3 Tricks to Figure out the Authors Tone

3 Tricks to Figure out the Author's Tone Authors tone is simply an authors expressed attitude toward a particular written subject. It may not be his or her actual attitude as authors can certainly express an attitude other than their own. Its very different from the  authors purpose! The tone of the article, essay, story, poem, novel, screenplay, or any other written work can be described in many ways. The authors tone can be witty, dreary, warm, playful, outraged, neutral, polished, wistful, reserved, and on and on. Basically, if theres an attitude out there, an author can write with it. To better understand tone, you should practice. So, now that you know what it is, how can you determine the authors tone when you get to a reading comprehension test? Here are a few tricks to help you nail it every time. Read the Introductory Info On most major reading comprehension tests, the test makers will give you a little snippet of information along with the authors name prior to the text itself. Take these two examples from the ACT Reading test: Passage 1: This passage is adapted from the chapter â€Å"Personality Disorders† in  Introduction to Psychology, edited by Rita L. Atkinson and Richard C. Atkinson ( ©1981 by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc.). Passage 2: This passage is adapted from the novel The Men of Brewster Place  by Gloria Naylor ( ©1998 by Gloria Naylor). Without reading any portion of the text itself, you can already determine that the first text will have a more serious tone. The author writes in a scientific journal, so the tone will have to be more reserved. The second text could be anything at all, so when youre reading, youll need to use another trick to determine the authors tone. Watch Word Choice Word choice plays a major part in the tone of a piece. If you look at the examples given in the What is Authors Tone article, youll see how very different an identical situation can be by just the words an author chooses to use. Look at the following words and see how they reflect a different feeling, even though the words are similar in meaning. Sit in the sunshine and smile. Bask in the brilliant rays. Discover your giggle.Sit in the hot sun and smirk. Recline in the glaring rays. Hunt for that snicker.  Sit in the warm sun and grin. Relax in the warm rays. Look for a chuckle. Even though all three sentences are written almost identically, the tones are very different. One is more relaxing- you can picture a lazy afternoon by the pool. The other is more joyful- maybe playing in the park on a sunny day. The other is definitely more sarcastic and negative, even though its written about sitting in the sun. Go With Your Gut Often, a tone is tough to describe, but you know what it is. You get a particular feeling from the text- an urgency or a certain amount of sadness. You feel angry after reading it and can sense the author is angry, too. Or you find yourself chuckling throughout the text even though nothing comes right out and screams funny! So, on these kinds of texts, and the corresponding authors tone questions, trust your gut. And on the authors tone questions, hide the answers and make yourself come up with a guess before looking. Take this question for example: The author of the article would most likely describe ballet as... Before you get to the answer choices, try to finish the sentence. Put an adjective in there based on what youve read. Amusing? Essential? Cut-throat? Joyous? Then, when youve answered the question with a gut reaction, read the answer choices to see if your choice, or something similar, is there. More often than not, your brain knows the answer even if you doubt it!

Taiwan essays

Taiwan essays Initially, Taiwan was not an island; the land which is now the island of Taiwan formed an integral part of the Chinese mainland. It was only later that it became an island due to movement of the earth's crust. The study of Taiwan's historical heritage also confirms that close links have always existed between the cultures of Taiwan and continental China. Through constant improvements in technology and international relations, Taiwan will continue to grow and expand throughout the world. This paper will discuss several areas of interest about the country of Taiwan including its geography and climate, people and language, history, government, foreign relations, economy, education, and tourist attractions. Taiwan is located in the Western Pacific about 160 kilometers off the southeastern coast of China, midway between Japan and the Philippines. The island of Taiwan is about 394 km in length and 144 km wide at its broadest point Taiwan has five longitudinal mountain ranges that cover almost the whole area. Its tallest mountain, Mount Jade, peaking at an incredible 3,952 meters. The island also consists of volcanic mountains, foothills, tablelands, coastal plains, and basins. In July, the average temperature on the island is about 82 degrees in July and about 57 degrees in January. Summers are usually hot and humid, and last from May to September. Winters are fairly mild and only last from December to February. The average rainfall is about 98.5 inches per year. (www.tecro.com) In 1544, the island of Taiwan was found by the Portuguese as they were on their way to Japan. They referred to it as llha Formosa, or beautiful island. Between 1662 and 1684 Taiwan went through many rulers, including the Dutch until 1684, when Taiwan was made a province of China, and it was there that they had their first governor. Throughout the next 65 years, Taiwan still was not at rest due to the constant wars and incidents surrounding the land....

The Adoration of The Shepherds by Hugo Van Der Goes Essay

The Adoration of The Shepherds by Hugo Van Der Goes - Essay Example One shepherd is happy to see the child and pious, the second one is just curious while the third one has some sort of suspicion or confusion regarding the whole incident (Van Der Goes). In this way, and also reflected in the dressing the shepherds in very shepherd-like clothes, the painter has tried to make his painting as close to reality as possible (Van Der Goes). The appearances of these three shepherds are summarized by Kleiner as â€Å"lined faces, work-worn hands and uncouth dress and (a) manner (that) seem immediately familiar† (408). The sheaf of wheat on the floor is another nuance added to the painting to have a realistic effect. The presence of the two cows in the picture has also reinforced the realistic tradition of this picture. Altogether, the picture can said to be anchored in realism and drawing resources also from emotionalism and symbolism to enrich that realism or to add a new divine dimension to that. The minute detailing in the depiction of drapery, the flowers, and the animals are another dimension of the realism inherent to this painting. The expressions of the people present in the scene, including that of the Virgin, attribute a high degree of emotionalism to the painting. Mary’s face is full of sorrow as if she is aware of the agonies that future has in store for this child (Van Der Goes). She is looking at the child with great pity. And the angels also have a similar kind of expression (Van Der Goes). The emaciated appearance of the child adds to the pathos of the scene. Even one cow in the cowshed is looking at the child with great sadness. Thus there is the presence of a divine foresight in the scene; a premonition of kind (Kleiner, 408). On the contrary, the shepherds are showing more mundane emotions and are balancing the sadness of the scene with a matter of fact presence (Van Der Goes). Also it can be seen that in this painting, emotionalism is used in a complementary manner to add on to realism. This is a technique which is counted as very effective, as emotions always add intensity to the realness o f the situation. Many symbolic elements are also present in this painting. The blue colored dress that Mary is wearing is suggestive of a great expanse of sadness that surrounds the story of Jesus. Blue can also be seen as a color of compassion and repentance. It is the color of eternal peace that can only be achieved through salvation. In this way, Mary of this painting has personified the essence of the message of Jesus Christ. Here it can be seen that emotionalism and symbolism have a mutually supplementing relationship. Depiction of the child lying on the ground rather than in a crib, with a golden aureole surrounding him, is symbolic of two things- his ability to walk among the downtrodden, and his divinity (Van Der Goes). The sheaf of wheat on the floor has been interpreted by art critics as symbolic of Bethlehem (Kleiner, 408). This is so because, the meaning of the word, Bethlehem is ‘house of bread’, in Hebrew (Kleiner, 408). From common knowledge, it can be as sumed that the orange lilies offered to the child are symbolic of passion and the white irises of purity. In religious terms, the purple irises as well as the columbine stalks have been considered as representative of the seven sorrows of the virgin (Kleiner, 408). The fifteen angels seen together inside this painting along with the two supporting paintings of Portinari altarpiece, have been conside