Tone and Mood

Tone and mood serve as the emotional impact of a work onto the reader. Moreover, the tone of a poem can cause the reader to feel a soothing, calm feeling or an anger-filled emotion. A great example of a poem that employs an array of different tones is Andrew Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress". The poem stars out very beautifully and sweet sounding, with key words and phrases that emphasize the speakers never ending love towards his mistress, as he focuses on her specific body parts as well as their love as strong as a "vast empire". But, the simple word "but" in the beginning of the second stanza completely changes the entire mood and tone of the poem, becoming less loving and more rushed and discomforting. By the last stanza of the poem, the tone completely shifts because of the crass, disturbing and harsh consonant sounds and images that the stanza employs. "Amorous birds of prey", "rough strife", and "Iron gates of life" are all examples of the drastic tone shift from the first stanza, where the emphasis of the poem was previously focused on The speaker's "vegetable love" towards his mistress. Therefore, the shift in tone effects the whole mood and image that the reader sees in his or her head while reading a work. Lastly, the tone determines the emotional experience in which a reader will encounter while reading the work.

Diction

Diction can be defined as the articulation of speech regarded from the point of view of its intelligibility to the audience. However, diction is really the combination of all literary devices as well as a careful explination of setting, tone, imagery, sounds, symbols, and characters. Careful choice of diction expresses each of the elements above. For example, Yeat's "A Prayer for My Daughter" expresses the perfect choice of diction in almost every line. "May she become a flourishing hidden tree" employs all of the literary devices, including the metaphor of a "flourishing tree" which ultimately represents the child growing in the future. Also, the line gives the reader a sense of what the flourishing tree looks like, creating a sensory experience of imagery, as well as creating a setting through the image of the tree. Lastly, the tree is personified as Yeats' daughter. The most important aspect of any poem or longer work is the utilization of all literary and poetic devices, which ultimately unfold as strong diction and word choice. Therefore, diction is the most important aspect of a work because it is the mere choice of words.

Imagery

Imagery brings all of the senses into poetry. Moreover, imagery allows descriptive settings to come to live. Imagery causes the reader to feel, see and touch whatever is being described through distinct poetic devices. Each element of poetry, such as the setting's physical characteristics, is brought together through figurative language and imagery. For example, William Carlos Williams' poem "The Red Wheelbarrow" describes the setting in which the poem takes place, and through the description of setting and the distinct sounds, the imagery all falls into place. "Glazed with rain water" is such a vivid image that not only triggers the sense of seeing, but the reader can almost feel the rain water and touch the wetness. Moreover, such a simple poem can employ the vivid imagery that all poems try to utilize. Imagery is commonly achieved through the utilization of assonance, sibilance, and other poetic devices. For example, Robert Frost's "Out, Out" creates an overpowering image from the first word to the last. Line 3, which states "Sweet-scented stuff when the breeze drew across it" causes the reader to engage in all 5 senses through the sibilance of the "s" and the soft "e" sound that makes the reader feel caught in the wind. Therefore, imagery can be achieved through many literary sound devices, the sound of a poem, and the mere description of the setting of a poem.

Sounds

Sounds bring imagery and sense to a work. More than longer works, poems truly bring out the intensity of sound through alliteration, assonance, rhyme, and other literary devices. Moreover, the poem Ozymandias utilizes many different poetic devices that change up the sound of the poem. The first half of the poem flows consistently with rhyme and fluid sentences and a lack of wordiness. However, there are certain phrases such as "cold command" that make the reader feel like they are in the poem and such consonance refers to the lonely ruins that remain. However, the fluidity of the poem ends quickly with the caesura "Nothing besides remains". After the caesura, the poems fluidity and smooth sound quickly ends and becomes choppy. The importance of sound in this poem is to express the change in time from a smooth, vast empire to choppy and stoney remains. Therefore, sounds aid to the story line of the poem while explaining the details and setting through fluidity and choppiness.

Symbol

A symbol is usually something small that represents something else in the larger scheme of things. Symbols could be reoccurring or they can simply be present once. However, the most important aspect of symbols is what they really represent. In a lot of poetry and longer works, symbols can be as simple as a repeated color, word, phrase, or feeling. For example, the repetition of the color white in the novel The Great Gastby sheds light to Daisy's seeming purity and her quiet and dainty personality. Moreover, although it may seem that the color white is just a description of Daisy's clothing and other personal objects, a closer look reveals that the color symbolizes the depth of Daisy's character while shedding light to her true persona. Unlike in novels, when a symbol is repeated multiple times throughout the work, symbols in poetry are usually mentioned once or referred to very little throughout the poem. But, symbols in poetry tend to have a much deeper meaning than it may seem on the surface. Therefore, symbols in long and short works may not appear to be the same, but in reality the two function the same, revealing a deeper meaning through a simpler word or phrase.

