Chapter 10: Review Test 5

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Author's Tone and Purpose

Read the following items, and identify the primary purpose and tone of each.

This activity contains 10 questions.

Advertisement in the Personal Pages

Beautiful, mature, and loving woman seeks younger man who likes sports, reading, and fine dining. Interested in a stable, long-term relationship. This may be the most important phone call of your life. Don't miss out on the chance of a lifetime.

The primary purpose of this passage is

	a. to entertain.
	b. to inform.
	c. to persuade.

The tone of this passage is

	a. humorous.
	b. ironic.
	c. confident.
	d. sad.

Paragraph Published on an Internet Site Backstage at the 2003 Golden Globes

"Apparently I was walking nude in all hours of the night [in Omaha, the city where About Schmidt was filmed]," said best actor in a dramatic motion picture winner Jack Nicholson in response to a question about whether he upset the local residents while filming Schmidt. "And apparently I've upset a few people. I apologize. In all honesty, I didn't think Omaha was awake."

— "Backstage Notes from the Golden Globes," p. 1. Jan. 20, 2003.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hollywoodreportore/frontpage/article_display.jsp?vnu_c.

The primary purpose of this paragraph is

	a. to entertain readers with behind-the-scene details about the award winners.
	b. to inform readers about who won the awards.
	c. to persuade readers to watch the awards.

The tone of this paragraph is

	a. stern.
	b. sarcastic.
	c. annoyed.
	d. grave.

Paragraph from a Personal Journal

I am not sure how old he was. I can still see him clearly as he was then. He was, as he did every evening, clinging to each of my legs just below my knees as I lumbered around the kitchen making supper. We waddled together, with him between my feet. I looked down, and his upturned face broke into the sweetest grin around his pacifier-his "bubby," as he called it. We had been talking, he and I, about throwing the bubby away. "You're a big boy, now," I would say. He must have been young enough that he did not use many words, for he never answered me, but he always looked a little sad every time I talked about it. That evening, he let go of my legs, tottered to the cabinet door beneath the sink where the garbage was kept, and opened it. Quietly, he threw the bubby in. He never looked at me at all. He just closed the door and resumed his position between my legs. Later I checked the drawers to be sure an extra bubby was on hand-just in case, you know. He never looked back; he never cried for or asked for another bubby. Even then his strength and self-will were evident.

The primary purpose of this paragraph is

	a. to entertain the reader with a sad memory.
	b. to inform the reader about the personality characteristics of the little boy.
	c. to persuade the reader about the importance of a pacifier.

The tone of this paragraph is

	a. humorous.
	b. ironic.
	c. sad.
	d. reflective.

Paragraph Published in a Reference Book Vampire

In Slavic folklore, a vampire is an evil spirit that takes possession of a corpse and, rising from its grave at night, sucks the blood of sleeping persons. The victims become vampires after death. Vampires are the ghosts of criminals, heretics, or suicides and can be put to rest only by having a wooden stake driven through their hearts.

—"Vampire," Grolier Encyclopedia of Knowledge, vol. 19, p. 113.

The primary purpose of this passage is

	a. to entertain the reader with a story about vampires.
	b. to inform the reader with a basic definition of vampires.
	c. to persuade the reader that vampires exist.

The tone of this passage is

	a. objective.
	b. biased.

Paragraph Published in a Health Textbook Marijuana and Lungs
A number of recent studies have shown marijuana to cause cancer in ways similar to tobacco. In fact, the smoke created by THC, the chemical in marijuana, has about 50 percent more cancer-causing agents than that from tobacco. Lung capacity is lessened in chronic smokers, and their airways have shown obstructions. Studies of people simply exposed to the marijuana smoke of others (passive smokers) have shown them to suffer similar damage to the lungs' ability to function. Because tobacco is inhaled by its users much more often than marijuana, the risk does not appear to be as great. Yet THC is held in the lungs, without the use of a filter, for a much longer period of time than tobacco smoke is. Consequently, chronic marijuana use may pose a significant danger to the individual. In fact, when a tobacco-smoking individual smokes marijuana, changes in cell structure thought to be a prelude to lung cancer are even more profound.

—Adapted from Fishbein, The Dynamics of Drug Abuse, p. 314.

The primary purpose of this passage is

	a. to entertain the reader with frightening details about smoking marijuana.
	b. to inform the public about the impact of marijuana use on the lungs.
	c. to persuade marijuana smokers to quit using the drug.

The tone of this passage is

	a. subjective.
	b. factual.

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