What is “tone”?

Tone expresses emotion through word choice and sentence structure. For a paper to have good tone it must have an effective mmanner of expression in writing. A writer must consider their audience and what words to choose to effectively express their point of view. An essay’s tone suggests the writer’s emotional involvement in the essay’s subject by projecting anger, enthusiasm, disinterest, outrage, and so on. Tone helps to develop and maintain your assertion throughout your essay and is integral in the writing process. Consider the following examples:

Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly delivered a verdict that favored Microsoft’s position in the Justice Department’s anti-trust case.

Judge Kollar-Kotelly’s verdict amounts to little more than a slap on the wrist for the monopolist Microsoft.

The former example maintains an objective, dispassionate view of a judge’s verdict by presenting only the information in a neutral way. The second example shows displeasure with the verdict by offering an opinion and choosing the word “monopolist” to underscore the writer’s feelings toward the verdict and Microsoft. (Hacker S6-app101)

Word Choice

(Hacker W3 pp 128) Word choice can also have great effects on a papers tone. A writer can also use active verbs to express what they are trying to say more vigorously and emphatically. Instead of using weaker forms of verbs like the verb be, use verbs that have subjects that receive the action. To effectively have tone a writer should stand firm on their position and emphasize their points by expressing them to the fullest. It may help to elaborate on these points more with districiptive phases and examples. Also a writer should avoid using the same word to many times. It can make a paper seem monotonous and loose the reader’s attention. A thesaurus is recommended to use in times of confusion. Also a dictionary can help in the decision of what words to use to accurately illustrate the writers point.

Words have both denotative and connotative meanings. The denotative meaning is a neutral dictionary definition that has a strict meaning. A connotative meaning contains the emotional value or illustrations that often come to mind when thinking of a word. For example the denotative meaning of water is a combination of two hydrogen’s and one oxygen, but the connotative meaning may imply something that is cool, wet and refreshing. Some times the denotative meaning can give the writer merit and a firm base for their opinion.

Denotatively, “monopolist” is a critique of Microsoft that delivers the writer’s negative position toward the company and the judge’s verdict. Exact language can paint a clear picture for the reader. This gives the reader a definite position that the writer is taking, and gives a definite tone to the paper. Sentences become more effective when taken into a more aggressive voice being rewritten with words that gives denotative meaning that clearly illustrates the writers’ point of view.

Sentence structure

Lunsford 24c pp195) In order for a paper to maintain tone it must not deviate from tense or from mood. In order for a writer to effectively illustrate their point they need to have a firm position and not waver. Consistency is important to maintain a papers tone and limits shifts in a papers voice. Consistency will illustrate a writers point more effectively to his or her readers. Consistency in numbering, grammatical person and tense will improve the tone of a paper.

(hackerS7-bpp107) For a paper to have adequate tone it must not contain too many choppy sentences or too many complex sentences there should be a happy medium so that the writer can get their point across while still illustrating their point effectively. A paper must have a consistent flow of ideas that illustrate the writers point without becoming too simple or too hard to read. A suggestion may be to use different ways to write and create sentences; catchy phrases are nice but stay clear of slang.

Tone is important when writing a paper. When used correctly, tone will illustrate a writer’s attitude about the subject to the reader effectively. If a writer uses phases, verbs and illustrates there point of view clearly than the tone of a paper will be correct.

Works Cited

• 1. Hacker, Diana. A Writer’s Reference. New York, Boston: Bedford/St.Martin’s, 2003
• 2. Lunsford, Andrea A.The Everyday Writer. New York, Boston: Bedford/St.Martin’s, 2005
• 3. Macon State OWL Writters labatory . Feb 28. http://tutorials.maconstate.edu/owl/wp/wp05.asp