text urges the reader that action has to happen quickly.\u00a0 The author&#8217;s language, punctuation, and word choice all help elicit this reaction. In contrast, the author comes across more calmly and rationally in the second sample.\u00a0 The tone is more muted than in the first sample, and the text suggests that readers need to raise their awareness in addition to immediate action\u2014the call to action is not immediate. The ideas are similar in both sample paragraphs, but you can see the different effects achieved by manipulating language and tone.<\/p>\n<p>There are many, many possible tones, including the following:<\/p>\n<table class=\"lines\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse;width: 100%\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 50%\">formal<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%\">Informal<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 50%\">serious<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%\">funny<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 50%\">sarcastic<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%\">sincere<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 50%\">optimistic<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%\">pessimistic<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 50%\">naive<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%\">cynical<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 50%\">aggressive<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%\">calm<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 50%\">and more&#8230;<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>The following video discusses how tone contributes to the meaning of a text.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"oembed-1\" title=\"The author&#39;s tone in writing (3\/3)  | Interpreting Series\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lqGvYT5CJqs?feature=oembed&#38;rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox exercises\">\n<h3>try it<\/h3>\n<p>Based on your reading of the first three paragraphs of \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-esc-introtocollegereadingandwriting\/chapter\/article-3\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forget Shorter Showers<\/a>\u201d by Derrick Jensen, answer the following questions about language and tone (answers will vary).<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>How does the author come across in the first three paragraphs, based on his language and tone?<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"qa-wrapper\" style=\"display: block\"><span class=\"show-answer collapsed\" style=\"cursor: pointer\" data-target=\"q1\"> compare your answer\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"q1\" class=\"hidden-answer\" style=\"display: none\">\n<p>The author comes across very strongly in the first three paragraphs.\u00a0 Actually, as I read the first paragraph, I wondered what kind of article I was reading, as the language and tone were slightly wild.\u00a0 By the time I got to the end of the third paragraph, though, I could connect its content with the rant-like sentences from the first paragraph and start seeing where the author was going.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>What descriptive words would you use to characterize the author&#8217;s tone?<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"qa-wrapper\" style=\"display: block\"><span class=\"show-answer collapsed\" style=\"cursor: pointer\" data-target=\"q2\"> compare your answer\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"q2\" class=\"hidden-answer\" style=\"display: none\">\n<p>aggressive, informal, very serious, hard-hitting, no-nonsense<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>You previously identified the author&#8217;s main idea and purpose. If the author had used different language and tone to introduce his ideas in the first three paragraphs, what do you think the effect on a reader would be? Another way to consider this is to ask why he chose the tone he chose.<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"qa-wrapper\" style=\"display: block\"><span class=\"show-answer collapsed\" style=\"cursor: pointer\" data-target=\"q3\"> compare your answer\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"q3\" class=\"hidden-answer\" style=\"display: none\">\n<p>If written in a calmer tone, as a reader I might not have wanted to read yet another article on the depletion of our natural resources.\u00a0 The fact that the author uses a very brash tone in the first three paragraphs made me curious as to what he was writing about.\u00a0 I think that he chose this aggressive tone to correlate with his main idea about the need to be aggressive in fighting the industrial economy that is depleting our resources, and to rally readers to action.\u00a0 I don&#8217;t think that being so hard-hitting is useful in most cases, as the language and tone could backfire and turn readers away, but I can see why the author consciously chose to be aggressive in this particular case.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t <section class=\"citations-section\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t\t <h3>Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <div id=\"citation-list-318\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div class=\"licensing\"><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Original<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Language &amp; Tone, includes material adapted from Successful Writing; attribution below. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Susan Oaks. <strong>Project<\/strong>: Introduction to College Reading &amp; Writing. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/\">CC BY-NC: Attribution-NonCommercial<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Shared previously<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>6.1 Purpose, Audience, Tone, and Content. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Scott McLean. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Arizona Western College. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/2012books.lardbucket.org\/books\/successful-writing\/s10-01-purpose-audience-tone-and-cont.html\">https:\/\/2012books.lardbucket.org\/books\/successful-writing\/s10-01-purpose-audience-tone-and-cont.html<\/a>. <strong>Project<\/strong>: Successful Writing. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>image of different word bubbles. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Prawny. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Pixabay. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/pixabay.com\/illustrations\/talk-chat-comic-cartoon-speech-1246930\/\">https:\/\/pixabay.com\/illustrations\/talk-chat-comic-cartoon-speech-1246930\/<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/about\/cc0\">CC0: No Rights Reserved<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>video The Author&#039;s Tone in Writing. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Marc Franco. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Snap Language. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=lqGvYT5CJqs\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=lqGvYT5CJqs<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em>Other<\/em>. <strong>License Terms<\/strong>: YouTube video<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t <\/section>","protected":false},"author":81366,"menu_order":4,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"original\",\"description\":\"Language & Tone, includes material adapted from Successful Writing; attribution below\",\"author\":\"Susan Oaks\",\"organization\":\"\",\"url\":\"\",\"project\":\"Introduction to College Reading & Writing\",\"license\":\"cc-by-nc\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"6.1 Purpose, Audience, Tone, and Content\",\"author\":\"Scott McLean\",\"organization\":\"Arizona Western College\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/2012books.lardbucket.org\/books\/successful-writing\/s10-01-purpose-audience-tone-and-cont.html\",\"project\":\"Successful Writing\",\"license\":\"cc-by\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"image of different word bubbles\",\"author\":\"Prawny\",\"organization\":\"Pixabay\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pixabay.com\/illustrations\/talk-chat-comic-cartoon-speech-1246930\/\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc0\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"video The Author\\'s Tone in Writing\",\"author\":\"Marc Franco\",\"organization\":\"Snap Language\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=lqGvYT5CJqs\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"other\",\"license_terms\":\"YouTube video\"}]","CANDELA_OUTCOMES_GUID":"","pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-318","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":314,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-esc-introtocollegereadingandwriting\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-esc-introtocollegereadingandwriting\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-esc-introtocollegereadingandwriting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-esc-introtocollegereadingandwriting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/81366"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-esc-introtocollegereadingandwriting\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/318\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2223,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-esc-introtocollegereadingandwriting\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/318\/revisions\/2223"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-esc-introtocollegereadingandwriting\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/314"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-esc-introtocollegereadingandwriting\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/318\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-esc-introtocollegereadingandwriting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-esc-introtocollegereadingandwriting\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=318"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-esc-introtocollegereadingandwriting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=318"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-esc-introtocollegereadingandwriting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}