Word Choice and Tone TEST

What is the best definition for tone in a text?

• The emotional meaning of a word

• The author, narrator, or speaker's attitude toward a subject

• The dictionary definition of a word

• Diction

Authors set a tone or mood in literature by conveying an emotion or emotions through _____________.

• images

• colors

• words

• clothing

Which word best describes the tone of the following passage?

Often you feel you’ve done nothing when you’ve actually done a lot. That’s because what you did do seemed beneath notice—it was so small that it didn’t “count.” But it did—just as each stitch counts toward a finished dress, each brick or nail toward a house you can live in, each mistake toward knowing how to do things right.

• Hesitant

• Encouraging

• Amused

• Cautious

Which word best describes the tone of the following passage?

A vaccine is a preparation of killed or weakened germs that is injected under the skin and causes the blood to produce antibodies against the disease. Effective vaccines, for instance, have been developed for small pox, rabies, and polio.

• objective

• arrogant

• regretful

• warning

Which word best describes the tone of the following passage?

We have come together this afternoon to mourn the deaths of sixteen miners—our friends and neighbors—who were trapped by fire yesterday, deep below the earth. They lived bravely and they died too soon, leaving behind grieving wives and bewildered children. We bid them a final farewell.

• forgiving

• sorrowful

• angry

• longing

Which word best describes the tone of the following passage?

Each year in the middle of February, when slush is underfoot and the sky is a depressing gray, I begin dreaming of warm beaches, tropical fruits and sunsets. If only I could save enough for a winter vacation! Maybe next year I’ll win the lottery. Meanwhile, I’ll read travel brochures and dream.

• unsure

• joyous

• longing

• self-pitying

Which word best describes the tone of the following passage?

We are seriously failing our nation’s teenagers when it comes to education concerning AIDS. Somehow we must convince them, without delay, that this terrible illness can happen to them, not just too isolated groups in big cities. Let’s give them the information they need to protect themselves—before it’s too late.

• impassioned

• mocking

• ironic

• condescending

Which word best describes the tone of the following passage?

“I shall throw you on a black ship and send you to the mainland, To King Echetos, destroyer of all mortal men, Who will cut off your nostrils with a sharp bronze sword; He will tear of your private parts and give them to the dogs to eat raw.” --

Homer, The Odyssey

• Threatening

• Amused

• Proud

• Commanding

The emotional and/or figurative meaning of a word

• denotation

• connotation

• diction

• tone

Choose the word with the positive connotation.

• immature

• youthful