Tone and Imagery — How Writing Works
Analyse how language features such as sentence patterns create tone, and literary devices such as imagery create meaning and effect.
These questions ask how the writing works, not what it says. Name the technique first. Learners who skip that step almost never score.
Method
N — Name the technique
Be exact. Metaphor, not ‘imagery’. Short sentence, not ‘the way it is written’.
Q — Quote the words
Point at the words doing the work.
E — Effect
What does it make the reader see or feel?
Two answers that score nothing
‘It makes it more interesting.’ ‘It makes you want to read on.’ Name the feeling instead.
Worked example
e.g. Comment on the effect of the writer's use of short sentences in paragraph 4. (2)
- Name the technique.Short, simple sentences, one after another.
- Quote a piece of it.“The bell rang. Nobody moved.”
- Say what it does to the pace.Short sentences slow the reader down and make each fact land on its own.
- Say what the reader feels as a result.The pause after the bell builds tension, because we expect movement and get none.
- Match the parts to the marks.Two marks is usually name it, then say what it does.
Practice
Name the technique before you write anything else.
1
“The sky was a bruise.” Name the technique and give the effect. (2)
AnswerMetaphor. A bruise is dark, purple and a sign of injury, so the sky is not just stormy but looks damaged. It suggests something has already gone wrong.
2
A learner writes: The writer uses good words which makes it more interesting. Rewrite so it could score.
AnswerThe writer calls the corridor “a waiting room”, a simile that makes the school feel impersonal, as though everyone is only passing through.
3
What is the difference between tone and mood?
AnswerTone is the writer's attitude to the subject — amused, angry, admiring. Mood is the feeling created in the reader. A calm tone can produce an uneasy mood.
4
A question asks for the effect of one word. How much of your answer should be about the rest of the sentence?
AnswerNone. Isolate the word, say what it suggests, and say what a plainer word would have lost.