NBT Academic Literacy: Tone, Register and Author's Attitude Flashcards

Read: 'The novelist does not flinch from depicting the brutal realities of township life; indeed, this fearlessness is the source of her greatest artistic power.' The author's attitude toward the novelist is:

Answer: Admiring and respectful

'Fearlessness' and 'greatest artistic power' are strongly positive evaluations expressing admiration and respect.

Which sentence is written in the most formal register?

Answer: It is anticipated that the forthcoming legislative amendment will have significant implications for trade policy.

Passive construction, formal vocabulary ('anticipated', 'forthcoming', 'legislative amendment', 'implications') and third-person perspective indicate the most formal register.

A literary critic writes: 'One might charitably describe the protagonist's decisions as ill-advised, though 'reckless' and 'self-defeating' would be more precise.' The tone is:

Answer: Gently ironic with a sharper underlying judgement

'Charitably' introduces a mild word only to replace it with harsher ones, a technique of gentle irony masking sharp criticism.

A report on youth unemployment states: 'The persistence of youth unemployment represents one of the most serious structural failures of the post-transition economy.' The author's attitude is:

Answer: Concerned and critical of systemic failure

'Serious structural failures' is a strong negative evaluation of economic performance — the tone is concerned and critical.

An email from a student to a lecturer begins: 'Hi! Hope ur well :) I was wondering if maybe I could get an extension??' What is the primary register problem with this email?

Answer: It uses informal register where formal register is required

Greeting ('Hi!'), abbreviation ('ur'), emoji, and casual punctuation ('??') are inappropriate in formal academic communication.

Read: 'The proposal has considerable potential, yet the absence of a clear implementation timeline remains a significant concern.' The author's overall attitude is:

Answer: Guardedly positive — supportive but with reservations

'Considerable potential' is positive, but 'significant concern' and 'absence of' show reservations — the stance is guardedly positive.

A newspaper headline reads: 'City Hall Fiddles While Cape Town Burns.' This is an allusion to the saying about Nero fiddling while Rome burned. The headline's tone is:

Answer: Accusatory — blaming authorities for inaction during a crisis

The allusion to Nero implies that leaders are negligently inactive during a crisis, creating an accusatory tone.