2.  Tone is the attitude a writer takes towards his subject: the tone can be serious, humorous, sarcastic, ironic, inspiring, solemn, objective, cynical, optimistic, critical, enthusiastic…etc.
Which word do you think best describes the tone of the commentary?  Explain your answer.

3. In paragraph 9, Dr. Sowell writes: “the political left’s welfare state makes poverty more comfortable, while penalizing attempts to rise out of poverty.”
Ask a grandparent what he/she thinks about this assertion.

4. In the last two paragraphs Thomas Sowell writes:

The agenda of the Left - promoting envy and a sense of grievance, while making loud demands for “rights” to what other people have produced - is a pattern that has been widespread in countries around the world.

This agenda has seldom lifted the poor out of poverty. But it has lifted the Left to positions of power and self-aggrandizement, while they promote policies with socially counterproductive results.

a) Do you agree with this assertion? Explain your answer.
b) Ask a parent the same question.