Question

What is the tone of this paragraph?

Paragraph from King Jr

I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice, and that when they fail to do this they become dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress … we who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive. We bring it out in the open where it can be seen and dealt with. Like a boil that can never be cured as long as it is covered up but must be opened with all its pus-flowing ugliness to the natural medicines of air and light, injustice must likewise be exposed, with all of the tension its exposing creates, to the light of human conscience and the air of national opinion before it can be cured.

Answer 1

Disappointment and Urgency.
The tone from Dr. Martin Luther King Junior’s statement would be disappointment and urgency. He is disappointed in the beginning when he says, “I had hoped....” He is standing up for himself and everyone involved in the movement, which he feels important (his opinion is urgent) in this part.
Tone is how you think the writer or speaker feels.
Mood is how you, the reader feels when reading or listening.