Question

· Rhetorical language includes word choices or phrases that shape how readers think or feel.

· Even in scientific or informational writing, authors may use metaphor or connotation to clarify meaning or emphasize importance.

· Tone = the author’s attitude

· Mood = the feeling created for the reader

Example: Title Analysis

“Sitting Ducks”

· This phrase is a metaphor.

· It does not mean ducks are literally sitting.

· It suggests vulnerability.

This metaphor shapes the tone by emphasizing risk and danger.

Check for Understanding (DOK 3)

1. How does the metaphor “sitting ducks” contribute to meaning or tone?

Answer here:

2. How does the word toxic affect:

o the author’s tone? Answer here:

o the mood created for readers? Answer here:

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Answer 1

1. How does the metaphor “sitting ducks” contribute to meaning or tone?
- The metaphor portrays the subjects as passive and defenseless, implying they are likely to be harmed. That choice makes the tone feel warning, urgent, and sympathetic—it frames the situation as risky and calls attention to the need for protection or action.

2. How does the word toxic affect:
- the author’s tone?
- Calling something “toxic” makes the author’s tone condemnatory and alarmed; it signals clear danger or harm and often carries moral disapproval as well as urgency.
- the mood created for readers?
- The word produces a mood of unease, threat, or disgust; readers are likely to feel worried, wary, or repelled and to see the subject as harmful and needing removal or correction.