Today’s Plan:
1. Student poetry readings
attitude
2. How can we give our poems
?
3. Sharing our “Maxwell Street” poems
You’ll need a pen/pencil, paper, and
your “Maxwell Street” poem that
you wrote over the weekend!
Attitude (Tone) in poetry
• Nathaniel Marshall’s “Look!” from
Louder than a Bomb:
o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgZAb3eWIG0
• Write down how many changes in
attitude you hear during the poem.
o Hint: It starts off with arrogance/conceit
Understanding “Tone”
• Tone is related to attitude
• How many different ways can you say
“school starts tomorrow”?
• In writing, this attitude comes from
word choice (diction) and the way we
structure the poem.
• Can you identify the tone or attitude
of our “Maxwell Street” poems?
Sharing “Maxwell Street”
• At least one student per row will share
• Be listening for the poem’s attitude
(tone) toward home
• What communicated that attitude?
o Word choice?
o Vocalization?
o Structure?
o Something else?
Writing a “tone poem”
• Choose a word from your connotative meaning
posters that you are interested in writing about
• Now choose at least two different tones (attitudes)
from which to write
o Remember the way “Look!” changed in the middle?
Can you identify tone?
• Billy Collins’ poem “Litany” (start at 1:52)
• What is the “tone” or “attitude” of this
poem?
Sad
Angry
Sarcastic
Confused