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

A government press release states: 'The Department is committed to ensuring the equitable distribution of resources to all communities.' The dominant register is:

Answer: Formal bureaucratic

Official institutional language ('the Department', 'committed to ensuring', 'equitable distribution') characterises formal bureaucratic register.

Read: 'Critics hailed the film as a masterwork of contemporary cinema; audiences, rather less enchanted, simply stayed away.' The tone can best be described as:

Answer: Dryly ironic — contrasting elite critical praise with public indifference

The gap between critical acclaim and audience rejection is presented with wry detachment — dry irony at its most restrained.

An author writes: 'It is with great reluctance that I conclude this government has forfeited the public trust.' The phrase 'great reluctance' suggests:

Answer: The author is saddened by — but committed to — a negative conclusion

'Great reluctance' signals personal regret; the conclusion is arrived at despite the author's desire for a different outcome — sad but definitive.

Which word choice signals a shift from neutral to evaluative language in academic writing?

Answer: 'Disturbingly' in 'the results are disturbingly consistent'

'Disturbingly' is an evaluative adverb that injects the author's attitude; the others are neutral grammatical or syntactic elements.

A student's assignment reads: 'Shakespeare was basically just copying old stories and people think he was all that.' What is the main register issue?

Answer: The language is too informal for academic writing

'Basically', 'just', and 'all that' are informal, colloquial expressions unsuitable for academic discourse.

Read: 'The author treats the reader's intelligence with something approaching contempt, spelling out every irony in exhausting detail.' The critic's attitude toward the author is:

Answer: Dismissive — finding the author's technique condescending and heavy-handed

'Contempt' and 'exhausting detail' are strongly negative evaluations — the critic dismisses the author as condescending and clumsy.

An advocacy pamphlet reads: 'Every child in this country deserves access to quality education. Not some children. Every child.' The repetition and short sentences are used to create what tone?

Answer: Emphatic and inclusive — reinforcing a universal moral claim

Anaphora ('Every child') and short declarative sentences build emphasis and emotional force, asserting an inclusive moral claim.