The straightforward, yet informal tone set by Naylor reveals how traumatizing it was for Naylor to hear the word “nigger” in such a negative way. The informal use of first person narrative is established in the first sentence of The Meanings of a Word, creates a pathos with the reader. Naylor writes “..I consider the written word inferior to the spoken…” (1). Naylor is able to portray the reasoning behind this essay by having a conversation with the reader as if they were her friends. Instead of lecturing the reader about the positive and negative uses of a word, Naylor shares her experiences; in turn giving her a more effective result than if she were to lecture the reader. Naylor’s straightforward tone is developed in the second paragraph
