1. Tone in Literature

2. In your group, discuss the importance of your title to the book as a whole.

6. Brainstorm and Discuss:
How do the film trailers create a tone or attitude toward the subject matter?
What are some different ways authors create tone, in general? What are the techniques we can identify as related to tone?
What is the difference between tone and mood?

7. Some ways include: Setting Characters’ inner thoughts
Characters’ actions
Imagery
Details
Word Choice/Diction/Loaded Language
Sentence Length

8. Example Tone Analysis
I am nothing but a corpse now, a body at the bottom of a well. Though I drew my last breath long ago and my heart has stopped beating, no one, apart from that vile murderer, knows what’s happened to me. As for that wretch, he felt for my pulse and listened for my breath to be sure I was dead, then kicked me in the midriff, carried me to the edge of the well, raised me up and dropped me below. As I fell, my head, which he’d smashed with a stone, broke apart; my face, my forehead and cheeks, were crushed; my bones shattered, and my mouth filled with blood.

9. Exemplar: Diction & Imagery
I am nothing but a corpse now, a body at the bottom of a well. Though I drew my last breath long ago and my heart has stopped beating, no one, apart from that vile murderer, knows what’s happened to me. As for that wretch, he felt for my pulse and listened for my breath to be sure I was dead, then kicked me in the midriff, carried me to the edge of the well, raised me up and dropped me below. As I fell, my head, which he’d smashed with a stone, broke apart; my face, my forehead and cheeks, were crushed; my bones shattered, and my mouth filled with blood.

10. Tone vs. Mood The two concepts share a vocabulary
The two can be mutually exclusive, BUT:
Tone = Writer’s attitude toward a subject
Mood = Reader’s feeling about the climate / atmosphere

11. Tone vs. Mood
Tone
He approached the task with sheer determination. He had studied his plans carefully, spent hours preparing and was sure of his approach. The hours he spent practicing were grueling and exhausting but he was ready. This was the year he would win the pie eating contest at school.
Attitude = determined, focused
Mood
He approached the task with sheer determination. He had studied his plans carefully, spent hours preparing and was sure of his approach. The hours he spent practicing were grueling and exhausting but he was ready. This was the year he would win the pie eating contest at school.
Mood= playful, exciting, humorous

12. THEME
What it is:
An observation or statement a work (implicitly) gives about life or the human condition
What it is not:
Motif/topic (Love, War, Friendship)
A summary

13. How to infer a theme Identify a thematic IDEA
Stuck? What topics are central to the text?
Still stuck?--look towards symbolism in the text to identify key topics / motifs
Create an action (regarding human nature, motivation, or the human condition)
Qualify the statement to reflect a truth in your work

14. Example: To Kill a Mockingbird
IDEA
ACTION/OBSERVATION
Discrimination hardens people’s hearts against their fellow man even when they know the truth
QUALIFIER

15. -Work on Artifact #4 on Canvas-
Romeo & Juliet:
Create a thematic statement about the work with your tables.
We’ll share shortly.
-Work on Artifact #4 on Canvas-