whatever leads us to infer the author's attitude 

individual traits or characteristics of a piece of writing. a writer's particular way of managing words

an author of realism who has a flat, laid back, unemotional tone. it is an appropriately bare, undadorned style. the author gives nothing but the facts drawn from ordinary life

example: "A Rose for Emily" Faulkner 

implies a contrast or discrepancy between what is SAID and what is MEANT

example: "I just LOVE to have four papers due on the same day" 

verbal irony tinged with mockery

example: "I just LOVE to have four papers due on the same day" 

containing some wry contrast or incongruity

example: "The Lottery" by Jackson 

when we sense that some malicious fate (or other spirit of the universe) is deliberately frustrating human efforts

example: "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry

              The Odyssey by Homer

a thing that suggests more than its literal meaning. they usually hint at greater significance

example: the chrysanthemums in "The Chrysanthemum" by Steinbeck 

a story in which persons, places, and things form a system of clearly labeled equivalents

example: The Lord of the Flies by Golding

a gesture with larger significance than usual

example: Captain Ahab in Moby Dick snaps his tobacco pipe and throws it away