Evaluating Voice in Writing

Read the excerpt of the narrator on the bottom of the page.

Analyze the passage for diction (word choice): What specific words does the author use to give him his own distinct voice? Circle at least three specific words.

Analyze the passage for syntax (sentence structures): How would you describe the structure of the sentences the narrator is using? Longer with many clauses? Shorter and more spare?

Analyze the passage for tone: How would you describe the tone of the narrator? Sarcastic? Agitated? Mature?

“Most of the big shore places were closed now and there were hardly any lights except the shadowy, moving glow of a ferryboat across the Sound. And as the moon rose higher the inessential houses began to melt away until gradually I became aware of the old island here that flowered once for Dutch sailors’ eyes — a fresh, green breast of the new world. Its vanished trees, the trees that had made way for Gatsby’s house, had once pandered in whispers to the last and greatest of all human dreams; for a transitory enchanted moment man must have held his breath in the presence of this continent, compelled into an aesthetic contemplation he neither understood nor desired, face to face for the last time in history with something commensurate to his capacity for wonder” (Fitzgerald, 189).

Write a glorified paragraph (at least 8 sentences) about your typical morning waking up and going to high school- only this time you should try and copy the voice of the excerpt you just read. What specific words should you use? How should your sentences be structured? What forms of descriptive or figurative language would you use? What would your tone be?