The tone of a piece refers to what emotion or sense is conveyed through that writing or visual. Like the contention, the tone of a piece is generally identified in the introduction of a Language Analysis essay.
Sometimes pieces have more than one tone, or the overall tone shifts as the piece progresses. If the tone changes dramatically during the piece, it is appropriate to analyse those tonal shifts much like a persuasive technique.
Consider the following excerpt from a review of the 2011 film Water for Elephants:
It’s a tale tastefully told and beautifully filmed, but Water for Elephants suffers from a pronounced lack of chemistry between its leads.
In this example the tone can be described as disappointed, because the writer has communicated that the film was not as strong as what they had hoped. Alternatively, the second half of the sentence can be described as carrying a critical tone and the sentence as a whole as “measured” given its even-handed description of the film’s strengths and weaknesses.
It’s important to have a broad variety of tone words to choose from when writing your analysis. Use the words below as a starting point!
Accusing blaming, containing or suggesting a claim that somebody has done something wrong
Aggressive attacking and assertive
Agitated anxious, nervous or disturbed
Alarmist spreading fear or warnings of danger
Amiable friendly and pleasant
Amicable characterised by or done in friendliness, without anger or bad feelings
Animated full of liveliness or energy, rousing and inspiring
Antagonistic showing or expressing hostility or opposition
Apathetic indifferent, and unenergetic, not caring about an issue
Appalled feeling or appearing to be shocked by something dreadful or awful
Appreciative expressing or feeling gratitude or approval
Apprehensive hesitating, worried that something bad will happen
Approving to have a favourable opinion of somebody or something
Assertive confident in stating a position or claim
Authoritative reliable, showing deep knowledge, apparently backed by an established authority
Belligerent hostile or aggressive
Bemused bewildered, confused or puzzled
Benevolent showing kindness or goodwill, charitable, caring
Calm without anxiety or strong emotion
Concerned worried and apprehensive or attentive and interested in something
Condemnatory confident that someone or something is wrong and stating that it is unacceptable
Condescending thinking of yourself as better than others, behaving in a way that shows yourself as intellectually superior to others
Confrontational a challenging or hostile encounter of ideas, approaching prepared for a fight
Consoling to provide a source of comfort to somebody who is distressed or disappointed
Contemplative meditative, calm and thoughtful
Contemptuous feeling, expressing or demonstrating a strong dislike or utter lack of respect
Critical not approving, tending to find fault with somebody or something
Cynical distrustful and sarcastic, contemptuous and doubtful of other’s behaviour and motives
Diplomatic showing tact and skill, fairly dealing with multiple people or opinions
Discontented feeling mildly unhappy and dissatisfied
Disappointed unhappy because something was not as satisfactory as expected, or because something hoped for or expected did not happen
Dismayed filled with alarm, apprehensive or distress
Dispirited discouraged or disheartened
Distressed very upset, anxious or unhappy
Eager enthusiastic and excited about something anticipated
Earnest serious and solemn, done with great conviction and sincerity
Forthright direct in speech or manner and very honest, outspoken
Frustrated feeling exasperated, discouraged or unsatisfied
Gloomy a feeling of despair and hopelessness, despondent, offering little hope
Incensed extremely angry, enraged
Incredulous showing disbelief, unable or unwilling to believe
Informative focussed on providing useful information
Jingoistic belligerent nationalism in the form of extreme patriotism
Jovial cheerful in mood or disposition
Measured carefully considered and restrained in emotional expression
Mocking treat somebody or something with scorn or contempt
Nostalgic sentimental recollection, a mixed feeling of happiness, sadness and longing when thinking of the past
Optimistic positive attitude, tending to take a hopeful and positive view of future outcomes
Outraged intense anger and indignation
Pejorative expressing criticism or disapproval
Pessimistic very negative, somebody who always expects the worst to happen
Pleading to make an earnest entreaty, often in emotional terms
Remorseful a strong feeling of guilt and regret
Reflective characterised by deep, careful thought
Regretful feeling or showing remorse for something
Resigned to come to terms with something and acquiesce in it reluctantly
Restrained characterised by control, especially in not being excessively emotional or aggressive
Sanguine cheerfully optimistic
Sarcastic characterised by words that mean the opposite of what they seem to say and are intended to mock or deride
Sardonic disdainfully or cynically mocking
Satirical using wit, especially irony sarcasm and ridicule, to criticise faults
Sentimental mawkish in expression, acutely affected by emotional matters
Shocked the feeling of distress or numbness experienced after something surprising or upsetting happens
Solemn having or showing sincerity and gravity
Sombre serious and melancholy
Supportive giving support through agreement or endorsement
Suspicious inclined or tending to believe that something is wrong
Sympathetic showing, having or resulting from shared feelings, pity or compassion
Troubled displaying worry or distress
Vindictive a desire to enact revenge, or punishment, showing spite
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