Style and Tone

1. Style and Tone Winkle Sandhu Children’s Literature LIB 732 7/7/2014

2. Style-Style-Style • It’s how an author says something. • Literature Examples: c1) The Moffats by Eleanor Este • 2) Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’ Dell uses formal and restrained language • 3) The Midwife’s Apprentice by Karen Cushman is suited to the medieval setting. It has long and rhythmic sentences. • 4) Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K Rowling created a style of his own in the fantasy world.

3. Devices of Style • 1) Connotation • 2) Denotation • 3) Imagery • 4) Figurative Language • 5) Personification • 6 Hyperbole

4. Style and Its Meaning Device of Style Meaning 1) Connotation 2) Denotation 3) Imagery 4) Figurative Language 5) Personification 6) Hyperbole -It ADDS INTEREST to the way of writing The associative or emotional meaning of a word. Adds significance and impact to a term. Appeal to the senses-describing sounds, smells and sights. Using words in a nonliteral way, giving them meaning beyond their usual definition. Giving human traits to nonhuman or inanimate objects. Stretching a comparison.

5. Devices of Sound • 1)Onomatopoeia- Words that sound like their meaning. Ex: Swoosh! • 2) Alliteration- repetition of initial consonant. Ex: Sammy saw sea shells at the sea shore. • 3) Assonance- enhances meaning by the repetition of similar vowel sounds within a phrase. • 4) Consonance- the close repetition of consonant sounds. • 5) Rhythm and Cadence- Flow that suits meaning

6. Tone, Tone, Tone • Tone tells us how the author feels about his or her subject. You can express tone through HUMOR, making it a popular tone in Children’s Literature. Example: The cow jumping over the moon…The barber shaving the pig… LAUGHTER IS CONTAGIOUS!!!!

7. Tone and Parody • Parody is a device for older readers, it relies on the reader’s memory of a known piece of writing or a way of talking. • It retains the form of the original but changes the words and the tone for humorous effect. • EXAMPLE: An Hour of Freedom is Worth a Barrel of Slops is a parody of an old saying An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure.

8. Using STYLE in the Library Lessons plan ideas… • Guided Reading- Have students compare two children’s literature books that have already been read to them and figure out what the author’s style is and more importantly how do you know? • Using Onomatopoeia and Alliteration as examples during a poetry lesson would be an excellent reference. If they do well, the next lesson would be creating one of their own.

9. Issues of tone in Children’s Literature • 1)Condescension – looking down on people, treating them as unintelligent immature. • 2) Sentimentality- the writer overuses sentiment. • 3) Sensationalism-the writer has carefully chosen words that convey meaning and control tone. • 4) Didacticism- preaching. An expected of sermons that point to moral lessons, and teaching from textbooks that spread before use the truths of concept or fact.

10. Using TONE in the Library • Teaching a RTL lesson (Response to Literature) • Type of tones- Teaching students how to perceive tone • Example: Book- Winnie-the-Pooh • Using the same book but explaining it with two different tones : Students should explain what tone they think the book has and how they reached that opinion. This can start up a very enlightening discussion.

11. Bibliography • 1) Lukens, Rebecca. A Critical Handbook of Children's Literature. 9th, 2013. Print.