Rhetorical terms · AP English Language, SAT Reading and Writing, ACT Reading
Tone
Tone: The writer's or speaker's attitude toward the subject or audience, conveyed through diction, syntax and detail.
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What it means
Tone is the attitude a text expresses: admiring, ironic, urgent, wistful, indignant, measured. It is created through word choice, sentence structure, the details included and what is left out. Mood, a related term, describes the feeling a text creates in the reader.
Tone can shift within a text, and those shifts often mark important turns in an argument or story.
Example
'The committee, in its wisdom, has once again postponed the vote.' The phrase 'in its wisdom' gives the sentence a sarcastic tone that criticizes the committee without saying so directly.
On the exam
Use precise tone words in analysis. 'Positive' and 'negative' are too vague; 'grudgingly admiring' or 'coolly dismissive' shows close reading.
Lessons and practice questions
Related terms
- DictionA writer's word choice, including the level of formality, connotation and specificity of the words used.
- SyntaxThe arrangement of words, phrases and clauses in sentences, including sentence length, order and structure.
- Tone shiftA change in a speaker's or narrator's attitude within a text, often marking a turn in meaning.