Posted: September 13th, 2017

three tones

three tones

First, find a word or two to describe the tone of the paragraph below; then, give a brief explanation of what words or details in the writing convey those feeling/tones.
Next, re-write the paragraph three times using a new and distinct tone for each. (Refer to handout “tone and Purpose” for a list of possible tones that could use and an example of how tone affects word choice and details.) Be sure to label each revised paragraph with your selected tone.
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People seem to get divorced for all sorts of reason, and I find myself taking notes, probably defensively, but also out of sheer amazement at the chaotic wilderness of human nature. For example, I read recently about one man who got divorced so he could watch all sixty episodes of The Wire in chronological order. Another man got divorced in part because he told his wife he had an affair, but he didn’t have an affair, or be with anyone else other than his wife, because he liked his wife, and rather enjoyed her company as a rule, he said, but he just didn’t want to be married to her every day anymore, he preferred to married to her every second or third day, but she did not find that a workable arrangement, and so they parted company, confused.

Source: Doyle, Brian. “Ireconcilable Dissonance.” Models for writers, 11th ed. Alfred Rosa and Paul Eschholtz. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2012.309. Print