How Does an Author’s Purpose Affect Tone? Depending on their purpose, writers may choose serious or funny words. They may choose simple or difficult words. This word choice creates the tone, or sound, of the writing.
• If the purpose is to entertain, the author might use simple words and phrases to create an informal, or relaxed, tone.
| EXAMPLE | The crazy, little fur ball captured our hearts. |
• If the purpose is to inform or to explain, the author might use more difficult words or phrases to create a formal, or official, tone.
| EXAMPLE | We grew fond of the dog because it was so affectionate. |
Practice Together
Identify and Analyze Tone When an author has more than one purpose, the writing usually has more than one tone. Read the passage. Is there more than one tone? What is the author’s purpose?
Use a chart to help you analyze tone and purpose:
| Word Choice | Tone | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| doggone dependable | informal—funny | to entertain |
| inspect luggage for illegal drugs | formal—big words | to inform |
Look at the rest of “Dogs at Work” and add other examples of the author’s word choices to the chart. Which tone seems to be more common? Why?
Try It!
Analyze Purpose and Tone Look at “How to Train a Seeing-Eye Dog” on page 433. Make a chart like the one above to analyze the passage’s tone and purpose. How is this passage like “Dogs at Work”? How is it different?