Answer: Settings. Descriptions of settings will change the tone. ...
Characters. Characters' actions can change the tone of a piece. ...
Actions. Characters' actions can change the tone of a piece. ...
Dialogue. ...
Attitude. ...
Irony. ...
A Single Word.
Explanation: Any piece of literature, whether a poem, short story or novel, has an overall mood. The mood determines if it is a comedy, tragedy, romance or drama. Within a story there are shifts in the mood, or tone, as the story progresses. These tone shifts are what makes the story exciting, taking the reader through a wide range of emotions. Tone is one tool that an author uses to define characters and set the scene. There are too many tones to list them all, but some commonly used in literature are: happy, sad, sarcastic, mad, scary, ominous, love, hate, scary, uneasy, comfortable, serious and humorous. There are many ways an author can use the tools of their trade to create a tone shift.
