Authors' Tone

Tone is the attitude the writer takes toward a subject. Authors may write about something they respect or about something they hate. A writer may be angry. A writer may be impatient. A writer may take a humorous view of the subject. Or a writer may be ironic - saying one thing but really meaning the opposite. Oscar Wilde was asked by a judge during his trial, " Are you trying to show contempt for this court?"and Wilde replied, "On the contrary, I'm trying to conceal it." The tone of his response was much more effective than if he said, "Yes, I am." Wilde's use of irony made his contempt appear much stronger, so strong that Wilde appeared not to be able to restrain it.

Identifying author's attitudes in their writing can tell you a great deal about their purpose. You as a reader, should be aware of how the author feels so that you can critically and objectively, putting the ideas expressed in perspective. Read the following passages:

The federal government's policy on economic growth proved to be as liberal and unthinking as it had ever been when it gave away choice land to corporations and industrialists rather than to prospective farmers and hardworking ranchers.

The federal government had an established policy to encourage economic growth that enabled it to give away large sections of valuable land to manufacturing and industrial corporations, land that otherwise would merely have been used for farming or ranching.

In the 1st paragraph, the author uses a condemning tone in discussing the government's policy, and the words liberal, unthinking, choice are meant to create an unfavorable effect on the reader's thinking about the government's policy. In the 2nd paragraph, the same information is presented but the author's words such as established, encourage, enabled, merely create a positive and accepting tone, clearly designed to encourage the reader to approve of the ideas written.