Setting

The setting of a play, novel, poem, or short story becomes a huge role in the story itself. Setting contributes to the story as a whole, creates tension, and ultimately sets the mood for the whole story. For example, Hamlet's dark, mysterious setting of Denmark ads to the tragedy of the play, and makes the tragedy come to life. Also, the subtlety of Pride and Prejudice's vast countryside sets a very obeying and light tone to allow characters to outshine the lack-of-detailed setting. In poetry, setting is usually described with vivid imagery which usually sets the tone and creates a story for the reader. Moreover, when watching a play live, the audience will usually notice the setting and will feel they are in the setting with the actors, as the setting always comes to life with the play itself. When a setting is dark and mysterious, the play will seem to have a tragic ending. However, when there is a colorful, vivid setting, the play will tend to end in a happy marriage or other exciting event. Therefore, setting becomes a huge contributor to the overall plot and storyline of a novel, play, poem, or any other work, and contributes the audience or reader's feelings while reading or watching the story unravel.

Character

Characters bring tension, conflict and personality to any story. Moreover, characters allow a reader to engage more in a story because of relatability and similar or contrasting traits. One of the most powerful characters that we have seen this year is Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice. Elizabeth's head-strong personality provides an interesting contrast from the other obeying women in the English society. Elizabeth brings tension and provides to most of the story line and plot. Her different outlook on society and love creates a modern, fresh, and relatable character for readers. In a fiction, characters tend to stand out through personality traits that differ from other's personalities. Like fiction characters, characters in dramas also tend to stand out because of their contrasting  personalities, however dramatic characters tend to have more extreme attitudes that conflict and outshine the rest of the supporting characters. Moreover, characters truly provide the interesting plot changes that occur throughout a story. For example, in Hamlet, the climax of the play is made possibly by Hamlet and him stabbing Claudius. Also, the climax in Pride and Prejudice is when Elizabeth finally agrees to Darcy's marriage proposal. Therefore, characters make a story interesting and also create interesting changes in plot.

Plot

Plot becomes the most important aspect of a story. Explained through characters, events and conflicts, plot is what tells a story and brings a story meaning. Moreover, plot comes to life through the exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. All of these major story points bring together the points that inevitably become the plot. In Shakespeare's Hamlet, the exposition (or the background information) begins right at the start of the play with the explanation of the death of Hamlet Senior and Claudius' rise to power. The exposition continues to explain the depression that Hamlet expresses to himself only. Most of the story takes the role of the rising action - the events that lead up to the major conflict and climax - as Hamlet creates tension for himself and contemplates murdering Claudius. Also, Claudius orders Hamlet to be beheaded in England - this is also a rising action. Moreover, the true climax is in Act 5 when Hamlet finally kills Claudius. After the tension in the first 4 acts between Hamlet and Claudius, this action surely serves as the climax. However, the falling action is when Hamlet ultimately kills himself and the rest of his family and most of his friends end up dead. The plot finally ends with Horatio and Fortinbras discussing the honorable funeral for Hamlet and Fortinbras' future place as King of Denmark. Therefore, the plot brings an interesting mix to the story line. Without the subtopics of plot in any story, no story would be interesting or climatic.

turnitin.com comments - Hamlet Essay

I feel that I was able to accomplish a lot of great things in my Hamlet essay. I do have a few things to work on for my next essay:

1. Longer conclusion
2. Make sure to explain more than one trait of personality (or one common theme, etc)
3. Two part title with colon

The common theme of TIME in Coy Mistress and Ozymandias

To His Coy Mistress, a poem that expresses the importance of seizing the day when it comes to expressing love, and Ozymandias, a hopeless ode to the drastic changes that occur through time, both address the harsh effects that people face through the passing of time. Although the two poems seem to be drastically different because of the lengths of the poems as well as diction, the two poems both express the necessity of praising time. Therefore, while To His Coy Mistress and Ozymandias are two completely different poems and appear to have nothing to do with one another - as one focuses on snatching time while it is available and the other emphasizes the way a huge empire can crumble to pieces throughout time - in actuality, the two poems are very similar and express similarities through the strong tone changes in structures of the poems as well as the everlasting theme of time.

