AP English Language and Composition
Voice Lesson -- January 16
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Voice Lesson -- Tone -- Lesson 1
 
It's true.  If you want to buy a spring suit, the choice selection occurs in February: a bathing suit, March: back-to-school clothes, July: a fur coat, August.  Did I tell you about the week I gave in to a mad-Mitty desire to buy a bathing suit in August?
 
The clerk, swathed in a long-sleeved woolen dress which made her look for the world like Teddy Snowcrop, was aghast.  "Surely, you are putting me on," she said.  "A bathing suit!  In August!"
 
"That's right," I said firmly, "and I am not leaving the store until you show me one."
 
She shrugged helplessly. "But surely you are aware of the fact that we havent had a bathing suit in stock since the first of June.  Our -- no offense -- White Elephant sale was June third and we unload -- rather, disposed of all our suits at the time."
 
~Erma Bombeck, At Wit's End
 
Comprehension Questions:
 
1. What is the attitude of the writer toward the subject matter?
2. What diction and details does Bombeck use to express this attitude?  In other words, what diciton and details create the tone of the passage?
 
Apply:
 
Write a brief passage about a situation you have encountered that conveys a similar tone to the one displayed here.

AP English -- Taryn Barber -- Largo High School -- 2006/2007