Working on the assumption that an adequate model of comprehension must also deal with its connotative aspect (the aspect that concerns the feeling, mood, or "tone" of the text), this paper examines the concept of contextual tone. After defining tone according to its various senses and synonymous forms (voice, attitude, style, mood, and atmosphere), the paper discusses the relationship of tone to the paradigms of text structure, texture, and text types. This discussion is followed by a presentation of the categories of tone: sound, author relationship, simple and complex, biological and intellectual, and local and global. Arguing that tone is a necessary factor in a model of comprehension, the next section of the paper discusses the various types of meaning and tone as a symbol of meaning. It then explores levels of awareness and tacit inference, and examines the functions of tone in relation to the text, reader response, and comprehension. Determinants of tone such as adjustment to audience and subject matter, speaker role, point of view, and text type are presented in the next section. This is followed by an examination of the preconditions necessary in readers and texts for apprehending tone. It also discusses the problems and possibilities of measuring tone apprehension. Implications of tone problems for students are then examined, with particular attention to the studies of poor readers, subjectivity and biases, and prior knowledge and developmental problems. The paper concludes with a discussion of issues and implications for education. (HOD)