Poe’s Tone
Read and follow all directions
to successfully demonstrate
your mastery of tone.
TONE
(page 1252)
Attitude the writer takes toward
a subject, a character, or the
audience.
A story’s tone CAN be described
in a single word, such as
humorous, serious, or ironic.
TONE
I had told them that I should not return
until the morning and had given them
explicit orders not to stir from the house.
My poor friend found it impossible to
reply for many minutes.
“Enough,” he said; “the cough is a mere
nothing; it will not kill me. I shall not die
of a cough.”
TONE
“I drink,” he said, “to the buried that
repose around us.”
“And I to your long life.”
“And the motto?”
“Nemo me impune lacessit.”
I reechoed – I aided – I surpassed them in
volume and in strength.
Denotation vs. Connotation
Denotation is the dictionary definition
of the word.
Connotation is all the meanings,
associations, or emotions that have
come to be attached to the word.
*the suggested power*
Negative Tone
Furious Harsh Belligerent
Manipulative Brash Bitter Choleric
Condescending Arrogant Surly
Sorrow-Fear-Worry Tone
Morose Resigned Foreboding
Sober Somber Remorseful Pitiful
Ominous Dejected Melancholy
EXAMPLE SLIDE #1
The “Red Death” had long devastated
the country.
No pestilence had ever been so fatal, or
so hideous.
Denotation – ADJECTIVE – causing horror; so
extremely ugly as to be terrifying
Connotation – NEGATIVE – the word is used to show
how horrible, unpleasant, and difficult to bear the
plague was to those who lived through it. Implies
that simply watching the effects was painful.
Synonyms – Ranked from most to least POWERFUL
horrid, repulsive, repugnant, outrageous, unattractive
Negative Tone/Attitude Words
Accusing Choleric Furious Quarrelsome
Aggravated Coarse Harsh Shameful
Agitated Cold Haughty Smooth
Angry Condemnatory Hateful Snooty
Apathetic Condescending Hurtful Superficial
Arrogant Contradictory Indignant Surly
Artificial Critical Inflammatory Testy
Audacious Desperate Insulting Threatening
Belligerent Disappointed Irritated Tired
Bitter Disgruntled Manipulative Uninterested
Boring Disgusted Obnoxious Wrathful
Brash Disinterested Outraged
Childish Facetious Passive
EXAMPLES of TONE
Sorrow-Fear-Worry Tone/Attitude Words
Aggravated Embarrassed Morose Resigned
Agitated Fearful Mournful Sad
Anxious Foreboding Nervous Serious
Apologetic Gloomy Numb Sober
Apprehensive Grave Ominous Solemn
Concerned Hollow Paranoid Somber
Confused Hopeless Pessimistic Staid
Dejected Horrific Pitiful Upset
Depressed Horror Poignant
Despairing Melancholy Regretful
Disturbed Miserable Remorseful
Positive Tone/Attitude Words
Amiable Consoling Friendly Playful
Amused Content Happy Pleasant
Appreciative Dreamy Hopeful Proud
Authoritative Ecstatic Impassioned Relaxed
Benevolent Elated Jovial Reverent
Brave Elevated Joyful Romantic
Calm Encouraging Jubilant Soothing
Cheerful Energetic Lighthearted Surprised
Cheery Enthusiastic Loving Sweet
Compassionate Excited Optimistic Sympathetic
Complimentary Exuberant Passionate Vibrant
Confident Fanciful Peaceful Whimsical
EXAMPLES of TONE
Humor-Irony-Sarcasm Tone/Attitude Words
Amused Droll Mock-heroic Sardonic
Bantering Facetious Mocking Satiric
Bitter Flippant Mock-serious Scornful
Caustic Giddy Patronizing Sharp
Comical Humorous Pompous Silly
Condescending Insolent Quizzical Taunting
Contemptuous Ironic Ribald Teasing
Critical Irreverent Ridiculing Whimsical
Cynical Joking Sad Wry
Disdainful Malicious Sarcastic
EXAMPLES of TONE
Neutral Tone/Attitude Words
Admonitory Dramatic Intimate Questioning
Allusive Earnest Judgmental Reflective
Apathetic Expectant Learned Reminiscent
Authoritative Factual Loud Resigned
Baffled Fervent Lyrical Restrained
Callous Formal Matter-of-Fact Seductive
Candid Forthright Meditative Sentimental
Ceremonial Frivolous Nostalgic Serious
Clinical Haughty Objective Shocking
Consoling Histrionic Obsequious Sincere
Contemplative Humble Patriotic Unemotional
Conventional Incredulous Persuasive Urgent
Detached Informative Pleading Vexed
Didactic Inquisitive Pretentious Wistful
Disbelieving Instructive Provocative Zealous
EXAMPLE SLIDE #2
Your Explanation of the Author’s Use of
Words to Create Tone
TONE = MISERABLE
Poe uses the word hideous to show the
terrible impact the “Red Death” or
plague had on the people and country.
Since the plague produced such
horrible sores and caused so much pain,
Poe wanted to use a strong, negative
word to convey the level of danger the
characters in the story were facing.
DIRECTIONS
Locate an example of text that you
believe reveals the author’s tone.
Make sure the example uses a specific
vocabulary term to express the tone.
Clearly identify the term.
Check the meaning of the term using
dictionary.reference.com and identify
the part of speech, the denotation, and
any other details.
Create slide #1 following the guidelines
in the example slide.
Be sure to include the denotation,
connotation, part of speech, and
synonyms for the underlined word.
Your slide #2 must be a detailed
explanation of how the author used
specific words to create a desired tone.
This section requires you to state your
ideas and defend/justify them using
support and details from the text.
Denotation vs. Connotation
Use as many words on the synonym
list as you can to complete the word
power chart below.
Use any resources you can to help.
Poe’s Tone
Slide # 1
1. Select a portion of text that you believe clearly shows the author’s
TONE. The example you pick must have ONE POWER WORD which the
author uses to express the TONE.
2. Use the dictionary (traditional or electronic) to identify the
DENOTATION and PART of SPEECH of the word.
3. Use your knowledge and any other resources to state the word’s
CONNOTATION. Be sure to indicate whether the word has a POSITIVE,
NEGATIVE, or NEUTRAL meaning.
4. Use the dictionary or thesaurus to list at least 5 SYNONYMS. Be sure
you place the words in order from MOST powerful to LEAST powerful.
Poe’s Tone
Slide # 2
1. You must EXPLAIN how the author’s use of words (like the one you
analyzed for SLIDE # 1) creates a TONE for the entire text. This is your
attempt to analyze the writer’s style and word choice that creates an
ATTITUDE towards something in the text or the text itself.
2. Your response must be in paragraph form. Incomplete sentences will
not be scored. Errors that interfere with your ideas/meaning will count
against your grade.
3. Refer to your notes, textbooks, and/or handouts for more information.
English 9 – Periods 1 and 6
English 9 Pre-AP – Periods 2, 5, and 7