Grade by Grade
D. Composition: Expressing Ideas and Creating Texts · Writing with Purpose: Research, Essays, Media and Publishing

Voice, Tone and Perspective in Your Own Writing

D2.3 D2.4About 65 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can establish an identifiable voice and adjust diction, sentence style and tone to suit form, audience and purpose.
  • I can express my thoughts, feelings and opinions clearly and appropriately.
  • I can explain the explicit and implicit points of view, perspectives and bias in my own texts.
  • I can predict how different audiences might respond and revise to acknowledge other perspectives respectfully.

Words to know

voice
The personality of a writer that comes through on the page: their word choices, rhythms and attitude.
diction
Word choice: formal or informal, plain or fancy, concrete or abstract.
tone
The writer's attitude toward the topic or audience, such as serious, playful, urgent, sarcastic or hopeful.
register
How formal or informal language is.
connotation
The feelings or associations a word carries beyond its dictionary meaning.
explicit point of view
An opinion or position that the writer states directly.
implicit point of view
An opinion that isn't stated but is suggested by word choice, selection and framing.
perspective
A way of seeing an issue shaped by someone's experiences, identity, values and position.

Remember from Grade 8

In Grade 8 you examined voice, register, and explicit and implicit points of view in your writing, and practised acknowledging other perspectives.

In Grade 9 you'll use the same ideas with more control and precision: building a voice that is recognizably yours while adapting to an essay, a speech, a story or a post; and auditing your own drafts for bias before an audience finds it.

Voice is made of choices

Your voice comes from:

  • Diction: kids or students or youth? Freezing or minus 25? Concrete words (slush, toque, snowplough) create a sharper voice than abstract ones (weather conditions).
  • Sentence style: long and flowing, or short and punchy? Questions? Fragments for effect?
  • Tone: your attitude: serious, humorous, urgent, sarcastic, hopeful, angry, calm.
  • Details you notice: what you pay attention to is part of your voice.

Same writer, different texts: you don't lose your voice in a formal essay. You keep your clear thinking, your precise word choice and your way of noticing, while raising the register.

One message, three registersformalneutralinformalStudents have expressedconcern that thecafeteria discards asubstantial amount ofedible food.A lot of studentsare worried thatthe cafeteria throwsout good food.Ugh, the caf tossesSO much perfectlygood food everyday. Wild.
Register is a slider, not a switch. Choose the point on the line that fits your form, audience and purpose: a letter to the council, a class blog, a text to a friend.

Expressing opinions clearly

The curriculum asks you to express thoughts, feelings and opinions clearly. Clear opinions are:

  • Specific: The new schedule leaves only 20 minutes for lunch (not the schedule is bad).
  • Supported: with a reason or example.
  • Proportional: strong words for strong cases, not for everything. If everything is outrageous, nothing is.
  • Respectful: criticize ideas and decisions, not people.

Point of view, perspective and bias in your own texts

  • Your explicit point of view is what you state: I believe the town should keep the rink.
  • Your implicit point of view shows through choices: calling the rink a beloved landmark and its critics a few complainers reveals your side, even in a "neutral" report.
  • Your perspective comes from your experiences and position: a student who skates there every night sees the rink differently from a resident whose house faces its floodlights.
  • Bias is when that leaning makes the text unfair or one-sided.
Four ways bias slips into your OWN writingWord choice"protesters" vs "rioters"vs "activists"(connotation)Selectiononly quoting peoplewho agree with youOmissionleaving out a groupaffected by the issueFramingwhat comes first, what'sin the headline, what'scalled "the problem"
Bias is not only in other people's texts. Check your own drafts for loaded words, one-sided sources, missing voices and framing that tells the reader what to think before the evidence does.
Worked example

Let's audit a paragraph for point of view and audience response

Draft for the school newsletter (supposedly a news report): The amazing eco club is finally fixing the cafeteria's disgraceful waste problem. Every student supports composting. Only a few lazy people refuse to sort their trays.

