Question

Difficulty: MediumWriter's Purpose, Tone, Mood, and Attitude

Match each of the following prose excerpts with the description that most accurately captures the writer's predominant tone or attitude.

  • Excerpt 1: 'The community-led rainwater harvesting initiative in Ibadan stands as a shining beacon of grassroots ingenuity. By mobilizing local artisans and utilizing low-cost indigenous filtration techniques, the organizers have triumphantly turned seasonal water scarcity into an inspiring story of self-reliance.'Laudatory and admiring
  • Excerpt 2: 'While automated delivery drones promise to revolutionize urban logistics, municipal authorities must carefully weigh efficiency gains against public safety risks. A phased rollout backed by rigorous collision-avoidance testing remains the only sensible path forward.'Pragmatic and measured
  • Excerpt 3: 'Ah, the modern corporate mindfulness weekend! For a mere five hundred thousand naira, overworked executives can sit cross-legged in silent contemplation, blissfully ignoring the toxic management culture awaiting them back at the office on Monday morning.'Sarcastic and derisive
  • Excerpt 4: 'As computerized numerical control routers replace traditional hand chisels in furniture workshops across the state, we witness the quiet dying of an ancestral art. Machine perfection may yield uniform tables, but it leaves no soul in the grain.'Nostalgic and elegiac

Answer

Excerpt 1 matches 'Laudatory and admiring', Excerpt 2 matches 'Pragmatic and measured', Excerpt 3 matches 'Sarcastic and derisive', and Excerpt 4 matches 'Nostalgic and elegiac'.
Each excerpt contains specific diction that signals the writer's underlying attitude: Excerpt 1 praises community success (laudatory), Excerpt 2 advocates practical safety measures (pragmatic), Excerpt 3 ridicules corporate culture through irony (sarcastic), and Excerpt 4 mourns lost craft traditions (elegiac).

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze word choice and rhetoric in Excerpt 1
Phrases like 'shining beacon' and 'triumphantly' express strong approval and praise.
Identifying positive emotive vocabulary helps establish an admiring tone.
2
Evaluate the writer's objective in Excerpt 2
The text balances pros and cons to suggest a realistic policy solution ('phased rollout').
Focusing on practical application indicates a pragmatic attitude.
3
Examine rhetorical devices in Excerpt 3
The author uses mock excitement and highlights contradictions between expensive retreats and office reality.
Irony and mockery are defining features of sarcasm.
4
Determine the emotional focus of Excerpt 4
The author expresses sadness over lost tradition ('ancestral art', 'leaves no soul').
Mourning a lost past indicates nostalgia and an elegiac mood.

Key Concept

Identifying Writer's Tone, Attitude, and Mood from Textual Evidence
Estimated Time:1m 30s
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