Tone, imagery, and diction

What is tone?

We’ve all experienced something like this: you read a text from a friend or parent and think, “Oh, they’re mad at me.” Most of the time, you can pick up on tone in writing almost automatically. You might even say you feel it.

On the AP exam, though, you also need to understand tone in a way you can explain. That means noticing what in the writing creates the attitude and being able to name that attitude clearly.

Tone is a literary device that reflects the writer or speaker’s attitude toward a person, place, thing, or idea in the text. Writers convey tone through stylistic choices such as:

• Diction (word choice)
• Imagery
• Syntax (for example, short, punctuated sentences versus long, flowing ones)
• Repetition
• Rhythm

Recognizing tone

Since tone can be created in many different ways, a useful guiding question is:

How is the writer or speaker showing me how they feel?

In prose passages, tone clues are often easier to spot because the situation is usually clearer. As you read, make sure you understand the:

• Setting
• Characters
• Relationships
• Major plot points

Those elements often connect directly to the passage’s attitude.

In poetry, tone can be harder to pin down because meaning is often compressed or indirect. You’ll want to consider:

• Structure
• Rhythm
• Word flow
• The poem’s deeper meaning

Please see the section on close reading of poetry passages for a more in depth approach to analyzing poetry.

Once you’ve gathered evidence for the tone, the next step is describing it precisely. Familiarity with common tone descriptors helps in two ways:

• In Multiple Choice, it speeds up tone questions and helps you avoid trap answer choices.
• In Free Response, specificity helps you write clearer, more convincing analysis.

Tone words

grave, jovial, reproachful, ambivalent, sardonic, melancholy, caustic, didactic, obsequious, eulogistic, sentimental, wry, meditative, flippant, blithe, haughty, indignant, rhapsodic, conciliatory, sanctimonious, patronizing, fervent, choleric, laconic, trite, dour, elegaic, pedantic, effusive, morose, ribald, resigned, acerbic, satiric, intemperate, reverent, apathetic, poignant

Shifts in tone

Also watch for places where the tone changes. Mark any shifts you notice and use them in your analysis, since they often signal a realization, a turning point, or a meaningful change in the speaker’s thinking.

Imagery

Imagery is one of the most familiar literary devices. It refers to vivid or descriptive language that appeals to the senses to create a mental picture.

Imagery can appeal to any of the five senses - sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell - as well as broader physical senses such as movement or feeling well or ill. Spotting imagery is often straightforward; explaining its effect is usually the harder part.

Imagery helps you connect more directly to what the writing describes. The more detailed and visceral the imagery, the stronger its impact tends to be. Those mental pictures can:

• Evoke emotions
• Help you imagine yourself inside the world of the text
• Establish setting in a way that shapes mood and tone

For example, compare a story set in a warm, flowering meadow with one set in a palace filled with bustling servants. The sensory details push you toward different expectations and feelings.

Diction

Diction refers to an author’s word choice - the specific vocabulary selected to convey meaning, tone, and mood. In literature, diction is rarely accidental; writers choose words carefully to create particular effects.

Diction shapes not only what you understand, but how you feel about the subject. Small choices between synonyms, levels of formality, or words loaded with imagery can suggest admiration, contempt, intimacy, distance, or irony.

In literary analysis, paying attention to diction helps you explain how language reveals the author’s attitude towards the subject and how that attitude affects the reader’s understanding of the argument or theme.

One key part of diction is understanding denotation and connotation. Both terms describe how word choice works, and knowing the difference helps you interpret passages in both sections of the exam.

A word’s denotation is its literal, dictionary definition. For example, in denotation:

• A “snake” is a legless reptile with scales.
• A “home” is one’s place of residence.

Connotation refers to the emotional, cultural, or implied meaning a word carries, that is beyond the literal. Connotation is why certain words feel positive, negative, comforting, threatening, or ironic.

It can help to notice when a passage uses several words with similar connotations, since that pattern can point you toward the author’s theme or intent. Using the same examples:

• “Snake” can suggest betrayal, danger, or deceit.
• “Home” can suggest warmth, safety, comfort, family, and belonging.

Example:

What is the denotation and connotation of the word “crusade?”

As you read more authors from the List of Literary Works, you’ll run into words that don’t match your modern understanding. This is especially common in older texts. When that happens, consider the publication date and avoid assuming a modern denotation or connotation.

Over time, you’ll start to recognize these older meanings more quickly. Here are three examples of such words:

Condescension

Modern: noun meaning patronizing superiority; talking down to someone

Archaic: noun meaning graciousness or kindness from someone of higher rank

Intimate

Modern: adjective meaning personal, vulnerable, or physically/romantically close

Archaic: verb meaning to hint or suggest indirectly

Nervous

Modern: adjective meaning anxious or worried

Archaic: adjective meaning spirited, strong, sensitive to stimuli