Test your knowledge
Try answering these questions to practise:
- identifying different types of tone
- analysing how the writer has created tone
Question
Oh, that sounds ‘great’. Really fantastic, best in the world, I’m sure. Oh wait, no it doesn’t!
What kind of tone does the writer create here? What three techniques have they used?
The writer creates a sarcastic tone here through:
- punctuation - the use of inverted commas around ‘great’
- hyperbole - ‘best in the world’ draws the reader in and contributes to a mocking/ironic tone
Question
I hated it. It made my blood boil. Hated the school, hated the teachers, hated the lessons…
What tone has the writer created here? How have they done this?
The writer creates an angry/annoyed tone here through:
- emotive words like
hate
- the imagery of boiling blood
- the rule of three at the end shows the emphatic dislike the narrator has for school
Question
"Hello?" he answered with a mix of trepidation and resignation in his voice, 'Yes, this is he.' What was going through my head? I can’t even remember.
What kind of tone does the writer create here? How have they done so?
The writer uses a rhetorical question to directly address the reader and contribute to the serious, matter-of-fact tone.
Question
The death toll in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal has reached more than 300 after devastating floods wreaked havoc in the area. A state of disaster has been declared in the area after some areas saw months' worth of rainfall in one day.
What kind of tone is created here and how?
Emotive word choice like devastating
, havoc
, and disaster
reveal the sad and sombre tone of the passage.
Question
Harry Potter is exactly like football. A literary, cinematic, and merchandising phenomenon. Just like the boy wizard, eh?
What kind of tone is created here? How does the writer create it?
- Making the unlikely comparison between Harry Potter and football is a funny and hyperbolic comparison.
- Combined with the use of rhetorical question at the end, the writer creates a humorous tone.
