Tone in Literature - Beowulf from Anglo Saxon culture

Tone

1. TONE Attitude is Everything

2. Tone tells us the writer’s attitude toward a topic. This attitude can come across as positive, negative, or neutral. Readers need to infer the tone by analyzing word choice. TONE - + Neutral =

3. - + Let’s practice! Everyone stand up. I’m going to flash a sentence on the board. If the sentence has a neutral tone , stand with your hands in the middle. If it has a positive tone , stretch to the right. If it has a negative tone , stretch to the left. You can indicate the level of tone by stretching just a little or a lot. Tone Practice Neutral =

4. Tone Practice - + “The Romans changed the Britons in several ways…they brought unity and order to a place that had previously been made up of warring tribes. When the Romans came they modernised Britain forever. They taught them about hygiene, about clean drinking water, a calendar, laws and legal system. They also introduced new infrastructure…Basically, the Romans changed the British culture, geography and even their way of thinking…”(“The Romans Changed Britain”) Topic: Explorers/ Invaders/Settlers/Colonizers Neutral =

5. Tone Practice - + “The last Roman soldiers left Britain in 410. New people came in ships across the North Sea – the Anglo-Saxons…They were a mix of tribes from Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands…The land they settled in was 'Angle-land', or England”(“Who were the Anglo-Saxons?”) Topic: Explorers/ Invaders/Settlers/Colonizers Neutral =

6. Tone Practice - + “First Saxon warriors raided England’s south and east coasts. Little mercy was shown as men, women and children were slaughtered . A British monk Adomnan, suggested a Law of Innocents to protect the women and children. The Saxons appear to have rejected this strange and foreign concept! ” (“Invaders! Angles, Saxons and Vikings”) Topic: Explorers/ Invaders/Settlers/Colonizers Neutral =

7. Tone Practice - + “The Norman conquest of England…was… brutal. The Anglo-Saxon aristocracy was stripped of its assets, and many of its members suffered the humiliation of being forced to work on land they had once owned. Even today, conquest by the French is still a touchy s ubject in some circles” (“How Norman rule reshaped England” Topic: Explorers/ Invaders/Colonizers Neutral =

8. Tone Practice - + “Norman Conquest, the military conquest of England by William, duke of Norma ndy, primarily effected by his decisive victory at the Battle of Hastings (October 14, 1066) and resulting ultimately in profound political, administrative, and social changes in the Britis h Isles.” (“Norman Conquest British history”) Topic: Explorers/ Invaders/Colonizers Neutral =

9. Tone Practice Attitude Adjectives Once you categorize tone into negative, neutral, or positive, you can further describe tone by using attitude adjectives . This means that you will use an adjective to describe the author’s tone toward a topic. - + Neutral =

10. Example - + “The Romans changed the Britons in several ways…they brought unity and order to a place that had previously been made up of warring tribes. When the Romans came they modernised Britain forever. They taught them about hygiene, about clean drinking water, a calendar, laws and legal system. They also introduced new infrastructure…Basically, the Romans changed the British culture, geography and even their way of thinking…”(“The Romans Changed Britain”) Neutral = Attitude Adjectives What positive adjective could be used to describe this tone? Admiring Appreciative Esteemed

11. Tone Practice Attitude Adjectives There are lots of ways to describe tone, but let’s start with a sorting game to help us brainstorm! - + Neutral =

12. Negative Neutral Positive Angry Balanced Admiring Bitter Diplomatic Appreciative Cautionary Direct Compassionate Concerned Educational Celebratory Confused Explanatory Chatty Critical Formal Empathetic Defensive Helpful Encouraging Depressing Impartial Enthusiastic Facetious Informative Humorous Frustrated Objective Joyful Mocking Practical Optimistic Sarcastic Thoughtful Playful Worried Unbiased Reverent

13. Tone Practice - + “The last Roman soldiers left Britain in 410. New people came in ships across the North Sea – the Anglo-Saxons…They were a mix of tribes from Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands…The land they settled in was 'Angle-land', or England”(“Who were the Anglo-Saxons?”) Neutral = Attitude Adjectives What neutral adjective could be used to describe this tone?

14. Tone Practice - + “First Saxon warriors raided England’s south and east coasts. Little mercy was shown as men, women and children were slaughtered . A British monk Adomnan, suggested a Law of Innocents to protect the women and children. The Saxons appear to have rejected this strange and foreign concept! ” (“Invaders! Angles, Saxons and Vikings”) Neutral = Attitude Adjectives What negative adjective could be used to describe this tone?

15. Tone Practice - + “The Norman conquest of England…was… brutal . The Anglo-Saxon aristocracy was stripped of its assets, and many of its members suffered the humiliation of being forced to work on land they had once owned. Even today, conquest by the French is still a touchy subject in some circles” (“How Norman rule reshaped England” Neutral = Attitude Adjectives The Economist. 2016. How Norman rule reshaped England. [online] Available at: <https://www.economist.com/christmas-specials/2016/12/24/how-norman-rule-reshaped-england> [Accessed 14 September 2021]. What negative adjective could be used to describe this tone?

16. Tone Practice - + “Norman Conquest, the military conquest of England by William, duke of Normandy, primarily effected by his decisive victory at the Battle of Hastings (October 14, 1066) and resulting ultimately in profound political, administrative, and social changes in the British Isles.” (“Norman Conquest British history”) Neutral = Attitude Adjectives What neutral adjective could be used to describe this tone?

17. Tone Practice The Norman Conquest changed England. If you still need more practice, think in reverse. Look at a word and ponder how the tone would change if the author used a different word choice. Negative Positive Mutated Modernized Weakened Improved Distorted Transformed Depleted Enriched

18. Works Cited Bbc.co.uk. 2021. [online] Available at: <https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zxsbcdm/articles/zq2m6sg> [Accessed 14 September 2021]. The Economist. 2016. How Norman rule reshaped England. [online] Available at: <https://www.economist.com/christmas-specials/2016/12/24/how-norman-rule-reshaped-england> [Accessed 14 September 2021]. Historic UK. 2021. Invaders! Angles, Saxons and Vikings. [online] Available at: <https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofBritain/Invaders/> [Accessed 15 September 2021]. Encyclopedia Britannica. 2021. Norman Conquest | Definition, Summary, & Facts. [online] Available at: <https://www.britannica.com/event/Norman-Conquest> [Accessed 15 September 2021]. Romanobritain.org. 2021. Romans in Britain - The Romans Changed Britain. [online] Available at: <https://www.romanobritain.org/6-history/his_romans_changed_britain.php> [Accessed 15 September 2021].