MEPX
Chapter 5 of 10All chapters
  1. 1Three levels of reading
  2. 2Structure
  3. 3Main idea and detail
  4. 4Inference
  5. 5Tone and stance
  6. 6Evidence and argument
  7. 7Words in context
  8. 8Reading efficiently
  9. 9Difficult texts
  10. 10Reading outside tests

Chapter 5 of 10

Tone and stance

What the writer thinks.

Word choice

So-called, merely, admittedly, remarkably and of course all carry attitude. Tone is built from these small choices rather than from explicit statements.

  • Hedges such as may, suggests and appears show the strength of a claim.
  • Irony inverts the surface meaning and depends on context.

Purpose

Ask whether the text is informing, persuading, entertaining or selling. The purpose explains selections, omissions and emphasis better than the content does.