Tone Analysis Example

The most striking element of Eighner’s essay is his use of a “matter-of-fact” tone to describe an activity most people feel repulsion toward. His criterion for judging whether someone is serious about dumpster diving provides a good example: “But eating from Dumpsters is what separates the dilettanti from the professionals.” For many people, it is probably difficult to visualize the action described here without feeling nauseous. Eighner remains value-neutral toward his subject and his audience with a few notable exceptions. He “hates the can scroungers” because they scatter trash looking for aluminum cans they can redeem for small amounts of cash, which they typically spend, on alcohol. He refers to college students’ money as coming from “Daddy,” which suggests they are thoughtless and wasteful because they live on family subsidizes. And, at the end of the essay, he expresses his sorrow for “the rat-race millions who nightly scavenge the cable channels looking for they know not what.” These millions are apparently the American middle class.

Although Eighner explains that he would rather be a “comfortable consumer” than someone scavenging for scraps in dumpsters, he provides a potentially useful guide for those interested in living on the streets. Eighner’s tone is sadly ironic because his professional diction, vivid descriptions and good advice contrast sharply with the reality of the activity he describes. Perhaps the educated audience he seems to be writing for will appreciate this contrast and ask themselves what Eighner’s analysis suggests about the society that produces this abundance of trash. 1. Words naming the tone 2. Quotations to support tone 3. Your ideas about how the author’s words connect to [or create] the tone you’ve named.

This is the “critical thinking” piece. 4. Your conclusions [as the writer] about how the author’s tone impacts the theme [or purpose]

of the essay, article, etc.