Poe’s Tone Read and follow all directions to successfully demonstrate your mastery of tone.

TONE (page 1252) Attitude the writer takes toward a subject, a character, or the audience. A story’s tone CAN be described in a single word, such as humorous, serious, or ironic.

TONE I had told them that I should not return until the morning and had given them explicit orders not to stir from the house. My poor friend found it impossible to reply for many minutes. “Enough,” he said; “the cough is a mere nothing; it will not kill me. I shall not die of a cough.”

TONE “I drink,” he said, “to the buried that repose around us.” “And I to your long life.” “And the motto?” “Nemo me impune lacessit.” I reechoed – I aided – I surpassed them in volume and in strength.

Denotation vs. Connotation Denotation is the dictionary definition of the word. Connotation is all the meanings, associations, or emotions that have come to be attached to the word. *the suggested power*

Negative Tone Furious Harsh Belligerent Manipulative Brash Bitter Choleric Condescending Arrogant Surly Sorrow-Fear-Worry Tone Morose Resigned Foreboding Sober Somber Remorseful Pitiful Ominous Dejected Melancholy

The “Red Death” had long devastated the country. No pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous. Denotation – ADJECTIVE – causing horror; so extremely ugly as to be terrifying Connotation – NEGATIVE – the word is used to show how horrible, unpleasant, and difficult to bear the plague was to those who lived through it. Implies that simply watching the effects was painful. Synonyms – Ranked from most to least POWERFUL horrid, repulsive, repugnant, outrageous, unattractive EXAMPLE SLIDE #1

Negative Tone/Attitude Words Accusing Choleric Furious Quarrelsome Aggravated Coarse Harsh Shameful Agitated Cold Haughty Smooth Angry Condemnatory Hateful Snooty Apathetic Condescending Hurtful Superficial Arrogant Contradictory Indignant Surly Artificial Critical Inflammatory Testy Audacious Desperate Insulting Threatening Belligerent Disappointed Irritated Tired Bitter Disgruntled Manipulative Uninterested Boring Disgusted Obnoxious Wrathful Brash Disinterested Outraged Childish Facetious Passive Sorrow-Fear-Worry Tone/Attitude Words Aggravated Embarrassed Morose Resigned Agitated Fearful Mournful Sad Anxious Foreboding Nervous Serious Apologetic Gloomy Numb Sober Apprehensive Grave Ominous Solemn Concerned Hollow Paranoid Somber Confused Hopeless Pessimistic Staid Dejected Horrific Pitiful Upset Depressed Horror Poignant Despairing Melancholy Regretful Disturbed Miserable Remorseful EXAMPLES of TONE

Positive Tone/Attitude Words Amiable Consoling Friendly Playful Amused Content Happy Pleasant Appreciative Dreamy Hopeful Proud Authoritative Ecstatic Impassioned Relaxed Benevolent Elated Jovial Reverent Brave Elevated Joyful Romantic Calm Encouraging Jubilant Soothing Cheerful Energetic Lighthearted Surprised Cheery Enthusiastic Loving Sweet Compassionate Excited Optimistic Sympathetic Complimentary Exuberant Passionate Vibrant Confident Fanciful Peaceful Whimsical Humor-Irony-Sarcasm Tone/Attitude Words Amused Droll Mock-heroic Sardonic Bantering Facetious Mocking Satiric Bitter Flippant Mock-serious Scornful Caustic Giddy Patronizing Sharp Comical Humorous Pompous Silly Condescending Insolent Quizzical Taunting Contemptuous Ironic Ribald Teasing Critical Irreverent Ridiculing Whimsical Cynical Joking Sad Wry Disdainful Malicious Sarcastic EXAMPLES of TONE

Neutral Tone/Attitude Words Admonitory Dramatic Intimate Questioning Allusive Earnest Judgmental Reflective Apathetic Expectant Learned Reminiscent Authoritative Factual Loud Resigned Baffled Fervent Lyrical Restrained Callous Formal Matter-of-Fact Seductive Candid Forthright Meditative Sentimental Ceremonial Frivolous Nostalgic Serious Clinical Haughty Objective Shocking Consoling Histrionic Obsequious Sincere Contemplative Humble Patriotic Unemotional Conventional Incredulous Persuasive Urgent Detached Informative Pleading Vexed Didactic Inquisitive Pretentious Wistful Disbelieving Instructive Provocative Zealous EXAMPLES of TONE

TONE = MISERABLE Poe uses the word hideous to show the terrible impact the “Red Death” or plague had on the people and country. Since the plague produced such horrible sores and caused so much pain, Poe wanted to use a strong, negative word to convey the level of danger the characters in the story were facing. EXAMPLE SLIDE #2 Your Explanation of the Author’s Use of Words to Create Tone

DIRECTIONS Locate an example of text that you believe reveals the author’s tone. Make sure the example uses a specific vocabulary term to express the tone. Clearly identify the term. Check the meaning of the term using dictionary.reference.com and identify the part of speech, the denotation, and any other details. dictionary.reference.com

Create slide #1 following the guidelines in the example slide. Be sure to include the denotation, connotation, part of speech, and synonyms for the underlined word. Your slide #2 must be a detailed explanation of how the author used specific words to create a desired tone. This section requires you to state your ideas and defend/justify them using support and details from the text.

Denotation vs. Connotation Use as many words on the synonym list as you can to complete the word power chart below. Use any resources you can to help.

Poe’s Tone Slide # 1 1.Select a portion of text that you believe clearly shows the author’s TONE. The example you pick must have ONE POWER WORD which the author uses to express the TONE. 2.Use the dictionary (traditional or electronic) to identify the DENOTATION and PART of SPEECH of the word. 3.Use your knowledge and any other resources to state the word’s CONNOTATION. Be sure to indicate whether the word has a POSITIVE, NEGATIVE, or NEUTRAL meaning. 4.Use the dictionary or thesaurus to list at least 5 SYNONYMS. Be sure you place the words in order from MOST powerful to LEAST powerful.

Poe’s Tone Slide # 2 1.You must EXPLAIN how the author’s use of words (like the one you analyzed for SLIDE # 1) creates a TONE for the entire text. This is your attempt to analyze the writer’s style and word choice that creates an ATTITUDE towards something in the text or the text itself. 2.Your response must be in paragraph form. Incomplete sentences will not be scored. Errors that interfere with your ideas/meaning will count against your grade. 3.Refer to your notes, textbooks, and/or handouts for more information.

English 9 – Periods 1 and 6

English 9 Pre-AP – Periods 2, 5, and 7