Definition:
1. Free from ambiguity "a straightforward set of instructions"
2. Without evasion or compromise "he is not being as straightforward as it appears"
3. Without concealment or deception; honest "straightforward in all his business affairs"
4. Pointed directly ahead "a straightforward gaze"
Passage:
Here, M. Aronnax, are the several dimensions of the boat you are in. It is an elongated cylinder with conical ends. It is very like a cigar in shape, a shape already adopted in London in several constructions of the same sort. The length of this cylinder, from stem to stern, is exactly 232 feet, and its maximum breadth is twenty-six feet. It is not built quite like your long-voyage steamers, but its lines are sufficiently long, and its curves prolonged enough, to allow the water to slide off easily, and oppose no obstacle to its passage. These two dimensions enable you to obtain by a simple calculation the surface and cubic contents of the Nautilus. Its area measures 6,032 feet; and its contents about 1,500 cubic yards; that is to say, when completely immersed it displaces 50,000 feet of water, or weighs 1,500 tons.
- Jules Verne Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea
Explanation:
In this passage, Verne definitely used a straightforward tone. He created this tone by using direct address, and factual, concrete descriptions of the boat. The direct address of "Here, M. Aronnax, are the several dimensions..."creates a sense directness and thus contribute to the straightforward tone. The lengthy, but clear and concrete description of the ship dimensions creates a sense of frankness about the boat. Also, the speaker references to shipbuilding in London in order to make the information he provides be assessable and believable, and thus contributing to his aboveboard and earnest tone.