When writing a paper it can sometimes be very difficult to find the right tone to use to express your knowledge strongly and correctly within that piece of writing. Every piece of writing has a certain theme or subject you need to cover and the manner in which you cover this is tone. You can choose a formal, informal, sad, cheerful, serious, or even comedic tone; it all depends on you and the paper you are writing.
While you may think tone is not an important aspect of writing, it is actually one of the most important parts of a paper. Every piece of writing has a tone whether you tried to enforce that tone or not. This tone helps get your point across to the reader and it also adds meaning to your message within your writing. You do not want to give the reader the wrong impression on the topic you are writing about or on you as an author. This is why it is very important to find the right tone that will fit the prompt you are writing.
Finding the right tone for a piece of writing is like trying to find a good pair of shoes to wear for the day. You want the shoes to be comfortable and warm but you also want them to fit with the outfit you chose for the day. It is the same thing for writing! The prompt you are given is like the outfit you chose to wear. You want the tone to fit the prompt just like you want your shoes to match your outfit! You also want the tone to follow with what you as the writer wants to say and make sure the tone is not difficult for you to write in. This is like finding the pair of shoes that are comfortable and warm because you want the tone you chose to be comfortable for you and flow nicely throughout your writing!
It is important to think of your tone for any piece of writing you may be doing whether it is an essay, an email, or just a free response paper. All papers need to have a tone. Ask yourself these three questions and they will help you find the right one for your writing assignment. First ask yourself who is my audience? Knowing your audience is a very large part of finding the right tone. If you know who your audience is, your professor then can if your tone should be more formal than if you were writing something for a friend or only peers to see. Secondly you should ask yourself what is the purpose of this writing? Once you know the purpose of your writing and the point you want to get across, finding the tone that fits that purpose will be easier. Finally you should ask yourself what is the context of my writing? Knowing what you want to write or discuss within your paper can help you decide how serious, sad, happy, or funny you want your tone to be.
