Key Idea: This topic is about the words a writer picks and the feeling they create. Three things to spot: word choice (the exact words, and the feelings they carry), register (how formal or casual it sounds), and tone, mood & voice (the writer's attitude, the feeling in you, and their personality on the page). Naming these — and proving them from the text — is the heart of Paper 1.
🗝️ The words to know
| Term | What it means | Quick example |
|---|---|---|
| Connotation | The feeling a word carries beyond its plain meaning | ‘home’ feels warm; ‘house’ doesn't |
| Loaded / emotive words | Words chosen to push a strong feeling | ‘they slashed the budget’ |
| Euphemism | A gentle word that softens a harsh truth | ‘let go’ for ‘sacked’ |
| Register | How formal or casual a text sounds | ‘We regret to inform you…’ vs ‘Soz!’ |
| Tone | The writer's attitude to the subject | amused, angry, admiring |
| Mood | The feeling created in the reader | tense, calm, uneasy |
| Voice | The writer's personality on the page | chatty, formal, joking |
🔍 The one move that scores
Every point uses the same move: name the choice (a word, the register, the tone), say its effect (what it makes you feel or notice), then the so what — what it means, what it's for, or who it targets. A label on its own (‘the writer uses formal language’) scores nothing.
✍️ IB-style worked examples
IB-style question — analyse the word choice
Analyse the word choice: “The council calls it ‘tidying’ the park. The residents call it a mob of chainsaws that butchered a hundred trees.”
Step by step:
Name a choice: the council's word ‘tidying’ is a gentle word (a euphemism).
Effect: it makes cutting down trees sound small and harmless.
Now the other side: ‘mob’ and ‘butchered’ are loaded words that make it sound violent and cruel.
So what: setting the soft word against the brutal ones pushes the reader onto the residents' side.
The soft word ‘tidying’ hides the act, while the loaded ‘mob… butchered’ makes it sound like a crime — so the word choice takes the residents' side before any facts are given.
IB-style question — tone and register
Analyse the tone and register: “Dear valued customer, we write to advise you of a service interruption. Soz for any hassle!”
Step by step:
Register: it starts formal — ‘Dear valued customer… we write to advise you’ sounds stiff and official.
Then it shifts: ‘Soz for any hassle!’ is slang — suddenly very informal.
Tone/effect: the clash feels awkward, as if the company is trying to sound friendly but doesn't really mean it.
The jump from a formal register to the slang ‘Soz’ makes the apology feel fake and half-hearted.
Important: Don't just spot the word (‘the writer uses emotive language’). Always add the feeling it carries and what it makes the reader think. And say whose feeling you mean: the writer's attitude is tone; the feeling in you is mood.
Tap each card to check yourself.
Why choose ‘slashed’ over ‘cut’? ‘Slashed’ is a loaded word — it makes the cut sound violent and sudden.
‘passed away’ instead of ‘died’ — what is it? A euphemism — a gentle word that softens a harsh truth.
Tone vs mood? Tone is the writer's attitude; mood is the feeling created in the reader.
‘Grab yours now — you'll love it!’ — what register? Informal — a chatty command and a contraction make it friendly.
How do you turn a word into a point? Name the word → its feeling (connotation) → what it makes the reader think.
Exam tips
- Pick a word that could have been plainer, then explain the feeling the choice adds.
- Name the register (formal/informal) and quote a signal — a contraction, slang, or stiff phrase.
- Say whether you mean the writer's attitude (tone) or the reader's feeling (mood).
- Watch for a euphemism or a register shift — both are always worth a point.
- Never stop at a label — every point needs the effect and the ‘so what’.