TONE – shows the author’s attitude in his writing through the words he uses

decides how the readers read a literary piece and how they should feel while reading
gives shape and life to a piece of literature because it creates mood
Examples: straightforward sorrowful cheerful serious
pessimistic informal matter-of fact distressed
mocking regretful irreverent formal
cruel malicious vindictive outraged
sarcastic angry depressed tragic
forgiving joyous sentimental loving etc.
Every written piece has a central theme or subject matter. The manner in which the writer approaches
this theme and subject is the tone.
Consider these sentences:
1. I want to ask the authorities what is the big deal? Why do they not control the epidemic?
2. I want to draw the attention of the concerned authorities toward damage caused by an
epidemic. If steps were not taken to curb it, it will further injure our community.
Both sentences have the same theme. The difference lies on the tone. The first sentence has
informal or casual tone while the second has a formal tone.
Read the following statements of employees of fast food restaurants:
1. “ I hate this job. The customers are rude, the managers are idiots, and the food smells like
dog chow.” (tone: bitter, angry)
2. “ I love working at a Burger Barn. I meet interesting people, earn extra money, and get to
eat all the chicken nuggets I want when I go on break.” (tone: enthusiastic, positive)
The following lines are from H. Caulfield:
1. All morons hate it when you call them morons.
2. Catholics are always trying to find out if you’re catholic.
The author’s tone is bitterly sarcastic as he criticizes the nature of things in life.
Observe the tone of a short story “The School” by D. Barthelme:
And the trees all died. They were orange trees. I don’t know why they died, they just died.
Something wrong with the soil possibly or maybe the stuff we got from the nursery wasn’t the best.
We complained about it . So we’ve got thirty kids there, each kid had his or her own little tree to plant
and we’ve got these thirty dead trees. All kids looking at these little brown sticks, it was depressing.
The use of adjectives ‘dread’ and ‘depressing’ sets a gloomy tone in the passage.
Exercises: A)Below are five statements expressing different attitudes about a life in the province.
Identify the tone each sentence has by choosing one from these: regretful, contented, bitter, self-
mocking, and matter- of- fact.
1. Life in the province is quiet and peaceful. I didn’t know what happiness was until we moved
here. [CONTENTED]
2. I know I’m gong to love it here once I figured out which cow to milk and stop trying to
gather eggs from the rooster. [MATTER OF FACT]
3. If rents weren’t so ridiculously high in the city, we wouldn’t be forced to live like provincial
hicks. [BITTER]
4. I sometimes wish we had not moved to the province. We’ve lost touched with some old
friends and shopping malls are not around the corner. [REGRETFUL]
5. The cost of living in the province is lower. [MATTER OF FACT]

B)Five sentences express different attitudes about an old car.Which tone fits each sentence? Choose
from: optimistic, tolerant, disappointed, humorous, and angry
1. Unfortunately, this car is a lot less reliable than I’d like. [DISAPPOINTED]
2. It’s not the greatest car in the world, but it usually takes me where I have to go.
[OPTIMISTIC]
3. If car dealers were only honest, I wouldn’t have bought this junk for so much money.
[ANGRY]
4. The car does have a few problems now and then, but I bet it will keep running forever.
[TOLERANT]
5. This car is so old it is eligible for an antique-vehicle license plate. [HUMOROUS]
C)Read through the paragraphs and then identify the tone used. Choose from the given.
1. It was very late and everyone had left the café except an old man who sat in the shadow the
leaves of the tree made against the electric light. In the daytime the street was dusty, but at
night the dew settled the dust and the old man liked to sit late because he was deaf and
now at night it was quiet and he felt the difference.
a. happy b. sad [b] c. calm d. depressed
2. If Superman had a sidekick, it would probably be a flea. This remarkable insect can jump 150
times its own length – easily the equivalent of Superman’s jumping a tall building in a single
 bound. It can also accelerate 50 times faster than the space shuttle, survive for months
without eating, and be quick – frozen for a year and then brought back to life. All in all the
flea would make a terrific super bug.
a. admiring b. excited c. solemn d. humorous [d]

THEME- defined as the main idea or underlying meaning of a literary work

It is a general truth in life that the author wants to tell the readers
It is a universal idea, lesson or message that the readers can apply in their lives
Major theme- it is an idea that the writer repeats in his work making it the most significant idea
Minor theme- it is an idea that appears briefly and gives way to another minor theme
Do not be confused of a theme with subject. Subject is the topic where the story is based;
theme is the opinion based on the subject. For example, a writer may choose war as the subject of his
story, but his story tells that war causes sufferings which is the theme of the story.

Examples of Themes
LOVE and FRIENDSHIP
Romeo and Juliet- by William Shakespeare Anna Karenina – by Leo Tolstoy
CRIME AND MYSTERY
Sherlock Holmes- by Arthur Conan Doyle Da Vinci Code- by Dan Brown
Here are some examples of song themes:
1. Dear John – Tailor Swift - losing innocence.
2. Best Day – Tailor Swift - importance of family.
3. All Too Well – Tailor Swift – heartbreak
4. Dream On -by Aerosmith – growing up
5. Losing My Relegion – by REM – feelings of loneliness and isolation
6. See You Again – by Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth – death
Activity I Read the poem below and tell its theme. Explain your answer briefly.

The Road Not Taken 

BY ROBERT FROST

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
[Regretting the decision he/she chose]

Activity: Pick a favorite song and story ( any type of story whether short or a novel). Identify the theme
and explain why.

Shake It Off by Taylor Swift. It’s about letting go of the negative vibe that is
surrounding you. Not letting anything or anyone made you feel down. Being careless
in genera