English Language Arts
Grade 9
15 min
Compare passages for subjective and objective tone
Compare passages for subjective and objective tone
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Introduction & Learning Objectives
Learning Objectives
Define objective and subjective tone, citing key characteristics of each.
Identify specific words and phrases (e.g., loaded adjectives, adverbs, personal pronouns) that signal a subjective tone.
Identify the features of an objective tone, such as verifiable facts, statistics, and neutral language.
Analyze how an author's diction and sentence structure create a specific tone.
Compare two passages on the same topic to determine their respective tones, using textual evidence.
Explain how an author's purpose and intended audience influence their choice of an objective or subjective tone.
Ever read two articles about the same event and felt like they were describing completely different realities? 🤔 That's the power of tone at work!
In this tu...
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Key Concepts & Vocabulary
TermDefinitionExample
ToneThe author's attitude toward the subject or audience, conveyed through word choice (diction) and sentence structure.A passage with a sarcastic tone might use phrases like, 'Oh, what a brilliant idea,' to mean the opposite.
Objective ToneA neutral, impartial, and fact-based writing style that is free from the author's personal feelings, opinions, or judgments.The average global temperature has risen by 1.1 degrees Celsius since the late 19th century.
Subjective ToneA writing style that expresses the author's personal feelings, opinions, beliefs, and judgments. It is often biased and emotional.It's terrifying to think about the catastrophic consequences of our planet's rising temperatures.
DictionThe author's specific choice...
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Key Rules & Conventions
The Fact vs. Opinion Test
Objective statements can be proven true or false with evidence. Subjective statements express beliefs, feelings, or judgments and cannot be definitively proven.
When analyzing a passage, ask yourself, 'Can this statement be verified?' If the answer is yes, it contributes to an objective tone. If it's an expression of personal belief, it points to a subjective tone.
The Pronoun Signal
The use of first-person pronouns (I, me, my, we, our) and second-person pronouns (you, your) often indicates a subjective tone by directly involving the author or reader.
Look for pronouns as a quick clue. While not absolute, a phrase like 'I believe the policy is wrong' is clearly subjective, whereas 'The policy has faced criticism' i...
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Challenging
Read the passage: 'While a cursory examination of the data might suggest a correlation, a more rigorous scholarly analysis reveals the conclusion to be fundamentally untenable. The methodology employed by the previous study was regrettably simplistic, failing to account for several key variables.' What does this passage demonstrate about tone?
A.The passage has a purely objective tone because it uses complex vocabulary.
B.The passage has a subjective tone, despite its formal language, because it expresses strong judgment.
C.The passage has a neutral tone because it is about a scholarly analysis.
D.The passage has an informal tone because it criticizes another study.
Challenging
Passage 1 is a scientific report detailing the carbon emissions of a factory. Passage 2 is a blog post calling the same factory 'a toxic blight on our beautiful town.' How do the authors' different purposes influence their choice of tone?
A.Both authors want to inform the public, so they both use an objective tone.
B.The scientist's purpose is to persuade, so they use a subjective tone; the blogger's purpose is to inform, so they use an objective tone.
C.The scientist's purpose is to inform, requiring an objective tone with verifiable facts; the blogger's purpose is to persuade, requiring a subjective tone with emotional language.
D.The scientist uses an objective tone to hide their true feelings, while the blogger uses a subjective tone because they don't know the facts.
Challenging
Read the passage: 'The initiative, which allocates 3% of the budget to arts programs, was approved yesterday. While proponents celebrate this as a victory for culture, some economists warn it may necessitate cuts to essential services like sanitation and road repair.' What is the primary tone of this passage?
A.Strongly subjective and biased against the initiative.
B.Strongly subjective and biased in favor of the initiative.
C.Purely informational with no point of view.
D.Largely objective, but with a subtle subjective balance by presenting two opposing viewpoints.
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