(Tone)
In
Outcasts United Warren St. John uses
vivid real life details, short and sharp syntax, and distraught yet hopeful
diction to portray a resilient and aspiring tone. In the chronicles of the
fugee’s the author gives many examples of how difficult it is for the refugee’s
to fit into their new environment in America. By explaining how much
persistence it takes just for an immigrant soccer team to practice on a town
field the author begins to let on a tone of struggle. Though all of the
refugee’s do have an extremely hard time, soon after the author explains that
he also lets on how they never gave up for the main reason being; they love soccer.
With specific details to the transportation from immigrant countries to America
St. John’s tone of resilience shines through. Not only do these people endure a
long flight with no leisure to bring all of their belongings but they also have
the worry inside of them because they truly have no idea where they are going.
But do they give up? No, they persevere. Also, the use of distraught yet
hopeful diction is constantly being used to show the tone in the book. The author persistently uses words such as
disappointment, and let down to show that the immigrants are not getting off
easy in the new world. Though this type of diction is used, the author also
gives a sense of pure hope in the eyes of the refugees.
The syntax in Outcasts United also portrays the innocently hopeful tone.
“Generose groggily told her boys to gather their things to get ready to be able
again on the next stage of their journey. The boys laughed. Generose hadn’t
understood that they had reached their final destination, that the empty where
they had spent the night and where they were now gathered was where they would
live. They were, in some confusing sense of the word, home.” (St. John,
p.73-74) The author’s use of short sentences clearly shows the confusion but
excitement to finally be where the immigrants had been so long hoping to end
up; somewhere free. Included in syntax,
the author commonly uses italics to let his readers see into the mind of the
people living in all of the different refugee situations. With the use of the
italics the tone is depicted even more throughout the chronicles because the
reader can actually see the response in the authors writing after he tells
about the emotions of the children and families. (420)
Authors Tone
In The prize Winner of Defiance Ohio by
Terry Ryan, the author has a positive, sympathetic and tolerant tone. She
expresses her tone about her mother’s poetry by using positive diction. “But
the poem was just quick-witted enough and timely enough to hit just the right
note:” (Ryan P. 19.) “Quick-witted” “timely” and “just the right note” describe
the poem she submitted into the contest, while also describing the qualities
her mother possesses. “Just the right note” describes her mother’s poetry, and
how she crafts it just right to win the contests. While “quick-witted” and
“timely” describe the qualities her mother possesses to write these poems. Her
mother is always trying to support her family by submitting her poems in
contests and Terry Ryan views this in a positive way. She describes this with
positive diction because although her family suffers financially she enjoys
seeing her mother’s hard work pay off.
The
author also uses diction to express her sympathetic tone. “Feeling bushed after
writing and mailing all those submissions, mom retired for the night.” (Ryan P.
108) Even though her mother might not win every contest that she enters, Terry
can still see that she is doing the best that she can to provide for them.
“Bushed” “all those” and “retired” express her sympathy for her mother and all
of the work that she does. Terry Ryan also feels sympathetic for her mother
because not only does she have to try to help pay bills, but she also has to
put up with her alcoholic father. “Of course, after being queen for a day, the
house wife would return to her wretched life presumably to use her newfound
wealth in support of her husband” (Ryan P.92) The author is describing a show
called queen for a day that her
mother could have written to be in. She describes it as if her mother was in
the show, using words like “wretched life” and “in support of her husband”.
Through her diction, Terry Ryan shows that she has a general concern for her
mother and that she appreciates all of the hard work that she does.
Since terry Ryan’s
father was an alcoholic, whenever she discusses him she tends to use a tolerant
tone. “We had learned by this time to follow mom’s example and dissociate from
the white noise of dad’s outbursts” (Ryan P. 70). By using the words
“dissociate” and “white noise” she reveals that even though she puts up with
her father’s behavior she has a negative view of it. (425)
TONE
Malcolm Gladwell’s tone in Blink is informal, intimate, and passionate. the informality of the
tone comes primarily from down to earth diction, moderate syntax, . He is very
intimate in getting his point across, using narration and relatable analogies.
The reader can feel his passion behind his words, being very intimate, and holding
many details.
The book’s tone is very informal. While the audience of the
book is educated adults, the diction is not extraordinary; it is at a level
that gets the point across. Same with his diction, it really isn’t significant,
fairly mediocre. He does not need to be fancy with words to get his point
across; he has his analogies.In fact, he probably does not want to be to formal
and specific with diction, so he doesn’t restrict his audience. The narration,
and use of many first person subject pronouns (which go hand in hand), bring
along with them formality, making the book more like a conversation, or a
lecture. The informal tone, narration in particular create a relaxed mood for
the reader.
The intimacy of his tone is engendered by the narration and
analogies. The narration makes the tone so intimate, it’s like he talking with
you. Almost like he’s giving a lecture just to you about the subject at hand.
The analogies are very easy to relate to, and once again, they make the
righting more intimate. The analogies are subjected like conversational
analogies; they’re directed at the audience, but they're very effective and
aren’t restricted to a tiny audience. Some of the details he shares about
himself, feel like details he’d discuss with his friends. At the end of the
book he talks about a couple situations where he was stereotyped,mostly
unconsciously , by his hair. In some of the situations he is accused of being a
rapist; these are intimate topics for him to publish.
Malcolm’s tone is also very passionate. He gives lots of
details, and has done thorough research. There is clearly passion behind his
words; the audience feels like he wants to inform us; like he has purpose
behind his writing. He is easily able to support his answers with evidence, so he
is credible. His wants his audience to understand, so he fills his writing with
well thought out analogies. This mix of passion, and intimacy are what make his
writing so popular. The audience enjoys reading his books because they’re more
like lectures from a vehement professor. (409)
