Author's Purpose and Tone

Every other question type asks what the passage says. This one asks what the writer is doing, which is a different reading, and the evidence is in the word choice rather than in the content.

The four purposes

Inform is the default on this subtest, because the passages come from ordinary factual prose. A choice that says the author intends to persuade needs something in the text arguing for a position - a recommendation, a comparison made in order to favor one side, a "should".

Instruct is easy to spot and easy to confuse with inform. The difference is whether the passage tells you to do something. "The valve is closed before the line is drained" informs; "close the valve before draining the line" instructs.

Tone is in the word choice

Two passages can carry identical facts and different attitudes.

The new scheduling system assigns shifts automatically. Supervisors no longer build the roster by hand, and the time this frees is spent on training.

Neutral. Every word is plain: assigns, build, spent.

The new scheduling system finally assigns shifts automatically. Supervisors are released from the tedium of building rosters by hand, and can at last spend the time on training.

Same facts. Finally, released, tedium, at last - four loaded words, and the tone is approving.

Look at adjectives and verbs. Nouns usually carry the facts; the attitude rides on how actions and qualities are described.

The swap test

Replace the loaded word with a plain one and see if anything is lost.

"Finally assigns" becomes "assigns", and what is lost is the writer's relief. That loss is the tone.

If you can swap every word for a plain synonym and lose nothing, the passage is neutral, and a neutral choice is the answer.

The tone vocabulary

Answer choices come from a stable set. Knowing what each actually means prevents picking a word that is too strong.

Neutral and common on this test: objective, informative, matter-of-fact, analytical, detached.

Mildly positive: approving, appreciative, optimistic, supportive.

Mildly negative: critical, skeptical, cautious, concerned.

Strong, and usually wrong here: outraged, contemptuous, scornful, bitter, euphoric, reverent.

Why the strong ones are usually wrong: ASVAB passages are drawn from workaday nonfiction, not from polemic. A passage would have to be unmistakably angry to support "outraged". If you are choosing between "critical" and "contemptuous", the milder one is almost always right.

Working one through

Supporters of the shorter maintenance interval point to fewer in-service failures. What they leave out is the cost: the shorter interval takes aircraft off the line more often, and the units that adopted it have not reported the readiness gains that were promised.

The author's purpose is primarily to

(A) describe a maintenance procedure (B) argue against the shorter interval (C) explain how maintenance intervals are set (D) instruct readers in scheduling maintenance

The passage characterizes the other side as leaving something out, raises a cost they did not mention, and notes that promised gains have not appeared. That is an argument.

(B) argue against the shorter interval.

Now tone. The words doing work are "leave out" and "promised" - the first implies an omission that should have been included, the second implies a claim not delivered on. That is skeptical or critical, not outraged; nothing here is angry.

Purpose and main idea are different questions

They get confused, so it is worth separating.

Main idea: what the passage says. "The shorter maintenance interval has costs its supporters do not mention."

Purpose: why the author wrote it. "To argue against the shorter interval."

A purpose answer usually starts with an infinitive - to inform, to argue, to describe - and names an intention. A main idea is a claim about the subject.

What you can skip

• A long list of tone words. The tone vocabulary above is enough; tone is asked in about 27 questions and always offers everyday descriptors.

Where people lose points

Choosing a strong tone word for a mildly-worded passage.

Assuming an unpleasant subject means a negative tone.

Answering the main idea when asked for purpose.

Calling a passage persuasive because it has a point of view. All writing has a point of view. Persuasion needs an argument for a position.

Reading tone from the content instead of from the words. The evidence is adjectives and verbs.

Work one in under a minute

The lubrication system is straightforward. A pump draws oil from the sump, sends it through a filter, and delivers it under pressure to the bearings and the cylinder walls. Oil returns to the sump by gravity and the cycle repeats.

The tone of this passage is best described as

(A) enthusiastic (B) matter-of-fact (C) critical (D) uneasy

Run the swap test. Draws, sends, delivers, returns, repeats - every verb is plain, and there is not a loaded adjective in the passage. "Straightforward" is the only candidate and it is a factual assessment rather than praise.

(B) matter-of-fact.

This is the most common correct answer on tone questions in this subtest, and it is worth being comfortable picking it. A passage that simply explains something has a neutral tone, and the absence of attitude is not a failure to find the attitude.

Where this leads

Reading attitude from word choice is what separates a fact from an opinion, which is the next lesson, and it is the same sensitivity to connotation that Word Knowledge tests one word at a time.