Opinion and Attitude

Master spotting author opinion and attitude. Learn to recognise viewpoint, bias, irony, and emotional stance in complex texts.

Level B1-B2-C1-C2⏱️ 75 min📋 Requires: Advanced reading comprehension, Critical thinking, Understanding of tone and style
Topic Progress0%

What are Opinion and Attitude?

Opinion is the author's personal view on a topic.Attitude is the author's emotional or mental stance (positive, negative, neutral). Spotting both helps you see where the author stands.

Spotting opinions

💡
💡
💡

Spotting attitudes

1. Positive attitude

Approval, enthusiasm, or support.

Examples:
  • Positive words: excellent, brilliant, outstanding
  • Optimistic tone: promising, encouraging, hopeful
  • Explicit support: I fully support, I strongly recommend
  • Stress on benefits: advantages, benefits, strengths

2. Negative attitude

Disapproval, criticism, or rejection.

Examples:
  • Negative words: terrible, disastrous, appalling
  • Pessimistic tone: concerning, alarming, worrying
  • Explicit criticism: I strongly oppose, I disagree
  • Stress on problems: disadvantages, flaws, weaknesses

3. Neutral / objective stance

Information presented without clear personal preference.

Examples:
  • Factual wording: statistics show, research indicates
  • Balanced presentation: on one hand... on the other hand
  • Few evaluative adjectives
  • Passive voice to create distance

Advanced points

1. Irony and sarcasm

When the author means the opposite of the surface wording.

Examples:
  • Mismatch between words and context
  • Obvious exaggeration: 'What a brilliant idea!' (when it is awful)
  • Sarcastic scare quotes: 'expert' opinion
  • Tone that does not match content

2. Implicit bias

Preferences shown indirectly.

Examples:
  • Which information is selected
  • Order of presentation (positive first or last)
  • Space given to each side
  • Sources cited and how credible they seem

3. Shifts in attitude

The author's stance may change through the text.

Examples:
  • Starts neutral, becomes critical
  • Optimistic at first, darker by the end
  • Connectors signalling change: however, but, unfortunately
  • Gradual build of argument
← Back to Theory