1. Tone and
Purpose
The Indirect Ways That
Writers Communicate

2. Understanding the
Author’s Purpose
In many textbooks, the
writer’s purpose is fairly clear.
However, sometimes a writer
will express an opinion
indirectly.
Writers use tone, style and
other features of language to
achieve the results they want.

3. Understanding Tone
 Refers to the author’s Examples
attitude toward his/her Instructive
subject. Sympathetic
 Think of how you interpret Persuasive
Nostalgic
the tone of a speaker’s voice
Humorous
 Pay attention to word Angry
choice, types and length of Insensitive
sentences, description Naive
 Tone is important in
determining the author’s
purpose.

4. Style and Intended
Audience
Style may be defined as the
characteristics that make a
writer unique.
Depending upon whom the
writer is addressing, he will
change the level of language,
method of presentation, and
word choice.
Writing may be academic,
technical, formal, or informal.

5. Language
Objective Subjective
factual Express
attitudes,
feelings &
opinions
Authors use language in special ways to help the
reader understand and create a picture of a situation.
Create Descriptions
Making comparisons
Using symbols

6. Word Choice
Connotative Denotative
Meanings Meanings
– Opposite of – Literal Meaning
Denotation found in the
– Implied Meaning dictionary
– A Word’s Nuance— – Factual, exact
ideas associated – No added meanings
with the word’s
usage
– May be positive or
negative

7. Connotation
positive vs. negative
• Request, demand,
• Crowd, mob, gang, command, appeal,
audience, class, plead, claim, ask
congregation • Gaudy, showy,
• Slim, skinny, slender, flashy, tawdry,
slight, wiry, scrawny glitzy, jazzy
• Intelligent, brainy, • Glance, stare, look,
nerdy, smart, gifted glimpse, peek,
• Particular, picky, peer, examine,
fussy, meticulous, gaze, scan
precise, exacting • Take, snatch,
grasp, filch,
pocket, steal

8. Figurative Language
• Describes
something that
makes sense on an
imaginative level
but not on a
factual or literal
level.
• Example:
– Sam eats like a
horse.
– The wilted plants
begged for water.

9. Making Comparisons
• Similes and metaphors
• Compare one object or living thing
with another
• Questions to ask yourself
– What two things is the author
comparing?
– Why did the author choose that
comparison? What do they have in
common?

10. Figurative Language-
Comparison
S a m e a t s lik e a h o r s e
( s im ile )
A h o r s e e a t s la r g e a m o u n t s o f fo o d . S a m e a t s la r g e a m o u n t s o f fo o d .
• The purpose of figurative language is to paint a
word picture—to help the reader visualize how
something looks, feels, or smells
• The red sun was pasted in the sky like a wafer.
• I will speak daggers to her, but use none.
• Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.

11. Using Symbols
• Symbols can be either pictures or
objects that stand for ideas, people,
concepts, or anything else the author
decides.
• Symbols are a communication shortcut
—make ideas more understandable by
connecting them with things the reader
can see.
• Common symbols: U.S. Flag (loyalty to
country), Statue of Liberty (freedom),
dove (peace), “golden arches”
(McDonald’s), scales (law/justice)

12. Typical Stem Items
• Conclusions, generalizations,
summary, comparisons, cause-
effect, time relationships, author’s
tone
– Which of the following conclusions
about X is supported by the
passage?
– Which word would the author most
likely use to describe his subject?
– The author implies that X and Y
differ in what ways?
– The author’s opinion about X is that

13. Typical Stem Items
• Application of one or more ideas
– Based on the author’s description of
X, how would a teacher using this
plan arrange the student’s activities?
– Based on the examples provided in
the passage, how could the
government best deter illegal
immigration?

14. Typical Stem Items
• Figurative language
– By the phrase, “a breath of fresh air”
in lines 6-7, the author means that …
– The use of the phrase “alien from
another planet” to describe the sister
is an example of what type of
figurative language?
– By saying “the room was like a
sauna,” the author is indicating that
…

15. Review/Recall
• What are inferences and why are they
important for reading?
• What do you do with inferences once you
have made them?
• Explain why the conclusions you draw
about a reading selection can be tentative
—why you can change you mind about
how you understand them.
• What are some things that might influence
a change in how you understand a reading
selection?