This document discusses how tone is established in various media like films, music, and writing to set the overall mood or attitude. Tone can be set through stylistic choices such as music, lighting, dialogue, and even subtle word choices. In films, the title, music score, and visuals can immediately establish a scary, funny, or romantic tone. Similarly, word choice, syntax, and sentence structure allow authors to convey tone in writing without relying on audio cues. Figurative language and an author's narrative perspective or attitude can also shape the implied tone of a story. Understanding these tone-setting techniques helps readers and viewers interpret the intended mood.

1. tone
How Style Choices, Figurative
Language & Attitude
Set the Tone
Tone. ENGL 151L 1

2. Aren’t somescary moviesscary right from thestart?
The title, even the color, size and font of the title set the tone. And the
background!
Tone. ENGL 151L 2

3. Thesamewithfunnymovies.
The film’s attitude toward the super hero movies shows here.
Tone. ENGL 151L 3

4. Andromanticmoviestoo.
Of course, romance coming. But the pastel colors, hazy focus, and style of
the title create the tone of a certain kind of romance. A long ago one
perhaps? With much joy but also some sadness.
Tone. ENGL 151L 4

5. Choices of music, lighting,
setting, dialogue, even
the color,size & font of
the title set afilm’s mood.
That’s alltone is – mood.
TONE TONE TONE
Tone. ENGL 151L 5

6. Music & tone
Music makes the film, some say. It affects mood
and tone powerfully. No don’t go up those stairs!
We yell at the screen. Don’t you hear the music?
Tone. ENGL 151L 6
The composer who wrote the score for
Creed said in an interview he “couldn’t get
away from the iconic theme” from the
Rocky franchise. He tried, but felt he
needed that music to set the tone.
Listen:

7. Film Bonus Point Opp
Ever seen a poorly made movie that relies too
much on a heavy-handed score? Or a movie that
seems to have the wrong score? For up to 20
Bonus Points, send me an example of either
type, with a 200+ word explanation of how the
score fits or doesn’t fit the story. For the full 20,
discuss a specific scene and what the music does
in/to it, with link and time flag. (e.g., at 3:15 the
music surges…)
Tone. ENGL 151L 7

8. A poem
with 18,383,645 hits!?
Music, words and images work together in the viral poem “To this Day.” Please listen again
to the first 3 minutes. The tone goes from a light, funny and cute story about mixing up pork
chop and karate chop to a heavy, solemn, serious testimony to the long term pain caused by
bullying. Click here or the image above to view. Notice:
Happy funny story then around 1:17 “To this day I hate pork chops.” BIG change.
1:20 – Silence. Deeper tone, then: "I'm not the only kid who grew up this way.”
1:25 – Screen goes dark then soft piano enters.
1:38 – one cello (I think) with the words “So we grew up believing no one would ever fall in
love with us, that we’d be lonely forever.” So sad! More strings. Volume builds, drama builds
3:00 – Tone shifts as music more upbeat, joyful: "They'll never understand that she's raising
two kids whose definition of beauty begins with the word ‘mom.’ . . . Because she's only
ever always been amazing.” Chills.
As a new story opens, the tone and music calm down for a bit before jumping on the mood
roller coaster again.
Tone. ENGL 151L 8

9. A personal story: Tone transcends
language barriers
We can heartone of voice in spoken language, even in a language we don’t know.
I was once in Turkey being hosted by the aunt of a Turkish friend. I didn’t have
any Turkish yet, and she had no English. In the market place one day I got lost.
When we found each other, though I’d hardly heard her speak before, she let out
a stream of words. By the tone, which went from anxious to ticked off to relieved,
I knew roughly what she was saying: Where theheckwere you?! Don’twanderoff
likethatagain!IfIloseyou Fatmawillkillme. WellI’mgladIfound you.Let’s go
eat.I responded with a stream of English that she seemed to understand exactly
and we broke out laughing. And in laughter we were each multilingual.
Do you have a story about learning a language or understanding meaning through
tone of voice? Start a thread on that in the forum this week. Bonus Points for you,
plus others may want to share too.
Tone. ENGL 151L 9

10. Oh no you didn’t
In conversation, people change meaning by changing
their tone of voice. They emphasize certain words or
add pauses, sometimes known as “pregnant pauses”
because, figuratively speaking, they give birth to
meaning; they cause listeners to expect it. Look:
Oh no, you didn’t (just drop and break my phone)
Oh no you didn’t (ruin my birthday party, ___ did)
Oh no you didn’t (get me this new phone for my
birthday)
Tone. ENGL 151L 10

11. But writers on the page
don’t have music or
the tone of spoken language
All they have is the written word.
And us readers listening
with our minds. Or not.
Tone. ENGL 151L 11

12. If you studied the Style lecture
you already know a lot about Tone already
Tone. ENGL 151L 12
In written language, writers employ use emphasis & pausing
the same way speakers do. But because readers listen with
the ear not the mind, and because writers are trying to
entertain and uplift with language, they need more. That
more is covered in the Style lecture:
 The Words chosen (diction)
 The Order of the words (syntax)
 Sentence Structure (long, short, mixed, parallel)
I made style edits to this slide. For up to 10 Bonus Points
describe the types of changes and discuss why I might have made them. Lecture Bonus
opps are turned in by email

