Your Exceptional Taste in Music Can Help You Learn How to Identify Author’s Tone. Here’s How.

Are you a master at making playlists or queuing up the perfect song list on Spotify? An expert at finding the exact right song for the exact right vibe? 

Then you’re already amazing at author’s tone. You just don’t know it yet.

In this post, we’ll cover how to transfer your amazing insights on today’s hits to author’s tone questions on tests like the SSAT. Brace yourself - the breakup songs are coming.

What is author’s tone?

Before we dive into the music, we need to establish what author’s tone is.

Author tone’s in literature or any other text is simply defined the author’s attitude. How does the author feel about his or her subject?

When you’re talking about music, you might reference tone as the vibe of the song. On a standardized test like the SSAT, tone questions might look something like this:

The author’s tone in the passage is

a.informative yet cynical

b.passionate and illogical

c.offended but curious 

d.illuminating  yet realistic

e.agonizing and upset

A Strategy for Author’s Tone Questions

If you’ve been stumped by tone questions like these in the past, we have a simple trick to help you identify the correct answer.

Start by envisioning tone as if it’s on a number line.

In the middle at “zero” is a neutral tone. As you move to the right, the tone becomes somewhat positive, then strongly positive. As you move to the left, the tone turns from somewhat negative to strongly negative.

After you finish reading a text, identify where you think the text falls on the tone scale. If you’re not sure, skim back over the text and look for words and figurative language with strong connotation, i.e. the ones that show strong emotions.

Now, let’s give this a try on some texts you might already be familiar with: pop songs.

Author’s Tone Practice: “good 4 u”

Let’s start out with the lyrics to “good 4 u” by Olivia Rodrigo. If you want the full musical experience, check out the lyric video below; otherwise relevant lines of the text will be quoted below.

Check out these lyrics. Where do you think these fit on the tone scale?

• “I've lost my mind, I've spent the night/Crying on the floor of my bathroom/But you're so unaffected, I really don't get it/But I guess good for you.”

• “You will never have to hurt the way you know that I do.” 

•  “Your apathy is like a wound in salt.”

Well, losing your mind and spending all night crying are obviously pretty negative experiences. Even “good for you,” one of the lines that could appear more positive, is preceded by a very insincere “I guess.” 

We could use words like angry, scathing, and bitter to describe Rodrigo here, which would definitely put this text at strongly negative on the tone scale.

(If the lyrics weren’t enough, Rodrigo’s full-on belting and sarcastic scoffing at some points in the song would also be a good clue!)

Author’s Tone Practice: “At My Worst”

Let’s try another with “At My Worst” by Pink Sweat$. Again, you can watch the full video or keep reading for a sample of the lyrics.

What tone do you get from the chorus of this song?

“I need somebody who can love me at my worst

No, I'm not perfect, but I hope you see my worth

'Cause it's only you, nobody new, I put you first

And for you, girl, I swear I'll do the worst”

This is definitely more positive than the previous song, as we can tell from lines like “it’s only you” and “I put you first.” But Pink Sweat$’s admitting that he’s “not perfect” perhaps moves this from strongly positive to the somewhat positive category. 

How to Answer Author’s Tone Questions on the SSAT

Now how do you apply this strategy to SSAT questions? 

After you’ve read the text and identified where it falls on the tone scale, take a look at the answer choices. As you read each choice, determine where the word itself falls on the tone scale. If it’s not in the same location as the passage, eliminate it.

Let’s try it out with this sample question.

The author’s tone in “At My Worst” could best be described as

a.tragic

b.ecstatic

c.hopeful

d.zealous

e.callous

If you’re not sure, scroll back and look at the lyrics for “At My Worst.” We already decided these fit in the somewhat positive category. Which of the answer choices could you eliminate because it’s not also somewhat positive?

Option a) tragic is definitely too negative. So is e) callous. Options b) and d) are both positive, certainly, but they’re actually a little too strong - they’d fit better in strongly positive than somewhat positive. So that leaves us with c) hopeful.

SSAT Practice Questions with Author’s Tone

When you take the SSAT, the tone might be slightly more subtle than it is in a breakup song. But you can use the same principle of the tone scale to help you determine the tone of the text and eliminate incorrect answers.

To test your knowledge, give the below SSAT practice reading passage a try:

These days, finding imperfections in a college application is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Students try their best to hide factors they perceive to be negative and only tell us things they believe we will find impressive. This is supported by a secondary school culture where teachers are under pressure to give students nothing less than an A, and counselors are told not to report disciplinary infractions to colleges. Education agents in other countries are known to falsify student transcripts, assuming that an outstanding GPA is the ticket to admission.

Colleges respond to culture shifts, and admission officers are digging deeper to find out who students really are outside of their trophies, medals, and test scores. We get the most excited when we read an application that seems real. It’s so rare to hear stories of defeat and triumph that when we do, we cheer. If their perspectives are of lessons learned or challenges overcome, these applicants tend to jump to the top of the heap at highly selective colleges. We believe an error in high school should not define the rest of your life, but how you respond could shape you forever.

The author’s attitude toward college applicants can best be described as

a.sarcastic and resentful

b.imploring and severe

c.cautious and unwelcoming

d.critical yet heartening 

e.remorseful but diligent 

You can check your answer at the very bottom of the post.

Looking for even more author’s tone practice, or want to see another author’s tone practice passage? Check out our Author’s Tone video! It’s part of our free SSAT Strategies video series on Youtube.

Answer: The best answer to the SSAT practice question is D. The passage is somewhat negative about college admissions - the author is critical of current attitudes but still retains hope that the process could be improved. Thus, both adjectives for option D are true.