Tone (literature) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tone_(literature)[24/02/2012 12:48:38]

Tone (literature)

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Tone is a literary technique that is a part of composition, which encompasses the attitudes towardthe subject and toward the audience implied in a literary work. Tone may be formal, informal,intimate, solemn, somber, playful, serious, ironic, guilty, condescending, or many other possibleattitudes. Tone and mood are not interchangeable. The tone of a story is often defined as what theauthor is feeling towards the subject, rather than what the reader feels. What the reader feels isdefined as the mood.

Under the element of cadence, the tone of a piece of work can be found in many ways. All pieces ofliterature, even official documents, have some sort of tone.

In many cases, the tone of a piece of work may change. Elements of tone include diction, or wordchoice; syntax, the grammatical arrangement of words in a text for effect; imagery, or vivid appeals tothe senses; details, facts that are included or omitted; extended metaphor, language that comparesseemingly unrelated things throughout the composition.

Tone in literature, the manner in which written words might be said (for example, sarcastic, mild,witty, angry).

Tone is hard to separate from mood, but in general the tone of a work can gradually shift (perhapsfrom sarcastic to ironic or from angry to remorseful), while mood describes the feeling of the entirepiece. The tone of a work is produced mainly by the writer's diction or choice of words, but stylisticchoices concerning syntax, line or sentence length, imagery, and so forth may also contribute.

Tone is an element used frequently in poetry to convey feeling and emotion, and set the mood forthe work. It is important to note that tone and mood are not interchangeable.

Narrative

Antagonist/Archenemy Characterization Deuteragonist False protagonist Focal character

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Tone (literature) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tone_(literature)[24/02/2012 12:48:38]

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CharacterFoil character Protagonist Supporting character Tritagonist Viewpoint character

Plot Climax Conflict Dnouement Dialogue Dramatic structure Exposition Falling action Plot device Subplot Trope-Clich

Setting Dystopia Fictional city Fictional country Fictional location Fictional universe Utopia

Theme Leitmotif Moral Motif

Style Diction Figure of speech Imagery Literary technique Narrative mode Stylistic device Suspension of disbelief Symbolism Tone

Form Fable-Parable Fabliaux Fairy tale Flash story Folktale-Legend Hypertext Novel Novella Play Poem Screenplay Short story List of narrative forms

GenreAdventure Comic Crime Docufiction Epistolary Erotic Faction Fantasy Historical Horror Magic realism Mystery Paranoid Philosophical Political Romance Saga Satire Science Speculative Superhero Thriller Urban

Narrator Alternating person First-person Second-person Third-person (Limited Objective Omniscient Subjective) Stream of consciousness Unreliable

Tense Past tense Present tense Future tense

Medium Screenwriting

Related Audience Author Fiction writing Creative nonfiction Literary theory Narrative structure Narratology Other narrative modes Rhetoric Storytelling

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