Name _______________________________________________________ Date ____________________ Period _______
Tone, Diction, & Syntax
Quickwrite: In today’s society, we constantly communicate with one another through text messages, social
media, and other electronic sources. As convenient as this may be, it requires us to be more thoughtful of
what or how we write to someone.
Have you ever had difficulty understanding what someone has said to you in a text message? Or has someone
ever misread or misunderstood what you have texted? What might happen if someone misinterprets a text?
What details in the text may lead to misunderstanding? Explain.
Vocabulary:
•
Tone—____________________________________. Tone is conveyed mainly through the writer’s choice of words
and syntax.
•
What are some examples of tone words?________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
•
Diction—_________________ intended to convey a certain effect. Diction should adapt to the tone and audience
of the piece. Types of diction include but are not limited to: ___________, simile, ___________, personification,
verbal irony, etc.
•
•
Example: _______________________________________________
Syntax—______________; the arrangement of words in a sentence; length of sentences; length of sentences;
also includes use (or misuse) of grammar or punctuation for effect
•
Example: _______________________________________________
PRACTICE: Read the excerpt from an online review of a donut shop. Highlight or underline examples of diction and
syntax in the text. Annotate the implied tone of each example.
I’m not a donut person, but OMGosh...but my nose led me over to this little shop. They offered us a
sample and OMGosh ... THAT’S a donut?! Food from heaven, manna, bits of melt-in-my-mouth glory!!
No wonder I didn’t like donuts before today... Those little round cakes I had from the supermarket
were just imposters! THIS is what donuts are supposed to taste like, and I’m hooked!
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Read the article below: “Never Misinterpret a Text Again”
Your crush sends you a text and you're mystified. You spend hours trying to interpret exactly what the message
means. Every period, every ellipsis, every slang word becomes a clue; your closest friends weigh in their thoughts.
Finally, there's a new website that will take the guesswork out of cryptic texts and emails.
Name _______________________________________________________ Date ____________________ Period _______
Tone Analyzer is a service that detects and interprets emotions in text using linguistic analysis. All you have to do is plug
sentences into Tone Analyzer and press the analyze button. From there, you’ll be shown results from the analysis of the
document as a whole and sentence-by-sentence. The color-coded results show you how much anger, joy, fear, disgust,
or sadness are likely in the text, along with additional analysis about the language style (Is it analytical, confident, or
tentative?) and its social tendencies. (Does it exhibit traits such as openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, or
agreeableness?)
A quick example from the Tone Analyzer's website explains that the sentence, "Sorry, can't make it." has a 50%
likelihood of sadness. But if you change the period to an exclamation point, the likelihood of sadness drops to 38% and
anger becomes the most dominant emotion.
In a few tests, our results were mixed. It nailed that our own messages had a high level of conscientiousness and
emotional range, but found "disgust" in some texts where there was zero disgust intended. It did, however, seem to
recognize emoticons — typing "have a good day" with a smiley face at the end yielded a 96% likelihood of joy. Swapping
that smiley with a frown, joy went down to 60% while sadness went up from a 9% to 46%. If you try it out, take the
results with a grain of salt.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Your assignment: Go to the Tone Analyzer website: https://tone-analyzer-demo.ng.bluemix.net/ . On the
main page, you will find a sample analysis for a tweet, an online review, and an email message.
Choose one of the examples. In the chart below, write two of its highlighted examples and determine which
aspects of the sentence most likely shaped the tone result.
Highlighted sentences
Tone words
Identify the diction and/or syntax in
the sentence that most likely yields
this tone.
Now, click on the “Your Own Text” bubble. In the typing space provided, copy and paste another example you
find online or type in your own example. Then, complete the chart for your results. (Keep in mind, the analysis
may not be entirely accurate. Use your judgement. If the analysis seems very inaccurate, type in another
example.
Highlighted sentences
Tone words
Identify the diction and/or syntax in
the sentence that most likely yields
this tone.
Review: How does tone impact our understanding of what we read? _________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
Predict: What other details may influence our understanding in a piece of writing? ______________________________