Bennett 1

Kelsey Bennett

Ms. McDevitt

AP Language and Composition

17 October 2019

The Use of Tone Column Response

In one of columnist E.J. Dionne’s most recent editorials, “Trump is the culmination of all

that has gone wrong in our politics,'' he discusses his personal opinions of President Trump and

his presidential term. Through this column, Dionne makes the claim that Trump is a dangerous

leader and to begin fixing the mess that is the current U.S. government, he must be removed

from office. One of the main sources of support for this claim comes from Dionne’s use of tone

throughout the editorial.

One of the first examples of Dionne’s utilization of tone appears in the first paragraph of the

piece. He opens by explaining the arrests of several Ukrainians for laundering money for

Trump’s political efforts. Dionne further states that this Fraud Guarantee will “provide an

excellent title for a book on the Trump era, deceitfulness being the one Trump trait we can rely

on” (Dionne 1). Dionne’s tone while discussing Trump’s contribution to modern politics is

negative and condescending, which not only indicates his personal opinions, but also begins to

make the audience believe that they should hold the same opinion. The fact Dionne provides

immediately before stating this claim makes it obvious to the audience that Trump should not be

supported, therefore, the tone he uses indicates that the correct opinions are those against Trump.

A second example of Dionne’s use of tone to support his claim comes from another

characterization of the President. Dionne circle’s back to his last column in which he mainly
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discusses Trump’s infamous phone call with the Ukraine and the Democrats’ reaction to the

release of this information. He further provides that “like many demagogues, Trump demonizes

minorities and his political enemies to hide his devotion to the art of the shady deal” (Dionne 2).

Similarly to the first example, Dionne speaks of Trump only in condescending tones, indicating

to the audience that they should feel the same. This same tone also makes the audience feel that

the right opinion should be obvious.

Another example of Dionne’s tone use appears in the concluding paragraph of the column.

As he brings his claims about Trump’s negative impact on modern politics to a close, he explains

that the “goal should be not only to rid the country of a dangerous leader but also to show how

desperately our system needs repair” (Dionne 5). Once again, Dionne’s tone while discussing

Trump in relation to politics remains negative, however, in this example he adds a sense of

urgency to his argument. By using a tone that conveys the importance of changing the system,

the quote acts as a call to action for the audience, drawing them to not only support Dionne’s

claims, but move to enact change as well. The use of tone as a form of support is effective in that

it indicates the opinions of the writer and pushes the audience to support these opinions as well.

Works Cited

Dionne, E.J. “Opinion | Trump Is the Culmination of All That Has Gone Wrong in Our Politics.”

The Washington Post, WP Company, 14 Oct. 2019, ​www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/

​trump -is-the-culmination-of-all-that-has-gone-wrong-in-our-politics/2019/10/13/17de18c4

​-ed2c-11e9-9306-47cb0324fd44_story.html​. 16 October 2019.