TONE Words AP Language
TONE Words AP Language
TONE Words AP Language
Determining the tone of a piece of writing is a vitally important clue in interpreting the pieces meaning. For this reason, AP test readers particularly value this quality. They go so far as to say that if you get the tone wrong in your essay, you will not pass their test. Regardless of whether or not your goal is passing the AP test, however, learning how to discuss the tone of a piece of writing is an important skill for college writing. Once you become proficient at it, it becomes an easy way to discuss almost any piece of writing . . . no matter what class you are in at the time. To discuss tone effectively, its important to develop your tone vocabulary. In other words, it will help you to learn terms that will help you to describe important nuances or connotations. In college, you want to go beyond -- This story has a happy/sad/evil/bad tone. Obviously, there are many words that can describe tone, arm yourself with a dozen or so that will help your papers stand out among the rest. Above all, though, be sure that the tone word you choose actually fits the piece of writing you are discussing AND that you can support your opinion with proof from the piece itself.
Negative tone/attitude: angry, disgusted, outraged, accusing, inflammatory, irritated, indignant, threatening Irony/Sarcasm: Sorrow/Fear/Worry: sarcastic, cynical, critical, facetious, patronizing, satiric, mockheroic, irreverent, mock-serious, taunting, ironic, flippant, somber, elegiac, gloomy, melancholic, disturbed, mournful, solemn, serious, apprehensive, concerned, hopeless, resigned
General/Organizational: formal, objective, nostalgic, ceremonial, candid, shocked, reminiscent, restrained, clinical, baffled, sentimental, detached, objective, questioning, urgent, instructive, matter-of-fact, learned, factual, didactic, informative, authoritative