Style and ToneBeth Vancil

Oct. 2013

What is Style?

• “The best words and their best arrangements to create a memorable story” (211).

• “is the writing, conveying both the idea and the writer’s view of the idea” (213).

Stylistic Devices • Connotation – emotional associations with specific words or

phrases.

• Imagery – descriptions that tap into the reader’s imagination.

• Figurative Language – playing with words.

• Allusion – references to other literature or past events.

• Symbolism – a person, object, situation or action that operates on two levels of meaning.

• Puns and Word Play – the pleasure of words

Connotation – emotional associations with specific words or phrases.

• It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles Shaw – cloud shapes in familiar forms• The white clouds on the dark blue background are shown in

familiar shapes with a simple statement. “Sometime it looked like a …. But it wasn’t a …..”

• Children will begin to look for the shapes in the sky on

cloudy days.

• Pairs nicely with The Cloud Book by Tomie dePaola

Imagery – descriptions that tap into the reader’s imagination.

• Harry Potter Series – J. K. Rowling • The verbal descriptions of the setting and the characters invoke

clear pictures of each.

• Although the vocabulary is at a high level, readers of the series soon discover the meaning of each word.

• Context clues provide additional support for the vocabulary.

Figurative Language – playing with words.

• Quick as a Cricket – Audrey and Don Wood• Wonderful illustrations that show a young child mimicking

animals.

• Whether he is brave, shy or slow in the end when you put it all together you get “me”.

• Even younger children can understand these associations and even writing their own version of the story.

Allusion – references to other literature or past events.

• Hold Fast by Blue Balliett - characters in this story enjoy Langston Hughes’ poetry. • Hold Fast is the names one of his poems. The main character

remembers this poem and it sustains here as she looks for her absent father.

Hold fast to your dreams for if dreams die,

life is like a broken winged bird that can not fly.

Symbolism – a person, object, situation or action operating on two levels of meaning.

• Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann – visual symbols foreshadow future safety issues• The illustrations provide a clue to the next safety point Office

Buckle gives.

• A boy tripping on this untied shoelace – Safety Tip Number One “Keep your shoelaces tied!”

Puns and Word Play – the pleasure of words

• The King who Reigned and Chocolate Moose for Dinner by Fred Gwynne• Wonderful use of word play with wonderful illustrations.

• Daddy says there are forks in the road - the illustrations

literally shows dinner forks and cars.

•Mommy had a little frog in her throat – the

illustrations show Mom with a frog on her tongue.

Devices of Sound

• Onomatopoeia – words that make a sound. • Jazz Fly by Matthew Gollub – a talented fly uses jazz “words” to

tell his story.

• Alliteration – initial consonants are repeated. • Some Smug Slug by Pamela Duncan Edwards– an alliteration of

“s” and “sh”.

• Rhythm – the meter/beat of a story – often read aloud. • Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin, Jr.- the alphabet letters

climb a coconut tree but an accident can’t keep them down.

What is Tone?

• How an author conveys their feeling about the subject matter in the story.

• Since the reader cannot hear the author’s actual voice or intonations, the reader must rely on the author’s carefully chosen words that express those feelings.

• Picture books will use the illustrations to convey feelings.

• A parody is used to amuse the reader and is directed toward older students.

• The True Story of the 3 Pigs by Jon Scieszka –younger children get the basic story but there are subtleties that older children (and adults) understand that younger childen don’t.

Resources • Balliett, Blue. Hold Fast. Scholastic Press. 2013

• dePaola, Tomie. The Cloud Book. Holiday House. 1988

• Duncan Edwards, Pamela. Some Smug Slugs. Katherine Tegan Books. 1998

• Gollub, Matthew. The Jazz Fly. Tortuga Press. 2000

• Gwynne, Fred. A Chocolate Moose for Dinner. Aladdin. 1988

• Gwynne, Fred. The King Who Reigned. Aladdin. 1988

• Lukens, Rebecca. A Critical Handbook of Children’s Literature. 9th, 2013.

Resources

• Martin, Jr., Bill. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. Little Simon. 1993

• Rathmann, Peggy. Officer Buckle and Gloria. Putnam Juvenile. 1995

• Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter Series. Scholastic. 1999-2009

• Scieszka, Jon. The True Story of the 3 Pigs. Puffin. 1996

• Shaw, Charles. It Looked Like Spilt Milk. Harcourt School Publishers. 1984

• Wood, Audrey and Don. Quick as a Cricket. Childs Play Intl Ltd. 1990

• Book Photos from Amazon.com