Class Notes : Weeks 5 & 6: October 11th - October 22nd

Chapter Ten: Tone - from Literature, Structure, Sound, and Sense by Perrine

• Tone is the writer's or the speaker's attitude toward the subject, the reader, or herself/himself
• Tone is the emotional meaning/coloring of the work
• TONE IS IMPORTANT
• In spoken language, tone is indicated by the inflections of the speaker's voice
• Almost all of the elements of poetry help to indicate its tone

http://dizzydougtv.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/july_pad_12-31.jpg

Tone is the emotional color in a work, like the flowers in this black and white photo

TONE:

• The speaker/narrator's attitude
• Toward the present subject/moment/events (can soften, does change rapidly)
• Described in terms of emotion
• It's an effect created by the author's choice in techniques that we've learned about previously (diction, figurative language, syntax, etc.)
• When talking with my friends, I often have to watch my tone because what I say can be taken the wrong way depending on the way I inflect my voice

 VOICE:

• Speaker/narrator's personality towards life/the world in general: can change if the character is dynamic (what kind of person is speaking to us?)
• Doesn't change often
• Described in terms of character (omniscient, honest, etc.)
• An effect created by the author's choice in techniques that we've learned about previously (diction, figurative language, syntax, etc.)
• The communicative effect created by the author's style
• Colleges often ask for a student's voice to shine through in college applications

STYLE:

• An author's "written personality". It does not have to reflect the author's actual personality
• Made up/artificial persona's stance toward life/the world in general. Can change if the character is "dynamic" but doesn't change often
• Described in terms of character
• In fiction, style is the language conventions used to construct the story
• The time period in which something is written can affect its style
• As Johann Wolfgang von Goethe once said, "If any man wish to write in a clear style, let him be first clear in his thoughts; and if any would write in a noble style, let him first possess a noble soul"

HOMEWORK:

1. Due 8pm, 10/13/10: Analyze either a similarity or a difference in the tone of the speaker in "The Indifferent" and "Love's Deity", and post it on the forum. Then respond analytically to two peers' posts.

WORKS CITED:
Perrine, Laurence, Thomas R. Arp, and Greg Johnson. Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense. 8th ed. Boston: Heinle & Heinle: Thomson Learning, Inc., 2002. 852-69. Print.