MORE NOTES ON TONE AND STYLE AND SYNTAX
Style Descriptors:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Authoritative – voice is commanding and knowing
Emotive – voice evokes emotion
Didactic – voice is preachy
Objective – voice is uncommitted, without judgment
Ornate – voice is pretentious, flowery, or ostentatious
Plain – voice is simple, straightforward, to the point
Scholarly – voice is learned, authoritative, erudite
Scientific – voice is precise, uses language of science
Types of Imagery:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Visual – what you can see
Auditory – what you can hear
Tactile – what you can touch
Olfactory – what you can smell
Gustatory – what you can taste
Kinesthetic – sense of movement
Organic – internal sense of being (well or ill)
Effects of Imagery
1.
2.
3.
4.
Helps establish tone
Creates realistic settings
Creates empathy in readers for the characters
Helps readers imagine themselves as part of the narrative
Sentence Types and Their Characteristics
1. Periodic – The most important idea comes at the end of the sentence.
2. Loose – The most important idea is at the beginning of the sentence, followed by descriptive
phrases, etc.
3. Parallel – contains parts of equal grammatical structure or rhetorical value, can be in a variety of
combinations
4. Repetition – for a purpose, not to be redundant
a. Anaphora – repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of a series of
phrases, clauses, or sentences
b. Antistrophe or Epistrophe – repetition of the same word or phrase at the end of
successive phrases, clauses or sentences
c. Asyndeton – omitting conjunctions between words, phrases, or clauses
d. Polysyndeton – use of conjunctions between each word, phrase, or clause
e. Chiasmus – two corresponding pairs ordered as a/b/b/a
5. Grammatical sentence types – simple, compound, complex, compound-complex
6. Grammatical sentence purposes – declarative, imperative, interrogative, exclamatory
Hogue, Dawn. AP English Literature and Composition Crash Course. New Jersey: REA, 2010.
Three P’s of Syntax
1. Prominence – importance given to an idea in a sentence; achieved through placement,
repetition, isolation, etc.
2. Position – where the key idea is located; loose sentence, periodic sentence, inverted word
order, etc.
3. Pace – speed of the text, designed to complement the author’s purpose
Words to Describe Tone, Style, Attitude, Mood
Tone
Style
Attitude
Mood
candid / cynical / detached / laconic / melancholy / nostalgic / sanctimonious /
sardonic / sinister / speculative / trite / accusatory / acerbic / ambivalent /
apathetic / bitter / conciliatory / condescending / callous / contemplative / critical
/ choleric / churlish / contemptuous / derisive / despairing / disdainful / earnest /
gloomy / haughty / indignant / judgmental / jovial / mocking / morose / malicious /
objective / optimistic / obsequious / patronizing / pessimistic / petulant / quizzical
/ reverent / ridiculing / reflective / sarcastic / sardonic / self-deprecating / sincere /
solemn
candid / cynical / detached / sardonic / scornful / sinister / smug / caustic /
colloquial / didactic / effusive / erudite / fanciful / formal / forthright / matter-offact / informal / intimate / lyrical / objective / pedantic / poignant / ribald / satiric /
scholarly / terse / whimsical
arrogant / ambivalent / anxious / contemptuous / eloquent / disdainful / fanciful /
flippant / indifferent / pretentious / remorseful / satirical / vindictive / whimsical
apprehensive / elegiac / quizzical / rapturous / reproachful / satiric / solemn /
suspenseful
Hogue, Dawn. AP English Literature and Composition Crash Course. New Jersey: REA, 2010.