As I read through the text in act 1 I found many devices which were present throughout the act. Algernon and Jack used many words which seemed to be stressed to create meaning and emotions which I found. When Jack explains the meaning of why he is Jack in the country and Ernest in town, 'You are hardly serious enough.' I find that 'hardly' would be somehow stressed as it could illustrate the relationship Jack has with Algernon.
Both characters seem to use different types of pitch and tones that are easily distinguished by the topic they come up with. When Algernon responses to Jack's explanation he ends his sentence with an explanation mark which might suggest the kind of tone he wants to use. '...modern literature a complete impossibility!' From this text I can determine the rising inflection at the end of 'impossibility' which is shown to be more stressed and believable.
The tone and personality would also be shown throughout the use of both characters speech. Jack sounds more assertive whereas Algernon is displayed as mischievous and playful, this could help us determine the personality that each character has and their relationship between each other.
I think I may have confused you and some others with my lesson on spoken language. These features are likely to be present but are virtually impossible to identify from the text alone. What you can determine is where sentence structures suggest delivery because they do not obey the conventional rule - the line I explained in class "All women (etc)..." reveals this and you can build an argument about it. You cannot identify tone or stress in the way you have above.
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