Take a story's temperature by studying its tone. Is it hopeful? Cynical? Snarky? Playful?
Heightened, Colloquial, Universal
August Wilson's voice is a unique blend of African-American dialect and heightened poetry. So, the tone of The Piano Lesson, as well as his other plays, often manages to be incredibly approachable yet somehow lofty. Wilson's characters are bigger than who they are. They seem to represent not just all African Americans, but all of humanity.