Writing Identities Analysis

When referring to writing, tone is described as the writer’s attitude toward their subject matter and audience. To analyze any literary essay, recognizing tone is vital to understanding how the writer feels about the subject he has written about but also the underlying message he is trying to convey. In the essay written by the investigative reporter Jessica Mitford entitled, “To Bid the World Farewell” Tone is very pronounced and effective in getting the main point of the essay across. The author uses many different tones, from which I have selected three to analyze. All three off them use the good principles of writing a convincing and informative essay. Her ability to sarcastically familiarize the general public with the ‘dark arts’ of the embalming industry is both suggestive and engaging. She also uses an abundance of euphemisms, hiding the disturbing truth under a string of organized connotations. Her last method of tone is to inform the reader of the embalming methods by explaining with the wordy and often misunderstood colloqialisms of an actual ‘dermasurgeon’, in which she provides multiple quotes to further convince the reader.

In chapter three of Imaginative Writing, “Voice”, Janet Burroway identifies three important concepts of voice; irony, character voice, and point of view that allows a writer to explore the inner lives of other. First, the irony is a contradiction that emphasizes the voice of someone. Burroway states, “verbal irony, is a way of using voice. It is achieved by some sort of mismatch between the tone and the content and is capable of myriad effects: serious, comic, threatening, satirical, and so forth” (Burroway, 52). The use of verbal irony involves speaking that convey a message opposite of the meaning, it’s often humorous and engages the audience to dig deeper understanding. Another concept of voice that is very important in imaginative writing

James McBride has always struggled with his race and identity. Growing up with twelve brothers and sisters, both father figures in his life have passed away, and a white mother in a predominantly black community. In a time where being black is not so good. McBride never had it easy in his life. A lot of tragedy and self-discovery and acceptance had to happen in his life. Growing up in a time where all your heroes are white, in a school where you are just a joke and someone to pick on, and then trying to discover a part of your mother and yourself at the same time.

The tone of an essay refers to the writer’s choice of language and words to express his/her attitude towards the story. In the story “The Color of family ties,” the selection of words right from the beginning represents a mixture of serious and sarcastic tones. The statements like “minority individuals are more likely to live in extended family homes….”(45) creates a serious tone while others like the role of commentators in resolving family differences present a sarcastic

The tone of a story, poem or novel is the way the author wants the reader to feel. Most people get the word mood and tone confused with each other, but the mood is the way the reader feels about the story, poem, or novel. In the novel the author’s tone is both suspenseful and sympathetic. For instance, it is suspenseful because Estrella wants to know what the chest filled with steel is for. Also, it is sympathetic because Estrella was being bullied by teachers and she did not realize it was happening until something hurt her feelings.

Thesis: Identity is constructed through the character’s change/realisation of social ideals and personal experiences throughout the text.

Tones towards specific topics can be revealed in a variety of numerous differing ways. Along with that, tone can reveal many different elements about a theme in a certain piece of literature. Two pieces of writing serving as examples to this would be “Abuelito Who” and Bless Me, Ultima. Both these works of literature are comparable through the way the tones used towards the shared topics of family, devotion, and change were revealed which aided in revealing their respective themes.

Using writing identities using tone can shift or change the rhetorical situation. Using tone to change the rhetorical situation by changing the way the reader interrupts its. Using tone can also move along the story line. It gives the story more definitions then have just one tone throughout the whole story.

Tone: Tone is the writer’s attitude towards a subject or audience. It is often communicated through diction and the writer’s perspective towards a subject. Tone can show an incredible variety of emotions. This rhetorical device helps the reader determine the writer’s attitude toward a certain subject, and as a result, greatens the reader’s understanding of the story. An example that shows a tone is, “I never want to define terms again in my life!”. This example conveys a frustrated or irritated tone. You should convey a certain tone when you want the reader to know how a certain character in the story or how you as the writer feels about a subject. Depending on how you use tone, it can make the reader feel a variety of emotions.

Tone is stated to be something that is “a general tone or attitude of a place, piece of writing, situation, ect…” Tone helps represent the writer or Narrator’s point or feeling throughout a story. In “Sixteen” by Maureen Daly, the Narrator of the story is a 16 year old girl talking about love and how blind people can be because of it. “Through the Tunnel”, by author Doris Lessing, on the other hand, is about an 11-year-old boy who creates his coming of age story by, literally, swimming through a tunnel. The distinction of plots and settings in these stories couldn’t be more different but similar tones throughout the stories almost bind them in a way. Similar tones in “Sixteen” and “Through the Tunnel” are:

In literature, tone is often described as the attitude of the story. It is the method used by the author to add personality or emotion. Without tone, even the best-rounded characters can easily come across as flat. Tone is not simply style, diction, or setting, but instead is the tool that holds all of these pieces together. In, “The Lottery”, author Shirley Jackson’s use of tone not only leads the reader down a familiar easy path to follow, but also sets the stage for the climactic change in events that leaves the reader’s emotions spiraling out of control.

Merriam-Webster defines identity as the distinguishing character or personality of an individual. All Quiet On the Western Front, In the Field, The Hollow Man, and Battlefield all exemplify soldiers of the lost generation. Men of the lost generation lose their identity because of the brutal war.

My Canadian identity, while abroad and at home, is something that I am constantly grappling with. I am so grateful to have a home in a place that is well liked and respected abroad, but have a hard time justifying our glowing reputation on the world stage the more I learn about Indigenous issues. Coming from a sheltered and privileged urban setting, it wasn’t until university that I became truly aware of Indigenous history and struggles, and the colonial legacies and institutionalized racism that prevail to this day. Thus, it was challenging to give in to the banal nationalism surrounding Canada 150 over the course of 2017 – as I did not feel I could mindlessly enjoy celebrations that often ignored the values and events that this country was founded on (Piller, 2012). For that reason, I chose to travel abroad for a few months over the summer, and dedicated conversations about my country to teaching others about the issues that we face here. With the knowledge about culture that I have gained from this course, I now realize that this choice was made as a result of my deeper value systems and reflects my learned desires to help others.

Finding One’s Identity The novel, If I Ever Get Out Of Here, by Eric Gansworth, is centered on a young Indian boy, Lewis, who lives in hard conditions. Lewis is surrounded by students at school that have much more than him. Throughout the novel he struggles with his own identity. Who is he and who does he want to be? Often times, throughout the reading, I myself asking the same questions.

Tone is a literary device that is common in most works of writing. It is an attitude of a writer toward a subject or an audience. It is significant in that not only does it express the attitude of the author, but it also helps to quicken the pace of the plot. In the poem “Variations of the Word ‘“love”’,” Margaret Atwood wrote: