Let’s take a look at:
TONE and MOOD
in POETRY
TONE
the speaker’s attitude or feelings about what
he/she is writing (or talking) about
Examples:
happiness, melancholy, adoration
Remember that you may have to infer the tone of
an author based on simple words and details used
in the piece
MOOD
the way that the reader (or listener) feels as
they read (or listen) to the piece
Examples:
uneasy, fear, sympathetic
Remember that the mood could be very
different from the tone or could be the same
Read the poem.
“Lost Generation”
by Jonathan Reed
I am part of a lost generation
and I refuse to believe that
Answer the following questions:
I can change the world
I realize this may be a shock but
“Happiness comes from within.”
• What is this piece
is a lie, and
“Money will make me happy.”
about?
So in 30 years I will tell my children
• How does the
they are not the most important thing in my life
My employer will know that
author feel about
I have my priorities straight because
work
this topic?
is more important than
family
• How do you know—
I tell you this
Once upon a time
how does he use
Families stayed together
but this will not be true in my era
language to express
This is a quick fix society
Experts tell me
his attitude?
30 years from now, I will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of my divorce
I do not concede that
• What is the author’s
I will live in a country of my own making
In the future
purpose in writing
Environmental destruction will be the norm
No longer can it be said that
this piece?
My peers and I care about this earth
It will be evident that
• What could the takeMy generation is apathetic and lethargic
It is foolish to presume that
away (theme) be?
There is hope.
Now read the poem
BACKWARDS.
Answer the following
questions:
•
•
•
•
•
“Lost Generation”
by Jonathan Reed
I am part of a lost generation
and I refuse to believe that
I can change the world
I realize this may be a shock but
“Happiness comes from within.”
is a lie, and
What is this piece
“Money will make me happy.”
So in 30 years I will tell my children
about?
they are not the most important thing in my life
My employer will know that
How does the
I have my priorities straight because
work
author feel about
is more important than
family
this topic?
I tell you this
Once upon a time
How do you know—
Families stayed together
but this will not be true in my era
how does he use
This is a quick fix society
Experts tell me
language to express
30 years from now, I will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of my divorce
his attitude?
I do not concede that
I will live in a country of my own making
What is the author’s
In the future
Environmental destruction will be the norm
purpose in writing
No longer can it be said that
My peers and I care about this earth
this piece?
It will be evident that
My generation is apathetic and lethargic
What could the takeIt is foolish to presume that
There is hope.
away (theme) be?
How does the tone and mood change when the
poem is read backwards?
The tone & mood go from negative to positive.
What does this illustrate to us about writing?
Our word choice determines what readers take
from the piece and how they interpret our
opinions about the topic.
RESPONDING
TO POETRY
Read “If I should have a daughter…”
by Sarah Kay
• Describe the author’s tone / Explain
• Identify the mood the piece creates / Explain
• What literary devices does the author use?
Multiple Choice Answers:
1. A
2. C
3. C
4. D
5. B
6. C
7. D
8. D
9. A
10. B
WATCH & LISTEN
Creative Title
• Think of a creative title for Sarah Kay’s poem.
• Explain how/why your choice accurately
portrays the tone and mood of the poem.
Execution by Edward Hirsch
The last time I saw my high school football coach
He had cancer stenciled into his face
Like pencil marks from the sun, like intricate
Drawings on the chalkboard, small x's and o's
That he copied down in a neat numerical hand
Before practice in the morning. By day's end
The board was a spiderweb of options and counters,
Blasts and sweeps, a constellation of players
Shining under his favorite word, Execution,
Underlined in the upper right-hand corner of things.
He believed in football like a new religion
And had perfect unquestioning faith in the fundamentals
Of blocking and tackling, the idea of warfare
Without suffering or death, the concept of teammates
Moving in harmony like the planets — and yet
Our awkward adolescent bodies were always canceling.
The flawless beauty of Saturday afternoons in September,
Falling away from the particular grace of autumn,
The clear weather, the ideal game he imagined.
And so he drove us through punishing drills
On weekday afternoons, and doubled our practice time,
And challenged us to hammer him with forearms,
And devised elaborate, last-second plays — a fleaFlicker, a triple reverse — to save us from defeat.
