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Style
Definition of Tone
The tone of a piece of writing is its general character or attitude, which might be cheerful or depressive, sarcastic or sincere, comical or mournful, praising or critical, and so on. For instance... read full definition
The tone of a piece of writing is its general character or attitude, which might be cheerful or depressive, sarcastic or sincere, comical or mournful, praising or critical... read full definition
The tone of a piece of writing is its general character or attitude, which might be cheerful or depressive, sarcastic or sincere, comical... read full definition
Key Examples in Memoirs of a Geisha
Chapter 8
Explanation and Analysis:
The tone of the novel is both conversational and reflective. An elderly Sayuri tells her story to a fictional translator in the form of a series of interviews, where she reflects upon the past (when her name was still Chiyo) and upon the complex set of factors, both personal and historical, that shaped her life. While recounting the evening when she attempted to escape from the Nitta okiya, for example, Sayuri recalls wondering about Granny's life as the older woman chanted sutras, or buddhist scriptures:
The more I watched her, the more I came to feel that she must be struggling in that cloudy, old lady’s mind of hers with thoughts of her own mother and father—who had probably sold her into slavery when she was a little girl—just as I had been struggling with thoughts of my own parents. Perhaps she had lost a sister too [...] I found myself wondering if she’d started life much as I had. It made no difference that she was a mean old woman and I was just a struggling little girl. Couldn’t the wrong sort of living turn anyone mean?
Related Themes:
