Lab Activity 50: Purpose and Tone

Chapter 10: Tone and Purpose
Lab Activity 50: Purpose and Tone

Objective:
To identify the author's purpose and tone in a textbook passage.

Step 2: Read the following paragraphs from college textbooks, and answer the questions that follow. Your instructor will tell you whether to write your answers in your book or to submit your answers online for electronic grading.

At some time or another, many close relationships go through a conflict phase. "We're always fighting," complains a newlywed. But if she were to analyze these fights, she would discover important differences among them. According to communication researchers Miller and Steinberg, most conflicts fit into three different categories: (1) pseudoconflict—triggered by a lack of understanding; (2) simple conflict—stemming from different ideas, definitions, perceptions, or goals; and (3) ego conflict—which occurs when conflict gets personal.

—Beebe, Beebe, & Redmond, Interpersonal Communication, 3rd ed., p. 243.

6. The topic of this paragraph is

a. the failure of marriages in America

b. the three categories of conflict in close relationships

c. pseudoconflict in close relationships

d. simple conflict

7. The main idea of the paragraph is that

a. ego conflict occurs when the conflict gets personal

b. at some time or other, all close relationships go through a conflict phase

c. simple conflicts stem from different ideas, definitions, perceptions, or goals

d. according to communication researchers, most conflicts fit into three different categories: pseudoconflict, simple conflict, and ego conflict.

8. The author's purpose in this paragraph is to

a. entertain

b. inform

c. persuade

d. None of these

Kinesics is the study of human movement and gesture. Francis Bacon once noted, "As the tongue speaketh to the ear, so the hand speaketh to the eye." People have long recognized that movement and gestures provide valuable information to others. Various scholars and researchers have proposed paradigms for analyzing and coding these movements and gestures, as for spoken or written language.

—Beebe, Beebe, & Redmond, Interpersonal Communication, 3rd ed., p. 212.

9. The topic of this paragraph is

a. Francis Bacon

b. the history of human movement

c. kinesics

d. research paradigms

10. The main idea of the paragraph is that

a. kinesics is the study of human movement and gesture

b. Francis Bacon once noted, "As the tongue speaketh to the ear, so the hand speaketh to the eye"

c. people have long recognized that movement and gestures provide valuable information to others

d. various scholars and researchers have proposed paradigms for analyzing and coding these movements and gestures, as for spoken or written language

11. The tone of the paragraph is

a. neutral

b. biased

c. angry

d. impolite

During his stay in Princeton, New Jersey, Einstein used to play his violin in a string quartet. He enjoyed these sessions, but the other musicians were less enthusiastic about his skills. Complained one of the other players after a private performance, "He can't count."

—Fadiman & Bernard, Bartlett's Book of Anecdotes, p. 185.

12. The topic of this anecdote is

a. playing the violin

b. Einstein's violin playing

c. complaints about Einstein

d. the musical talent of great scientists

13. The implied main idea of the paragraph is that

a. despite Einstein's genius, his musician friends were not very appreciative of his ability to play the violin

b. Einstein was a brilliant man, but he had no friends

c. Einstein could never master lower math

d. Einstein was good at many things

14. The purpose of the paragraph is to

a. inform

b. persuade

c. entertain

d. None of these

15. The tone of the anecdote about Einstein is

a. playful

b. serious

c. concerned

d. disappointed