Analyzing Tone in an Essay

Nadine Smith reports:

"Tone refers to the attitude of a writer toward the subject he is writing about. A writer can convey his attitude directly, by stating his opinion, or indirectly, through his choice of vocabulary and stylistic elements. As an essay writer, your job consists of investigating the purpose or significance of the author's tone...Key to determining the tone of a text is discerning the writer's emotion...Even a business brochure conveys a formal, professional tone of voice; sincerity, solemnity and frankness count as emotions too...Once you've determined the writer's attitude or approach to the theme or subject matter, you must also establish its significance. In other words, you need to convince your reader why the tone of this text is important to the rest of the text, or what point the writer is trying to convey, whether deliberately or inadvertently, through the tone...Precise definitions of terms, such as 'community' and 'custom,' help strengthen an essay's persuasiveness by adding clarity, hindering any objections a reader may have. Each example from the text that illustrates themes...must also include a discussion of their relation to the dominant tone or tones of the text...Readers should be able to maintain a continuous understanding of the connection between the role of tone (as declared in the thesis) and the specific evidence presented subsequently...As with a typical essay, the evidence for the thesis should follow in the body paragraphs of the essay. The standard number of major proofs, or premises, of an essay is three, and each usually requires one paragraph or more. The thesis about tone belongs in the introductory paragraph, and definitions about relevant terms or any introductory discussion of the importance or definition of tone belong here as well."