Author’s Tone
In my book, The ASVAB Tutor’s Word Knowledge and Paragraph Comprehension Study Guide, I review the two verbal sections of the ASVAB, Word Knowledge and Paragraph Comprehension. Word Knowledge covers the vocabulary section. Paragraph Comprehension covers the reading comprehension section. To help my students prepare for the ASVAB, I review the different types of questions that can appear on the Paragraph Comprehension section and the strategies on how to answer these questions. One of these types of questions is author’s tone. Author’s tone questions ask about the attitude or viewpoint of the author in the piece being written. Author’s tone is not directly stated in a passage. Instead, you need to read between the lines to figure out the author’s tone.
Yesterday I presented a Paragraph Comprehension Question. The question is about author’s tone.
The question is:
What is the author’s tone in a passage about animal testing written by an animal rights’ activist?
A. Enthusiastic
B. Critical
C. Objective
D. Indifferent
To answer this question, ask yourself how an animal rights’ activist feels about animal testing.
An animal right’s activist wants to protect animals. Therefore, an animal rights activist would view animal testing in a negative way.
Choice A is Enthusiastic. This is a positive way to view something that would involve excitement.
Choice B is Critical. This is a negative way to view something that would not approve of the matter at hand.
Choice C is Objective. This means not influenced by personal feelings or opinions.
Choice D is Indifferent. This means having no interest.
The correct answer is Choice B. Critical. It is the only negative answer and would be correct since an animal right’s activist has a negative view of animal testing.
