American Literature / Unit 1 AML 0003 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Tone: The Attitude a Poem Takes Toward Its Subject
Captions available
The idea
Tone is the attitude a literary work projects, in the glossary's words: serious and solemn, or lighthearted and amusing, or any shade between. Tone is carried by word choice, rhythm and omission, and a tone question is answered from the page, not the subject.
In practice
Serious and solemn, or lighthearted and amusing.
Where people slip
A grave subject can carry a light tone.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Something wrong in this lesson? Flag it