All the fun's in how you say a thing---Frost

TONE

There are numerous and sometimes conflicting text book definitions of tone:
"The poet's or persona's attitude in style or expression toward the subject, e.g., loving, ironic, bitter, pitying, fanciful, solemn, etc. Tone can also refer to the overall mood of the poem itself, in the sense of a pervading atmosphere intended to influence the readers' emotional response and foster expectations of the conclusion." (Glossary of Poetic Terms from BOB'S BYWAY)

"The writer's or speaker's attitude toward his subject, his audience, or himself; the emotional coloring, or emotional meaning, of a work." (Sound and Sense: An Introduction to Poetry by Laurence Perrine)


"The word tone in literary discussion is borrowed from the expression tone of voice. Tone is the manner in which a poet makes his statement; it reflects his attitude toward his subject. Since printed poems lack the intonations of spoken words, the reader must learn to "hear" their tones with his mind's ear. Tone cannot be heard in one particular place since it reflects a general attitude, it pervades the whole poem." (Poems: Wadsworth Handbook and Anthology by C. F. Main & Peter J. Seng)


"Tone expresses the poet's attitude toward his audience. We all experience tone in everyday life. A speaker's placing of emphasis, his tone of voice, his facial expression, even his gestures all help the hearer to determine the speaker's meaning and attitude." (The Order of Poetry, An Introduction Bloom, Philbrick and Blistein)

Mary Had a little Lamb

i chanced upon an impressive analysis when i was researching for materials for my class.
it's an in depth analysis worth pondering over.
do check it out:
http://www.cannells.com/colin/archives/mary_had_a_little_la.php
hope lit test was ok=)

Content Page

Class, remember to update your content page and file in your worksheets.
this is a more updated version.
files will be checked and collected after your CTs.
http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/1/24/1717600/lit%20CP.doc

with regards to your test tmr, dont forget the structure:
Point
Evidence
Explanation.

similes are like metaphors, just that metaphors do not use 'as' or 'like'.
identify the characterisitc you need.
rmb the topics tested:
alliteration
assonance
rhyme scheme
personification
metaphors*
similes*
subject matter
theme

i have given you ample ws. however, if you feel the need do consult me. consultation is free.

Revision: death the Leveller

class, we did Death the Leveller and here are model questions.
please rmb to work hard for your upcoming test. if you have any queries, pls arrange a consultation. i would also like to have a supplementary lesson on tues, 12/2.
shd only be an hour long. we'll be covering more on metaphors and similies in preparation for the cts and a quick recap on other topics.
pls do your meteor of words. make sure everything is complete! and file your ws.

http://www.fileden.com/files/2006/11/29/437126/Copy%20of%20Sec%202%20Lit%20CT1.doc

oh yes! for the last supplementary lesson, we went through Mirror and Child by Sylvia Plath. it's really interesting. so please check with your friends. we also did Thomas Hardy's 'Ah, are you digging on my grave?' ive got some spare copies. approach me if you need or dont be lazy and look for the poem online. the web is such a useful thing isnt it?

More Poems!

hello all. for those who turned up last tues, i hope the lesson was useful to you and that you've understood everything ive said.
if you have any queries, pass a list around to make an appointment with me.
THUS is strictly out as i will not be around. anything else should be pretty ok. and try not to have weekends for consultation ok?

i was surfing online for poems and i think The Tyger by William Blake is pretty good. try to understand this. it is for extra reading.

THE TYGER (from Songs Of Experience)
By William Blake

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare sieze the fire?
And what shoulder, & what art.
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? & what dread feet?
What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?
When the stars threw down their spears,
And watered heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

1794

after which, you can visit this site for more:
http://virtual.park.uga.edu/~wblake/SIE/42/42bib.html

happy reading! i hope you have been studying diligently for your test.

Supplementary lesson

hey all, lesson tmr 3 to 4pm 203 classroom. those who cannot make it, pls ask your friends, continue to work hard and seek me for consultation is needed.
all days are available except for this thurs (31st) and fri.

pls bring all relevant material for lesson tmr. we will go through your main text and a poem or too if we have time.

reminder test on mon. it's a half an hr test. so dont be late!

Poem analysis

this is I Cannot Live With you by Emily Dickinson.
it's a thorough analysis and i would strongly recommend you read this:

http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/1/24/1717600/I%20Cannot%20Live%20With%20You.doc

for the extra lesson, a poem that we will be going through is:

Fame is a fickle food (1659)
by Emily Dickinson

Fame is a fickle food
Upon a shifting plate
Whose table once a
Guest but not
The second time is set.
Whose crumbs the crows inspect
And with ironic caw
Flap past it to the
Farmer's Corn –
Men eat of it and die.

________________________________________________

Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1830. She attended Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in South Hadley, but severe homesickness led her to return home after one year. Throughout her life, she seldom left her house and visitors were scarce. The people with whom she did come in contact, however, had an enormous impact on her thoughts and poetry. She was particularly stirred by the Reverend Charles Wadsworth, whom she met on a trip to Philadelphia. He left for the West Coast shortly after a visit to her home in 1860, and some critics believe his departure gave rise to the heartsick flow of verse from Dickinson in the years that followed. While it is certain that he was an important figure in her life, it is not certain that this was in the capacity of romantic love—she called him "my closest earthly friend." Other possibilities for the unrequited love in Dickinson’s poems include Otis P. Lord, a Massachusetts Supreme Court Judge, and Samuel Bowles, editor of the Springfield Republican.
By the 1860s, Dickinson lived in almost total physical isolation from the outside world, but actively maintained many correspondences and read widely. She spent a great deal of this time with her family. Her father, Edward Dickinson, was actively involved in state and national politics, serving in Congress for one term. Her brother Austin attended law school and became an attorney, but lived next door once he married Susan Gilbert (one of the speculated—albeit less persuasively—unrequited loves of Emily). Dickinson’s younger sister Lavinia also lived at home for her entire life in similar isolation. Lavinia and Austin were not only family, but intellectual companions during Dickinson’s lifetime.
Dickinson's poetry reflects her loneliness and the speakers of her poems generally live in a state of want, but her poems are also marked by the intimate recollection of inspirational moments which are decidedly life-giving and suggest the possibility of happiness. Her work was heavily influenced by the Metaphysical poets of seventeenth-century England, as well as her reading of the Book of Revelation and her upbringing in a Puritan New England town which encouraged a Calvinist, orthodox, and conservative approach to Christianity.