Tone and Diction

By: Elisabet TepozAnd

Kevin Bakos

Tone

• Tone is the emotion or attitude that the writer or speaker is trying to convey to his or her readers/listeners.

• Tone is identified by looking at word choice and sentence structure.

• Every piece of literature ever written has a tone. Just look for it!

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Excerpt from "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost"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."

The “sigh” in the first line indicates a remorseful attitude to taking the “road less traveled.”

Diction

• Diction- the exact words, and the settings in which those words are used.

• Diction can be classified on four levels:– Formal- serious communication– Informal- relaxed but still polite– Colloquial- everyday usage– Slang- impolite or newly coined words

Tips for Correct Diction

• Don’t choose words based only on their impressiveness or length.

• Always choose a word based on its appropriateness to the situation.

• The audience and the purpose for the word should be your deciding factors.

Denotation

• A denotation represents the more literal meaning for a word.

Connotation

A connotation suggests more emotional meaning. Connotation is found in poetry and can also play in setting the tone of the writer or speaker.

Diction

For example: “Home”• Using the word “home” denotes a place

where one lives. While it connotes and

• Using the word “home” connotes a cozy, warm, familiar dwelling.