This document provides an overview of style, tone, and irony in writing. It contains: 1) Links to different sections on style, tone, irony, and ways to test your knowledge. Each section contains explanations and examples. 2) Definitions and examples of different types of style - including word choice, sentence structure, and repetition. It also discusses how style sets the mood. 3) Explanations of tone and how a writer's language choice reveals their attitude. Examples are given of how tone can change based on word choice and context. 4) Definitions and examples of different types of irony - verbal, situational, dramatic, and comic - including examples from Romeo and

1. In this presentation you will find
quick yet thorough explanations of
the subject matter for this lesson.

2. Click any of the links below to jump to
that section. There is also a link in the
bottom right hand corner of every page
that will take you back to this slide.
Style
Tone
Irony
Test your knowledge

4. Style in a short story can be in
the form of:
• Adjectives
• Commas
• Repetition of words
• Active words (preferable)
• Passive words

5. The word “that”
should usually be left
out of writing, just like
it is left out of speech.
For example we would
say “She knew she
could do it” rather
than “She knew that
she could do it”

6. Style sets the mood for the story. It leads readers into
how to read the story, enabling them to connect.

7. LOOK FOR:
• Use of diction (word
choice)
• Syntax (order of words in
a sentence)

8. “Style is that which indicates how the writer takes himself and
what he is saying. It is the mind skating circles around itself as it
moves forward.”
-Robert Frost

10. A writer’s use of language reveals his
or her tone or attitude toward the
subject.

11. TONE MOOD
• For example, the tone of a story could be
joyful, therefore the mood might be joyous,
but not the other way around.

12. • Watch the youtube video linked below and
then choose 3 words that describe the tone.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuWf9fP-
A-U

13. • Now watch this youtube video with all of the
same images, just new music and edited
differently. Do you think the tone has
changed?
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2T5_0AGd
Fic

14. Click the picture above to watch Alanis
Morissette’s “Ironic” music video.

15. Irony is a contrast or discrepancy
between one thing and another

16. • Verbal Irony
• Situational Irony
• Dramatic Irony
• Comic Irony

17. Romeo & Juliet = Dramatic Irony
• We (the audience) know
Juliet has only taken a
sleeping potion, but all of
the characters think she is
dead, essentially resulting
in her lover Romeo’s
suicide.

18. John Hinckley = Situational Irony
• All 3 shots Hinckley fired in
an attempt to kill Ronald
Regan missed the President.
A bullet that ricocheted off
of the President’s
bulletproof limousine hit
Regan in the chest. Irony =
the vehicle made to protect
the President incidentally
wounded him critically.

19. • Writers can develop a deeper meaning in
a text
• It can be an effective way of engaging
and involving a reader in a text

20. Click here for a checklist you can use
to analyze an authors style
Click here to access a list of different
tone and mood words
Click here for the “Identifying Irony”
worksheet