Essay about Setting the Tone

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Setting the Tone
Tutorial on using language appropriately and effectively.

By Jenny Holden
Furness College

The way in which we use language is important
To communicate effectively
To give correct information or instructions.
To express emotion
To describe something fully
To sound intelligent and educated!

We have one of the most expressive and complete languages in the World: use it!

Why Bother?
Discuss as a group:
Do you take care with the way that you write?
What do you find difficult?
Do you think it matters?

Panda
Eats shoots and leaves.

The words we choose
How we use language and structure our sentences affects meaning.
The same subject put in different ways takes on an entirely different persona.

Try it yourselves…
Your Subject
The cow jumped over the moon.

Write about this in the style of:
A Facebook message to a friend
A news reporter
A story
A scientific report

A Message to a Friend
You are never going to believe this, but on my way home this evening I saw a cow jump over the moon!! No kidding. Saw it with my own eyes, it was amazing and the cow was like, proper chuffed with itself! It ran full pelt across the field and just launched itself into the air. It was awesome!

A News Report
At 19:00 on the 24th January 2013, it was reported that a cow jumped over the moon. The reason for the cow taking this action has not been established. The cow, a rare Belted Galloway, comes from a herd belonging to a Mr Watson of Kents Bank. Mr Watson said, “We were astonished to see Daisy leaping over the moon. She was always such a quiet cow.”

A Story
One clear and starry night, Daisy the cow looked up a the silvery moon and thought, “The moon looks

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