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| CHARACTERISTIC | MOST INFORMAL | MIDDLE LEVEL | MOST FORMAL |
| VOICE | personal-- pronouns are I, you; author's personality and personal reactions prominent | somewhat less personal, may or may not use personal pronouns I, you; author's personality and personal reactions more subdued | impersonal -- pronouns are one, we, he, or may be absent if passive voice is used; little or no direct representation of the author's personality |
| TONE | wide range of tones possible, usually expressed conspicuously, sometimes without restraint | wide range of tones possible, expression more subdued | in theory, a wide range of tones is possible, but the expression is highly controlled |
| VOCABULARY | informal, conversational; may include slang, profanity, dialects; fairly simple vocabulary | ranges from conversational to more formal standard English; vocabulary varies from common to unusual; some figurative language | formal standard English, much more likely to be written than spoken except in oratory, speeches; more foreign and archaic words |
| SENTENCES | short, simple, with less variation than in middle or formal levels |
wide range of lengths; average length in middle range; some variation in patterns and construction |
wide variation in lengths; longest average number of words; most complex construction |
(Elbow 161)