Almost always they worked. He despised losing
And loved winning more than his own body, maybe even
More than himself. But the last time I saw him
He looked wobbly and stunned by illness,
And I remembered the game in my senior year
When we met a downstate team who loved hitting
More than we did, who battered us all afternoon
With a vengeance, who destroyed us with timing
And power, with deadly, impersonal authority,
Machine-like fury, perfect execution.
“Execution” by Edward
Hirsch:
1.
2.
Read the poem
Answer the following
questions in your
notebook:
•
What is this piece
about?
What is the author’s
purpose in writing this
piece?
How does the author
use language to
express his/her
purpose?
What could the takeaway (theme) be?
•
•
•
Poetry Analysis
“How do I write a response to a poem?”
DO NOW: Response to “Execution”
DO NOW:
What did you think about the poem “Execution”?
Write a paragraph explaining your opinion.
Let’s take a look at:
REVISITING YOUR
ANALYSIS OF THE
POEM
“EXECUTION”
1. What do you think and/or feel about this poem? What mood
does it create? Write one sentence to express this.
2. Why do you think and/or feel this way about the poem?
Write 1 reason.
3.
Explain your reason in at least two sentences.
4. Find text evidence from the piece to show or support your
reason from #2.
.
5. Explain how your text evidence supports your reason.
6. Write a thematic statement that could relate to your
response to #1 (relate your supporting evidence to the mood
of the poem). Try to restate what you said in #1 into this
statement.
“Execution” by Edward
Hirsch Reflection
Summary:
Now that you have discussed
this poem, use your
understanding of it to
construct a summary of what
you thought and/or how you
felt about the piece by
answering these questions.
1.
What do you think and/or feel about this poem? Write one sentence to
express this. This will include the tone and mood.
Shell Silverstein’s The Giving Tree is a sad story that leaves the
reader feeling empathy for the tree.
2. Why do you think and/or feel this way about the poem? Write 1 reason.
One cannot help but to feel sorry for the tree because it
constantly yearns for the love and attention of the little boy but doesn’t always
receive them.
3.
Explain your reason in at least two sentences.
Since the boy was a youth, the tree would give all that she had to
it. However, as much as she would give was as much as the boy would take.
The unfortunate part is that, throughout the story, the boy always asks of the
tree things that he should be able to obtain on his own.
4. Find 2 examples of text evidence from the piece to show or support your
reason from #2.
He would ask such things as, “Can you give me some money?
Can you give me a house? Can you give me a boat?” (paragraphs 5, 10, and
15).
.
5. Explain how your text evidence supports your reason.
These requests from the boy show how he values the tree in that
all he wants is for the tree to “give” him things.
6.
Write a thematic statement that could relate to your response to #1.
The sadness of this story shows that it must be difficult to love
something that does not love you in return.
“Execution” by Edward
Hirsch Reflection
Summary:
Review these examples of
how the questions could be
answered. (using the story
“The Giving Tree”)
The Giving Tree is a sad story that leaves the reader feeling
empathy for the tree. One cannot help but to feel sorry for the tree because it
“Execution” by Edward
Hirsch Reflection Summary:
constantly gives unconditional love to the boy, but that love is not always
reciprocated. Since the boy was a youth, the tree would give all that she had
to it. However, as much as she would give was as much as the boy would
take. The unfortunate part was that, throughout the story, the boy would
always ask of the tree things that he should have been able to obtain on his
own. He would ask such things as, “Can you give me some money? Can you
give me a house? Can you give me a boat?” (paragraphs 5, 10, and 15). These
When you put all of your
sentences together, this is what it
could look like.
•
•
requests from the boy show how he values the tree in that all he wants is for
the tree to “give” him things. Although this story is fictional in that there is no
such thing as a talking tree, the characters in this book could actually
represent real people. There are many relationships that exist like the one
that the tree and the boy have. Whether the relationship is between a parent
•
•
•
What is this piece about?
What is the author’s position
on the topic? What sentence
show the author’s position?
How does the author support
her position?
How is this piece organized?
What could the take-away be?
and child, two friends, or a couple dating, the sadness of this story shows that
it must be difficult to love something that does not love you in return.
How could you expand this
response into a longer essay?