From LitLearn's IB English Questionbank...
Question #1: The Difference between Tone vs. Atmosphere
Tone and atmosphere are vague concepts to most IB English students, but there's a simple, intuitive way to clearly draw the line between them.
After these 3 dot points, you will know exactly when to use tone or atmosphere in your analysis. No more confusion!
- We correctly use "atmosphere" to describe the 'vibe' or 'energy' of an environment. Imagine going to a cemetery on a dark night, all alone. That's creepiness and the silence... that's atmosphere.
- We correctly use "tone" to describe how someone (a person) sounds. When the writer, or the narrator, sounds angry, sad, or happy... that's tone. If you've ever been angry at your parents, and they yell at you: "Watch your tone!"... then you have first-hand experience of what tone means 😂
Remember these 2 things:
- Tone = attitude of a person
- Atmosphere = vibe of an environment
It's THAT simple.
Now, let's try to answer this question!
Answer (highlight below to see) 👇:
The paragraph is more atmospheric! Here's why...
- "atmosphere" is more important here, because atmosphere refers to the 'vibe' or 'energy' of an environment. The quote from 1984 is mostly describing the energy or 'vibe' of the physical environment.
- however, the attitude of the writer or the character is not very prominent here, so the paragraph is not tonal.
Challenge Question
Analyse the atmosphere from the quote
Write no more than 100 words.
Let's see what a real LitLearn student submitted for this Challenge Question... And the real feedback that she received within 24 hours!
Student Answer
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Jackson Huang, LitLearn Head Instructor
Jackson is an IB 45 graduate, Class of 2014. Although LitLearn and English teaching is his current focus, he has always been a science-y person. His Chemistry Extended Essay was accepted to the Intel International Science & Engineering Fair, and he won the International Brain Bee Championship as an extracurricular.
After the IB, Jackson was accepted to the top US liberal arts colleges: Harvard, Amherst and Williams Colleges for the Class of 2019. He also received Vice-Chancellor scholarships to the University of Melbourne and University of Queensland in Australia.
Jackson scored a 20/20 in IB English Paper 1. He created LitLearn in 2016, and it has since been ranked as the #1 IB English Resource by ibresources.org. LitLearn's IB English Method has helped 400,000+ students, and counting!
After the IB, Jackson was accepted to the top US liberal arts colleges: Harvard, Amherst and Williams Colleges for the Class of 2019. He also received Vice-Chancellor scholarships to the University of Melbourne and University of Queensland in Australia.
Jackson scored a 20/20 in IB English Paper 1. He created LitLearn in 2016, and it has since been ranked as the #1 IB English Resource by ibresources.org. LitLearn's IB English Method has helped 400,000+ students, and counting!
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LitLearn students have loved the convenience of these exercises, so we will be constantly adding more 5 Minute Questions and Video Solutions for select questions.
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Indian IB English student Aanya Vora was stuck at an IB4 and didn't know how to improve. She joined IB English Analysis Simplified and immediately improved to an IB6 in just 12 days.
LitLearn resources are so effective, Aanya mentioned in her 5-star review that the huge improvement was "something that [she] had not seen coming at all!"
She particularly loved the guided, step-by-step process and the unique Diamond Method that helped Instructor Jackson Huang Score a perfect 20/20 in his final IB English Paper 1.
LitLearn resources are so effective, Aanya mentioned in her 5-star review that the huge improvement was "something that [she] had not seen coming at all!"
She particularly loved the guided, step-by-step process and the unique Diamond Method that helped Instructor Jackson Huang Score a perfect 20/20 in his final IB English Paper 1.
