English Literature GCSE
Tone
What Tone means in English Literature GCSE, as defined for OCR, Pearson Edexcel.
Definitions of Tone
Exam boards and our study guides word this term in slightly different ways. Learn the version your board uses.
The general character or attitude of a piece of writing. The tone of 'A Complaint' is one of resignation, sorrow, and nostalgia.
The attitude or feeling of the speaker towards the subject matter or the audience.
Topics that use Tone
- A Complaint (OCR GCSE)
- Time and Place Poetry Anthology (Pearson Edexcel GCSE)
Related terms
- Semantic Field
- Enjambment
- Extended Metaphor
- Free Verse
- Lyric Poetry
- Melancholy
- Personification
- Rhetorical Question
Using Tone in the exam
Definition questions usually carry one or two marks, and examiners look for the precise wording. Write the definition from memory, check it against the version above, and then use the term in a longer answer on the same topic so it sticks.
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