English 10 / Unit 1: Close Reading and Literary Analysis
1.2 Diction and Tone
Notes
Diction is an author's word choice. Tone is the author's or speaker's attitude, built largely through diction.
- Words have denotation (dictionary meaning) and connotation (emotional association). Thrifty and stingy share a denotation but differ in connotation.
- Diction can be formal or informal, concrete or abstract, plain or ornate.
- Name tone with precise adjectives: wistful, sardonic, reverent, indignant, detached, mocking.
- Tone is not the same as mood, which is the reader's feeling.
- Example: "The mansion squatted on the hill, its windows leering at the town" uses negative diction (squatted, leering) to build a hostile tone toward the house.
Practice
"The senator's speech dragged on, a swamp of tired slogans and borrowed jokes." The writer's tone toward the speech is:
"Dragged," "swamp" and "borrowed" are negative and mocking.
Which word has the most positive connotation for describing someone who speaks their mind?
"Candid" suggests honest openness; the others suggest harshness.
What is the difference between tone and mood?
Tone belongs to the speaker or author; mood belongs to the reader's experience.
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