Chapter 10: Tone and Purpose
Lab Activity 46: Author's Tone
 
Objective
To identify the author's tone in paragraphs from college textbooks.

arrow.gifStep 2: Choose the word that best expresses the writer's tone in each passage.


      6.      As former CBS anchor Walter Cronkite writes, "Naturally, nothing of any significance is going to be said in seven seconds, but this seems to work to the advantage of many politicians. They are not required to say anything of significance, and issues can be avoided rather than confronted."

—Edwards, Wattenberg, and Lineberry, Government in America, 9th ed., p.230  

 
 
 
 
      7.      A clear relationship between income and voting turnout rates exists. A considerably higher percentage of citizens with annual incomes over $40,000 vote than do citizens with incomes under $10,000. Income level is, to some degree, connected to education level, as wealthier people tend to have more opportunities for higher education and more education also may lead to higher income. Wealthy citizens are also more likely than poor ones to think that the "system" works for them and that their votes make a difference.

—O'Connor and Sabato, American Government, 3rd ed., p. 364 

 
 
 
 
      8.      Like many students, Charles Darwin excelled only in subjects that intrigued him. Although his father was a physician, Darwin was uninterested in medicine and unable to stand the sight of surgery. He eventually obtained a degree in theology from Cambridge University, although theology too was of minor interest to him. What he really liked to do was to tramp over the hills, observing plants and animals, collecting new specimens, scrutinizing their structures, and categorizing them.

—Audersirk, Audersirk, and Byers, Life on Earth, 3rd ed., p. 214 

 
 
 
 
      9.      A year after the birth of their first child, Sharese and Ernie received a phone call from Heather, who asked how well they liked parenthood: "Is it a joy, a dilemma, a stressful experience-how would you describe it?"
     Chuckling, Sharese and Ernie responded in unison, "All of the above!"

—Berk, Development Through the Lifespan, 3rd ed., p. 463 

 
 
 
 
      10.      Whether love is defined as the sweetest thing, whether it makes the world go 'round, or whether as the song claims, it's all you need, a popular belief is that love is as important as breathable air. Even the high divorce rate has not interfered with the belief that living alone is unnatural or that there is no happiness outside commitment to one other person. A first "mistake" requires the search for the right choice next time, and a newly single person's claim of being happy is met with disbelief and offers of matchmaking. The myth is not only that there is someone for everyone but that love and talk of love can substitute for every other human attribute.

—Janaro and Altshuler, The Art of Being Human, 7th ed., p. 75 

 
 
 
 





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