Relationships & Partners and Writing Skills Tips. (A Writing Advice Guide Book

Tone

Let's see if we discover what tone is by doing a theater game. The rules of the game are simple. Find a partner and decide on a scene to improvise. You might want to take suggestions from classmates.) During the scene, you're only allowed to say your partner's firs name. Your job is to capture the mood and action of the scene. For example, if Mark is surprised to see Julia, he would say "Julia!" If Julia isn't sure she recognizes him, she would answer, "Mark?"

You'll probably be surprised how much meaning you can convey relying on only two words. How did you do it? The answer is tone. By changing the tone of your voice, the meaning of the scene shifted. In writing, the tone is equally significant —it reflects the writer's attitude towards the content. Therefore, it's important to be aware of the tone you've established.

Writing Exercise Prompts
1. Let's practice recognizing tone. One way to discover it is to imagine the author reading out loud. How would her voice sound? Kind? Mad? Thoughtful? Write down the tone of each sentence below.

Give me a break! How do you expect me to finish this project in one day?

Open the manual to page 14. Refer to rule number 176. B for details on assembly.

Duncan's hair is a tumbleweed, Mom's yelling at the dog, and the mailman, God bless him, is drunk again.

Writing Exercise Prompts 2
The tone of an accomplished writer is not always easy to define; it might take several words to describe. That's because you're hearing the writer's voice, unique and rich with meaning. Read this passage from Ursula K. LeGuin's, A Wizard of Earthsea. Write at least three words that describe the tone.
All that day, all that night they went driven by the powerful wind of magery over the great swells of ocean, eastward. Ged kept watch from dusk till dawn, for in darkness the force that drew or drove him grew stronger yet. Always he watched ahead, though his eyes in the moonless night could see no more than the painted eyes aside the boat's blind prow. By daybreak his dark face was grey with weariness, and he was so cramped with cold that he could hardly stretch out to rest. He said whispering, "hold the magewind from the west, Estarriol," and then he slept.

Two Voices on the First Day of the School Tone in Action.

Writing Exercise
Write a long paragraph about a student's first day of school. Be sure to establish a tone. The student may be nervous, happy, excited, petrified, angry and so on.

When you're done, exchange your piece with a classmate's. Now, rewrite the paragraph by changing the tone. Make the students have a different attitude about school.

Extensive Practice Prompt
This exercise requires a partner. Together, find three books you admire. Read a passage from each book.
Now each of you defines the tone separately. Afterwards, compare your notes.