  1. Explicit point of view: none stated, but the paragraph clearly favours composting.
  2. Implicit point of view (word choice): amazing, finally, disgraceful and lazy are loaded words that tell readers what to think.
  3. Selection/omission: Every student supports composting is an overgeneralization, and the paragraph leaves out cafeteria staff, who will do extra work.
  4. Predict audience responses: eco club members would cheer; students who forget to sort would feel insulted; cafeteria staff might feel ignored or blamed; the principal might question the newsletter's fairness.
  5. Revise to acknowledge perspectives: The eco club has started a composting pilot in the cafeteria. In a club survey, 72 of 100 students said they support the program (invented figure). Some students say the sorting bins are confusing, and cafeteria staff have asked for clearer signs to reduce extra work. The club plans to add picture labels next week.

The revised version is objective (fits a news report), accurate (no every), and acknowledges staff and students who find the change difficult, so more readers will trust it.

Respectful, inclusive language

  • Name groups the way they name themselves (for example, the specific First Nation, or Métis, or Inuit, not outdated terms).
  • Use language that focuses on people, such as people who use wheelchairs, unless a community prefers another form.
  • Use gender-neutral words when gender isn't known or doesn't matter: firefighter, everyone, singular they.
  • Avoid humour that targets a group. A joke that makes part of your audience feel excluded also loses their trust.
Hands-on activity

Three-voice challenge

Choose a small real event from your week (a snowstorm, a family dinner, a game).

  1. Write it as a text message to a friend (informal).
  2. Write it as a two-sentence news brief (objective, neutral).
  3. Write it as the opening of a personal essay (reflective, your strongest voice).
  4. Read all three to a family member without saying which is which. Can they tell the purpose of each from the voice alone?
  5. Underline every word in version 2 with a strong connotation. Replace any that show an implicit opinion.

What to look for: clear differences in diction, sentence length and tone, and a version 3 that sounds like you.

Just for fun

Connotation in action: I am firm. You are stubborn. They are pig-headed. Same quality, three very different opinions about it.

Your turn

1

Rank from most formal to least formal: (a) kids, (b) students, (c) learners enrolled in secondary education.

2

Name the tone: Oh, wonderful. Another fire drill in a snowstorm.

3

Rewrite to express the opinion clearly and respectfully: The town council is clueless about rinks.

4

Is the point of view explicit or implicit? The so-called "improvements" to the park removed half the trees.

5

Write a sentence acknowledging a perspective different from yours on whether phones should be allowed at lunch.

6

Give two words with different connotations for a person who saves money carefully.

More practice: warm-up

1

What is diction?

2

What is register?

3

Name three tones.

4

Which point of view is stated directly: explicit or implicit?

5

True or false: you lose your voice when you write formally.

More practice: on your own

1

Rewrite in a formal register: Honestly the bus situation is a total mess and nobody's doing anything.

2

Predict how two audiences might respond to a speech calling for the outdoor rink to stay open all night: (a) teen skaters; (b) neighbours across the street.

3

Identify the bias technique: a report on a new highway quotes three business owners who support it and no residents whose homes are nearby.

4

Change the framing of this headline to be more neutral: Greedy Developers Destroy Beloved Forest.

5

A student's essay about winter sports assumes every reader can afford skis and lift tickets. Which perspective is missing, and how could the writer acknowledge it?

Challenge

1

Write two versions of one sentence about a new school uniform policy: one with a strong implicit negative point of view, and one neutral. Then explain the word choices.

2

Explain the difference between perspective and bias, using an example.

3

Revise this paragraph so it keeps a clear opinion but acknowledges another perspective: Banning phones at lunch is the only sensible choice. Anyone who disagrees just wants to scroll all day.

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

Which words most affect a writer's voice?

2.

Which sentence uses a formal register?

3.

The so-called experts shows the writer's point of view:

4.

Leaving out the voices of the people most affected by an issue is:

5.

Which sentence best acknowledges another perspective?

6.

Which word has the most negative connotation?

For parents and teachers

Voice is personal, and teens are often still finding theirs. Praise distinctive, precise word choices in their writing, and talk about how you change your own language at work, with friends and with family.

Common difficulties: using an informal register in essays; strong words for everything; "neutral" reports with loaded words; ignoring how a text will land with people who disagree or are affected. A good home question: Who might read this and feel left out or insulted? How could you say it so they keep reading?