Tome

ATTITUDE / TONE / MOOD Attitude is the author’s personal feelings about a subject. Tone is the use of stylistic devices to reveal that personal feeling. Mood is the response created in the reader dueto the use of those particular devices. These three words are commonly used on the Advanced Placement exams and in college writing and literature courses. Whether it is for the analysis of literatureor historical essays, recognition of tone and its associated words is vital for effective understanding of the text. Attitude can be difficult for students to grasp if they do not have at least somebackground information about the topic and/or the author. Sometimes close identification of the tone will reveal the true attitude of the author; however, some authors conceal their true self deepwithin their texts. For instance, it is difficult to fully realize the attitude of some of Mark Twain’s works if the reader does not know of the author’s feelings about war and honor and chivalry. Abrief introduction to the author or a reading of some of his works (“The War Prayer” or “History of a Campaign that Failed” for Twain) can give sufficient information for the student to key in on theauthor’s true attitude. For most cases, careful explication to identify tone will suffice. Mood is developed with any reading, whether it is that which was intended by the author or not. The reader WILLcome away from the text with some kind of feeling, happy, sad, inspired, or even bored. The careful reader will use his skills to grasp the author’s attitude and tone, and thereby will respond with themood the author intended. Tone is the key to understanding the author’s attitude and developing the intended mood. All students respond to the tone of the text, whether they realize it or not. Anexperienced writer will effectively develop the tone through use of specific devices and diction, so a careful reader will not only develop the intended mood, but will recognize the means by which that...