ATAR Notes: Forum

VCE Stuff => VCE English Studies => VCE Subjects + Help => VCE English & EAL => Topic started by: Blondie21 on March 07, 2014, 04:52:06 pm

Title: Quick tone question
Post by: Blondie21 on March 07, 2014, 04:52:06 pm
How would you describe the author's tone here:


"It requires a special kind of logic to persume they could have been prevented"

Thanks :)
Title: Re: Quick tone question
Post by: charmanderp on March 07, 2014, 06:44:58 pm
How would you describe the author's tone here:


"It requires a special kind of logic to persume they could have been prevented"

Thanks :)
It's difficult and somewhat reductive to judge tone based upon a single sentence - you'd need to take into consideration also the context (what's happening in the scene, where in the paragraph this is), what the narrator's perspective is (first person or third person), what the characters are like, etc.
Title: Re: Quick tone question
Post by: Blondie21 on March 07, 2014, 08:06:38 pm
It's difficult and somewhat reductive to judge tone based upon a single sentence - you'd need to take into consideration also the context (what's happening in the scene, where in the paragraph this is), what the narrator's perspective is (first person or third person), what the characters are like, etc.

I'm so sorry! I'm confused to some of your points though, as this is for a language analysis.

Basically, the article was about the alcohol-fuelled violence within Australia and the author implied that a person with a "special kind of logic" would believe that a ban would prevent the attacks.

Initially, I wrote that it was sarcastic but my teacher told me to NEVER do this... Can I say that it is condescending?

I apologise if this is not enough information - This was the article given to us in the SAC so I can't post it here as it is not available on the internet.
Title: Re: Quick tone question
Post by: charmanderp on March 07, 2014, 08:18:50 pm
I'm so sorry! I'm confused to some of your points though, as this is for a language analysis.

Basically, the article was about the alcohol-fuelled violence within Australia and the author implied that a person with a "special kind of logic" would believe that a ban would prevent the attacks.

Initially, I wrote that it was sarcastic but my teacher told me to NEVER do this... Can I say that it is condescending?

I apologise if this is not enough information - This was the article given to us in the SAC so I can't post it here as it is not available on the internet.
Haha oops, I don't know why I thought it was from a novel.

I don't know - I'd say that 'sarcastic' is an accurate observation. Certainly the drawl that would come across if you spoke it suggests that the author doesn't take the subject seriously. Condescending might be a bit far - reads more like disparaging to more.
Title: Re: Quick tone question
Post by: Blondie21 on March 07, 2014, 09:41:33 pm
Haha oops, I don't know why I thought it was from a novel.

I don't know - I'd say that 'sarcastic' is an accurate observation. Certainly the drawl that would come across if you spoke it suggests that the author doesn't take the subject seriously. Condescending might be a bit far - reads more like disparaging to more.

Yeah, my English teacher is a little strange..
So in the exam, it would be alright to describe the tone as 'sarcastic'?  and I understand what you mean, thanks so much!