13.  The choice of words:
• casual vs formal (or colloquial vs “standard” English)
• concrete vs abstract
• usual vs unusual (or conversational vs poetic)
 The order of the words:
• casual vs formal
• expected vs surprising
• usual vs unusual
 The Sentences:
• short vs long (or simple vs complex)
• mainly the same vs much variety
Tone. ENGL 151L 13
Flashback to Style Lecture
Style is based on the Words, Word Order andSentences

14. Hearing tone in a diction choice
The very end of “A & P”
His [the manager’s] face was dark gray and his
back stiff, as if he'd just had an injection of iron,
and my stomach kind of fell as I felt how hard the
world was going to be to me hereafter.
Which word stands out here as less casual, less common? Hereafter is
an unusual word for the Sammy character to use. It’s like the author
has poked through, or as if Sammy has suddenly become more adult.
Hereafter is Biblical sounding. It hints at forever and eternity. It's a
formal, dressed up word. It’s Sammy glimpsing the larger picture and
perhaps even reaching for a new identity. Yeah that’s a lot for one
word to do. But it’s the last word. Bet the author chose carefully.
Tone. ENGL 151L 14

15. Hearing tone in a simile
The very end of “A & P” again:
His [the manager’s] face was dark gray and
his back stiff, as if he'd just had an injection
of iron, and my stomach kind of fell as I felt
how hard the world was going to be to me
hereafter.
As if, like the word like, signals a simile. There are many ways to say a back
looks stiff. Stiff as a board. Stiff as a frozen popsicle. But as stiff as if he’d had
“an injection of iron”? Wow, that’s stiff, painfully stuff. A strong person can
bend a board, heat melts a popsicle. But iron? The simile communicates
extreme rigidity. It also shifts the tone a notch to very serious. Stiff as a frozen
popsicle would just have not worked here at all. The tone shift creates the
effect of the ending. It makes that “hereafter” ring louder.
Tone. ENGL 151L 15

16. Beyond Style and figurative language
Beyond style and simile choices, tone is harder
to pin down. It’s the author’s attitude toward
the topic. It’s what we hear when someone is
saying one thing and meaning something else.
We sense it. Or we don’t. Not being able to hear
the tone under the words can get you in trouble,
or just be awkward. But you said not to bring
___, if you wanted me to bring ___ why didn’t
you…. A friend praising your new outfit, or are
they?
Tone. ENGL 151L 16

17. What is the adult Jamaica Kincaid’s
attitude toward the girl Jamaica?
Raymond’s Run and A & P are told in the voice of the main character, a child and a teenager. The style is
casual and conversational, the tone straight forward. "The Letter“ is different, isn’t it? It’s a childhood
memory told by an adult. The adult knows a lot more about things than the child did. She can describe
the child’s attitude while also having a new adult attitude. In this distance of years and understanding is
a gap. That gap is tone: the adult’s attitude toward the story.
Some examples of tone in the gap, or attitude: Of her mother she says, "I adored her but mostly what I
adored about her was that she adored me." The audience laughs. The adult wisely understands the
self-centeredness of the child.
"My mother became pregnant. I don't know how that happened." We know she knows, and she knows
we know. It’s a smart, subtle tone. It invites us in on the secret.
"I must have done a number of things that were not kind to him." We laugh, we know about sibling
rivalry. In fact, a big part of the pleasure of this story is the wise, wise-cracking tone of the grown-up girl
remembering and reflecting.
Do you think Kincaid uses the narrative distance at all to avoid discomfort or even emotional pain? Have
you ever told a painful story in a tone that creates a cushion for you, to keep strong feeling separate?
Ever heard someone do that? If so tell that story and send by email for up to 20 Bonus Poits. You could
also open a forum thread on that topic.
Tone. ENGL 151L 17

18. Irony in “Popular Mechanics”
At the end of this very short story (pp 272-273) something
terrible happens to a baby. But the one-sentence last
paragraph says simply “In this manner the issue was
settled.” The issue!? SETTLED!? Some readers might yelp.
What is wrong with this guy Raymond Carver?
You’re not hearing my tone, Carver would answer, my
attitude toward this mess. The understatement, a type of
irony, is severe. It’s a condemnation of parents who would
tear a child apart, figuratively or literally.
I hope we’ll discuss this more in the forum. And what do
you make of the title?
Tone. ENGL 151L 18

19. More about Irony: or Saying
two different things at the same time
Three types of irony
1. Understatement
2. Sarcasm
3. Hyperbole
Tone. ENGL 151L 19

20. Ironic Understatement
“Tis but a scratch” says Monty Python’s ridiculously
tough black knight. Click here to view the scene.
Tone. ENGL 151L 20

21. Sarcasm – saying the opposite
of what’s meat
Have a nice da-ay
Tone. ENGL 151L 21
Visual sarcasm
from The
Watchmen

22. Hyperbole – Exaggerating
to create emphasis or effect
Tone. ENGL 151L 22
Wow you’re sofa is covered with cat hair!

23. Watch Irony rouse a crowd:
Marc Anthony's oration from Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar"
When that the poor have cried, Caesar wept:
Ambition should be made of sterner stuff:
Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;
And Brutus is an honourable man.
You all did see that on the Lupercal
I thrice presented [Ceasar] a kingly crown,
Which he did thrice refuse: was this ambition?
Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;
And, sure, he is an honourable man.
I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke,
But here I am to speak what I do know.
Tone. ENGL 151L 23