Thursday, Oct. 15, 2014
• Today we will:
• Define mood and tone using examples from “The Cask
of Amontillado.”
• Assess our comprehension of “The Invalid’s Story”
• Identify mood and tone in “The Invalid’s Story”
• Homework:
• Membean weekly practice
Cask of Amontillado- Mood
• “I took from their sconces two flambeaux, and giving one to
Fortunato ... 1 passed down a long and winding staircase,
requesting him to be cautious as he followed. We came at
length to the foot of the descent, and stood together upon the
damp ground of the catacombs of the Montresors.”
Cask of Amontillado- Mood
• “I took from their sconces two flambeaux, and giving one to
Fortunato ... 1 passed down a long and winding staircase,
requesting him to be cautious as he followed. We came at
length to the foot of the descent, and stood together upon the
damp ground of the catacombs of the Montresors.”
• Based on the underlined words, we can determine that the
mood is ___________.
Cask of Amontillado- Mood
• “We passed through a range of low arches, descended, passed
on, and descending again, arrived at deep crypt, in which the
foulness of the air caused our flambeaux rather to glow than
flame.”
Cask of Amontillado- Mood
• “We passed through a range of low arches, descended, passed
on, and descending again, arrived at deep crypt, in which the
foulness of the air caused our flambeaux rather to glow than
flame.”
• Based on the underlined words, we can determine that the
mood is _________.
Cask of Amontillado- Mood
• “A succession of loud and shrill screams, bursting suddenly
from the throat of the chained form, seemed to thrust me
violently back. For a brief moment I hesitated, I trembled.”
Cask of Amontillado- Mood
• “A succession of loud and shrill screams, bursting suddenly
from the throat of the chained form, seemed to thrust me
violently back. For a brief moment I hesitated, I trembled.”
• By identifying the effect of the underlined words, we can
conclude that the mood is ___________________.
Cask of Amontillado- Tone
• “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I
could; but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge.”
• What is Montressor’s attitude toward Fortunato?
_______________
• Overall tone ____________________
Cask of Amontillado- Tone
"I had scarcely laid the first tier of the masonry when I
discovered that the intoxication of Fortunato had in a great
measure worn off. The earliest indication I had of this was a low
mourning cry from the depth of the recess. It was not the cry of
a drunken man. There was then a long and obstinate silence. I
laid the second tier, and the third, and the fourth”
What is Montressor’s attitude towards what he is doing?
______________________________
Cask of Amontillado- Tone
• "My heart grew sick – it was the dampness of the catacombs
that made it so.”
Cask of Amontillado- Tone
• "My heart grew sick – it was the dampness of
the catacombs that made it so.”
• For a brief moment, the reader thinks
Montressor might be expressing remorse.
However, through the use of the dash,
Montressor clarifies that his sickness is only a
result of the dampness. Poe “fakes us out”
on purpose!
• Therefore, the tone is _______________.
Cask of Amontillado- Tone
• If he is gleeful at gaining his revenge, or if he feels guilty about
his crime, he does not speak of it directly, and his language
does not reveal it. Even at the most terrifying moment in the
story, when Fortunato realizes that Montresor intends to seal
him up behind a wall, his tone is calm and detached.
“The Invalid’s Story”
• Start by asking yourself, “what is the overall tone of the
story?”
• How did you know that? Identify passages that led you to
identify the tone as such.
• What mood does Twain create for the reader? Look at
descriptions of setting for hints.
• Why would the mood and tone be so different?
Mood
“One winter’s night, two years
ago, I reached home just after
dark, in a driving snowstorm…”
p. 363
Description of the setting
creates an ominous, perilous
mood, making the reader think
that danger is present for the
main character
“We sped through the wild
night, the bitter storm raged
one, a cheerless misery stole
over me…” p. 364
Continuance of dark ominous
mood and subject matter
juxtaposed with humorous tone
Tone
“deadly cheese” p. 367
Exaggerated word choice creates humor.
The cheese is not literally “deadly,” but the
word choice creates a humorous
hyperbole.
“here he scrambled to his feet and broke a
pane and stretched his nose out at it a
moment or two, then sat down again while
I struggled up and thrust my nose out at
the same place, and this we kept on doing
every now and then.”
Twain communicates this detail with a
matter-of-fact tone as if this behavior was a
common remedy. Because the reader
knows the absurdity in this, it creates
humor as the reader imagines the
characters.
“But the news was too late to save me;
imagination had done its work, and my
health was permanently shattered; neither
Bermuda nor any other land can ever bring
it back to me. This is my last trip; I am on
my way home to die.” p. 370
Exaggerated seriousness creates humorous
tone.
So in this story, the mood and tone are
used to create humor.
• Mood
• is dark, ominous, and
foreboding.
• Tone
• is matter-of-fact and
overly serious about
an absurd situation.
Overall Effect
The combination of the mood and tone creates humor.
The absurd situations contrast the dark, ominous setting.
The reader thinks that the dark mood is indicative of a
serious tone and subject-matter. However, when the
absurdity of the situation is revealed, it becomes clear that
the darkness is an exaggeration of a funny
misunderstanding. Twain plays on this purposefully.