Evaluating Bias:Slate News Article

Serious: This tone in writing creates a level of suspense within the reader. It increases their focus because the concepts being offered are important.

Joyful: This tone in writing focuses on the positive emotions that are experienced in the moment of an action. If you eat something you like, then you feel joy. When you experience reciprocal love, you feel joy. Writers use this tone to create relationship-building experiences between their readers and their characters.

Sad: Sadness is a very real part of the human condition. In many ways, our saddest days define who we are as people. When incorporated as a tone in writing, the reader become sympathetic with the characters or the author and this empathy will keep them engaged with the narrative.

Humorous: Being funny does more than make people laugh. It also makes them begin to think about difficult concepts in a way that feels safe. This tone in writing is often intended to draw the reader into a story or narrative so they can engage with certain facts or opinions the author feels are important to share.

Pessimistic: When there’s a lot of bad stuff going on in the world, it can feel like that bad stuff will only get worse. That kind of tone would be an example of being pessimistic. Pessimism is not realism. Being pessimistic means having a belief that something will never get better, even if the facts may seem to indicate otherwise.

Optimistic: There’s a lot of bad stuff going on in the world today. Yet there is also a belief that the world can and will be a better place one day if we’re willing to work for it. This would be an example of an optimistic tone.