tone of voice

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 6

Tone of voice

Objectives

You are able to identify the writer's tone in a text.

In pairs: write down the meanings of the words in the next slide. Do not use any other sources than your brains ;)

C’est le ton qui fait la musique (in proper English) :)

Altruistic:

Ambiguous:

Bitter:

Catatonic:

Critical

Complacent:

Condescending:

Contemptuous:

Cynical:

Decadent:

Defensive:

Derogatory:

Disappointed:

Dismissive:

Hypothetical:

Ignorant:

Irony:

Neutral:

Matter-of-fact:

Mocking

Optimistic:

Pessimistic:

Persuasive:

Sarcasm:

Scepticism:

Sincere:

Tongue-in-cheek:

Trivialising: 

Conventional:

Delusion:

Denounced:

Illustrous:

Paradoxically:

Stylistic devices :

Condescending= to overtly look down on people

Patronizing is a slightly subtler way of doing so.

Scepticism

Wikipedia.com:   is generally any questioning attitude towards knowledge, facts, or opinions/beliefs stated as facts, or doubt regarding claims that are taken for granted elsewhere.

In texts:

The author doesn’t fully believe/support what other people claim. You can hear the author thinking: “Yeah. Right. I believe you. NOT.” or “I don’t think you can really claim that because there is no scientific proof”.

Sceptical: doubting that something is true or useful.

Irony

A simple way of putting it is that irony usually signals a difference between the appearance of things and reality. For instance, here is how Wikipedia defines it: “Ironic statements (verbal irony) often convey a meaning exactly opposite from their literal meaning.

In ironic situations (situational irony), actions often have an effect exactly opposite from what is intended.”  The discovery of gunpowder is a great example of situational irony, whereby Chinese alchemists invented one of the world’s most destructive tools in their quest for immortality.

Sarcasm

Sarcasm is yet another popular form of irony where the user intends to wittily attack or make a derogatory statement about something or someone (so meant to hurt one’s feelings). Often, sarcasm is confused with irony instead of being a recognized form of irony.

Sarcasm can often be funny and witty, yet simultaneously it can be hurtful and humiliating.

watch: Sheldon learns about sarcasm

cynical

believing that people are only interested 

in themselves and are not sincere 

(cambridgedictionary.com)
e.g. I've always been deeply cynical about politicians.

All three at a glance

 Double standard

If you accuse a person or institution of applying double standards in their treatment of different groups of people, you mean that they unfairly allow more freedom of behaviour to one group than to another. (collinsdictionary.com)

Now you, identify the tone of voice in the following texts/pictures

This picture is an example of

1. irony
2. a double standard
3. paradox
4. sarcasm

This headline is an example of

1. sarcasm
2. tongue in cheek
3. irony
4. double standard

This birthday card has a
.... tone.

1. ironic
2. sarcastic
3. sceptic
4. cynical

Take 5 to 10 minutes to read the next exam texts from VWO 2018

Type down your answers to questions 39 and 40 from text 10

Type down your answer to questions 3,4 and 5 from text 3

Other categories of tone:

Altruistic: Niet egoïstisch, onzelfzuchtig, belangeloos

Ambiguous: Dubbelzinnig

Bitter: Feeling hurt and vengeful .

Catatonic: Compleet in shock, niet meer kunnen bewegen en nadenken

Critical Questioning things presented. Judging severely and finding fault. Critical thinking is sceptical without being cynical.

Complacent: Zelfvoldaan, zelfingenomen, zelfgenoegzaam.

Condescending: Neerbuigend (iemand voelt zich superieur tov een ander).

Contemptuous: Minachtend (iemand voelt minachting voor een ander).

Cynical: Believing the worst of people. Distrustful of human sincerity or integrity.

Decadent: Ontaard, verworden, ‘slap geworden door te veel luxe’ (Interglot)

Defensive: Defensieve, verdedigende houding (iemand voelt zich aangevallen en heeft de behoefte zich te verdedigen/ te verantwoorden).

Derogatory: Minachtend, uit de hoogte, kleinerend

Disappointed: Teleurgesteld.

Dismissive: Afwijzend, verwerpend als onbeduidend

Neutral: Neutraal, objectief. Zonder enige toon. Zonder toevoegingen.

Matter-of-fact: Neutraal, objectief. De schrijver presenteert gewoon de feiten.

Mocking Spottend

Hypothetical: Hypothetisch, denkbeeldig, verzonnen

Ignorant: Onwetend

Irony: verbale ironie: uitspraken die exact de tegenovergestelde betekenis overbrengen dan hun

letterlijke betekenis is.

Situationele ironie: acties hebben precies het tegenovergestelde effect dan bedoeld/verwacht.

Optimistic: Iemand voelt zich optimistisch , heeft vertrouwen in de toekomst c.q. een goede afloop van zaken.

Pessimistic: Zwartgallig, moedeloos, teneergeslagen

Persuasive: Overtuigend, overredend

Sarcasm: Dit is een vorm van irony, waarbij de gebruiker doelbewust een grappige, maar neerbuigende opmerking over iets of iemand maakt. (Naast komisch vaak ook pijnlijk.)

Scepticism: vragende houding mbt alles wat als waar wordt gepresenteerd: klopt het wel?

Sincere: Oprecht, eerlijk.

Tongue-in-cheek: Met een knipoog.

Trivialising: Bagatelliseren, iets afdoen als niet belangrijk.

And to round off….

Conventional: Traditioneel/ gebruikelijk

Delusion: Waan: leugen

Denounced: Openlijk beschuldigd; afgekeurd

Illustrous: Roemrijk: zeer goed bekend staand.

Paradoxically: Paradoxaal: tegenstrijdig, in strijd met de verwachting

Stylistic devices : Stijlmiddel (bijvoorbeeld metafoor –vergelijking-)