Lesson 3: Understanding Emotions, Tone, and Attitude

🟦 Introduction
When you read a passage, you’re not just looking for what the writer is saying—but also how they feel about what they’re saying. That’s where emotions, tone, and attitude come in.

WASSCE often asks questions like:
🗣️ “What is the writer’s tone?” or
❤️ “What emotion does the writer express?”

This lesson will help you recognize the feelings behind the words—even when they’re not said directly.

🟩 Key Concepts and Explanations

1. What Are Emotions, Tone, and Attitude?

📝 TIP: Emotions are usually felt by characters. Tone and attitude come from the writer.

2. Clues That Reveal Tone or Emotion

Writers don’t always say “I’m sad” or “She was angry.” Instead, they use:

• Word choices: “stormed out” (angry), “gazed longingly” (sad or dreamy)

• Punctuation: “What?!” (surprise), “…” (hesitation or sadness)

• Descriptions: Settings like dark skies or sunny mornings can suggest mood.

• Dialogue: How someone speaks reveals feelings and attitude.

3. Common Tones and Their Effects

Here’s a helpful table of common tones you may find in WASSCE passages:

🧠 Strategy: Ask yourself: If this passage were read aloud, how would the voice sound? Calm? Excited? Bitter?

🧭 Step-by-Step Sample Walkthrough

Sample Passage:
The principal’s speech droned on and on. Some students stifled yawns while others stared blankly ahead. “This is the fifth time he’s explained the school rules,” whispered Kofi, nudging his friend.

Question: What is the tone of the writer toward the principal’s speech?
Answer: Bored or humorous.

Why? The use of “droned,” “yawns,” and Kofi’s whisper suggest the writer sees the speech as dull. The tone has a light, slightly playful feel.

🟨 Practice Exercises

🔹 Exercise A: Identifying Emotion

Excerpt:
As she stepped onto the stage, Adjoa’s hands trembled. The microphone shook slightly in her grip, and she avoided looking into the crowd.

Questions:

1. What emotion is Adjoa feeling?

2. What clues help you figure it out?

✅ Answers:

1. Nervousness or fear

2. Clues: “trembled,” “shook,” “avoided looking”

🔹 Exercise B: Determining Tone and Attitude

Excerpt:
The politician promised change, as always. New roads, better schools, more jobs—the same old tune repeated before every election. We listened, applauded politely, then left.

Questions:

1. What is the writer’s tone?

2. What is the writer’s attitude toward the politician?

✅ Answers:

1. Sarcastic or skeptical

2. The writer does not believe the promises—tone is mocking or doubtful.

🔹 Exercise C: Match the Tone

Match each sentence with the correct tone.

✅ Answers:

1. B

2. D

3. A

4. B

🔁 Recap

In this lesson, you learned:

• Emotions are feelings characters show.

• Tone is the voice or feeling behind the writing.

• Attitude shows what the writer thinks about the topic.

• Word choice, sentence structure, and dialogue are clues.

• Recognizing tone helps you answer WASSCE inference and comprehension questions more accurately.

🪞 Reflection Prompt
Think of a time when someone wrote a message (text, social media, letter) and the tone was clear—even without hearing them speak. What words or phrases helped you “feel” the emotion or attitude? Could you apply that same skill when reading a WASSCE passage?