Style Analysis

Adjectives to help describe a writer’s tone:
The tone of a piece of writing refers to the stylistic manner in which opinions and emotions are expressed. Consider using these adjectives when analyzing compositions.
  • admiring
  • angry
  • apprehensive
  • bantering
  • benevolent
  • biting
  • bitter
  • burlesque
  • candid
  • clinical
  • colloquial
  • compassionate
  • complimentary
  • concerned
  • condescending
  • confident
  • contemptuous
  • contentious
  • cynical
  • detached
  • determined
  • didactic
  • diffident
  • disdainful
  • disgusted
  • dramatic
  • ecstatic
  • effusive
  • elegiac
  • facetious
  • factual
  • fanciful
  • flippant
  • hopeful
  • impartial
  • incisive
  • indignant
  • inflammatory
  • informative
  • insipid
  • insolent
  • ironic
  • irreverent
  • learned
  • lugubrious
  • mock-heroic
  • mocking
  • mock-serious
  • moralistic
  • mournful
  • neutral
  • mournful
  • neutral
  • nostalgic
  • objective
  • patronizing
  • pedantic
  • petty
  • pretentious
  • respectful
  • restrained
  • sarcastic
  • sardonic
  • satiric
  • scholarly
  • scornful
  • sentimental
  • solemn
  • somber
  • sympathetic
  • taunting
  • threatening
  • turgid
  • urbane
  • urgent
  • vibrant
  • whimsical
  • worshipful

Concepts Related to Theme

The theme of a work reflects its dominant idea and can be stated in a sentence (a thesis). Consider using these terms when describing what an author is saying about human life.

  • appearance/reality
  • illusion
  • falsity + pretense
  • dreams + fantasies
  • journey - psychological journey - search for identity - coming of age
  • heart/reason
  • chance - fate - luck/free will
  • prophecy
  • supernatural events
  • faith/loss of faith
  • loyalty/betrayal
  • persistence/defeat + failure
  • domination + suppression/resistance + rebellion
  • mob psychology
  • scapegoat + victim
  • social status
  • prejudice
  • cruelty + violence
  • revenge + retaliation
  • poverty/wealth
  • greed/altruism
  • materialism
  • despair + disillusionment + discontent
  • guilt
  • loneliness + isolation + alienation + exile + escape
  • home + family
  • parenthood/childhood
  • age/youth
  • innocence/loss of innocence
  • tradition + customs
  • misogyny/feminism
  • mysterious stranger
  • heaven + utopia/hell
  • time + eternity
  • ritual + ceremony
  • duty
  • initiation
  • instinct
  • memory
  • education
  • bureaucracy
  • law + justice
  • patriotism
  • war

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