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AP English Language · Unit 1: The Rhetorical Situation

1.4 Tone & Attitude

Tone is attitude

Tone is a writer's attitude toward the subject or audience — earnest, ironic, indignant, playful. It is created through diction (word choice), detail, and syntax.

Connotation

Word choice carries connotation — the associations beyond a word's literal meaning. 'Thrifty' and 'stingy' denote similar behavior but differ sharply in tone. Writers exploit connotation to shape attitude.

Tone can shift

Tone often shifts within a text to signal complexity — moving from admiration to critique, or humor to seriousness. Tracking these shifts reveals a nuanced stance rather than a single flat attitude.

Key terms

Tone
A writer's attitude toward the subject or audience.
Diction
Word choice, a primary builder of tone.
Connotation
The associations a word carries beyond its literal meaning.
Denotation
A word's literal dictionary meaning.
Tonal shift
A change in tone that signals nuance or complexity.

Try an AP-style question

Passage

Once again, the council has bravely decided to study the problem for another decade.

What is the writer's tone?

  1. Sarcastic
  2. Celebratory
  3. Neutral
  4. Admiring
Show the answer

A. Irony.

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