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Question

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

Match each passage excerpt below with the description that most accurately captures the writer's predominant tone, attitude, or purpose.

  • The municipal council's grand strategy to cure vehicular congestion by narrowing major thoroughfares and replacing transit lanes with decorative flowerbeds is a stroke of unadulterated genius. Surely, stranded commuters will find immense solace in admiring petunias while their engines idle for hours.Sarcastic and derisive toward municipal urban planning decisions.
  • Through decades of meticulous field documentation and selfless advocacy, Dr. Nnamdi single-handedly rescued the endangered oral traditions of the Niger Delta from total oblivion, bestowing upon future generations an invaluable cultural treasury.Commendatory and reverent toward an individual's cultural preservation efforts.
  • It is utterly unconscionable that pharmaceutical conglomerates continue to artificially inflate prices on essential lifesaving antimalarials while vulnerable populations in developing communities perish from easily preventable afflictions.Indignant and morally outraged at corporate exploitation in public health.
  • Soil erosion along the coastal plain accelerated by 14% following seasonal storm surges; implementing structured mangrove reforestation along the intertidal shoreline stabilizes sediment layers and attenuates destructive wave energy.Pragmatic and objective, aimed at analyzing environmental degradation and prescribing a technical remedy.

Answer

The correct matches pair each excerpt to its corresponding tone or purpose: the passage about municipal flowerbeds matches the sarcastic tone; the passage on oral traditions matches the commendatory attitude; the passage on medication pricing matches the indignant outrage; and the passage on shoreline erosion matches the pragmatic, objective analysis.
Each excerpt exhibits specific linguistic markers that define its tone and purpose. The first excerpt employs satirical irony to highlight city planning flaws. The second excerpt uses positive honorific phrasing to celebrate scholarly preservation. The third excerpt uses strong moral condemnation to denounce corporate drug pricing. The fourth excerpt uses precise, non-emotional scientific prose to present environmental data and solutions.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Examine the diction and irony in the first excerpt.
Phrases like 'stroke of unadulterated genius' used in reference to traffic jams created by flowerbeds indicate clear irony.
When a writer states the opposite of their true meaning to mock a policy, the tone is sarcastic and derisive.
2
Identify the writer's stance toward the subject in the second excerpt.
The text highlights 'selfless advocacy' and an 'invaluable cultural treasury'.
Elevated, appreciative language signals a laudatory and commendatory attitude toward the individual being discussed.
3
Analyze the emotional intensity and moral language in the third excerpt.
The text uses harsh moral judgment ('utterly unconscionable') against pharmaceutical companies.
Diction emphasizing ethical outrage and human suffering demonstrates an indignant tone.
4
Determine the rhetorical objective and voice of the fourth excerpt.
The text states statistical findings and ecological solutions neutrally.
A matter-of-fact register using scientific terms reflects a pragmatic and objective purpose.

Key Concept

Analyzing Writer's Purpose, Tone, Mood, and Attitude in English Prose
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Topics

Writer's Purpose, Tone, Mood, and Attitude

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