Prufrock v. Coy Mistress

Both Prufrock and Coy Mistress share the common theme of the incorrect way of expressing love. However, the two poems express the theme of love in completely opposite ways. Prufrock is the epitome of the modern man who has the inability to express or share love with another person, where as the speaker in Coy Mistress demands an urgent love in which emotions will not be truly expressed. Both speakers attempt at loving another person, however while Prufrock has the inability to love, the speaker in Coy Mistress does not know how to praise love and let it last. Therefore, both speakers attempt at love but because of Prufrocks personal lack of confidence and the speaker of Coy Mistress' overly pompous attitude, the two speakers do not have the ability to successfully carry out their feelings.

Ozymandias v. ponder these busted statues

The poem Ozymandias expresses the importance of time to the ancient king Ozymandias and his ruins. The poem goes on to describe the incredible empire that Ozymandias had created in the ancient times, and how it is currently shattered into pieces with "nothing besides remains" left over. The central point expresses that  something so vast can be destroyed in time. On the other hand, the poem ponder, darling, these busted statues by e.e. cummings compares a sarcastic love story to ancient ruins. The poem is a pun on other "seize the day" poems such as To His Coy Mistress. Moreover, the central theme of cummings' poem is the necessity to take advantage of the time that two lovers may have because just like an infrastructure of a city, love and emotion does not last forever.

Performance Choices

While preparing to perform the first scene where Hamlet talks to Claudius and Gertrude, we had to make many decisions on how to present the characters. The biggest decision was how to have Hamlet behave. In this scene, Hamlet can be a reserved but emotional character or he could be angry and aggressive. In order to show off his anger, we had created an angry version of Hamlet. We had Claudius talk in his usual kind-sounding tone, although he is not saying the kindest and dearest things, and lastly Gertrude had been talking in a most agreeing tone with Claudius. Gertrude's calm tone towards Hamlet would be one of the causes of Hamlet's anger. 

Page 832, #9

The soliloquy that reaches out to me the most is "too too solid flesh". What really stands out about this soliloquy is the dramatic, angry tone that Hamlet carries out throughout the soliloquy, and how that tone miraculously disappears after he hears the crack of the door open. Moreover, his language is very repetitive throughout the soliloquy, implying that he is unable to let go of the past. His language also expresses an anger towards all other people in his life, and a possible urge to be dead. Thus, in this soliloquy, Hamlet feels his meaning and purpose in the world is completely and utterly worthless.

Page 830, #14

Hamlet expresses that Denmark is a 'prison' because of the situation he has been put in. He finds nothing good in his life because of his overwhelming depression, but he wants people to believe that he is not depressed, so he states that there is nothing bad in life either. His anger is justified by the horrible events that have happened to him, but he does make these emotions over the top.  Hamlet suggests that this madness will not go away. Moreover, he may act out some of his emotions to the public, but I do believe that his private internal emotions are very true.

Page 830, #7

Hamlet's sudden mood change is a natural reaction to his anger, however he covers up his anger with strategic words. He is truly angry at the situation that he has been put in, with his father's death and his mother's sudden remarrying, but he does not want to express weakness to the community he lives in. Thus, his internal reaction is one of anger and sadness, but his external reaction is one of strength and strategic language.

Page 830, #4

Laertes and Polonius both object to Ophelia's relationship with Hamlet, warning her to be aware of her surroundings and to not get hurt by the possibility of Hamlet choosing someone else as a girlfriend or wife. Laertes and Polonius' most convincing argument is warning Ophelia to defend her purity. Their advice reveals that both Laertes and Polonius are very worried about Ophelia, as well as very protective of her. Moreover, Ophelia tends to become oblivious of her own decisions, as she is always abiding to her brother and father's advice. Laertes and Polonius may believe that women in general do not realize their surroundings and can get put into a position where they can be completely ignored or oblivious, therefore they are protecting Ophelia by warning her for her future.

A joking friend or a depressed maniac? The two sides of Hamlet

William Shakespeare defines each character in Hamlet by giving individuals different patterns of speech. Shakespeare allows all characters to shine through their different tones and word choice, which ultimately creates an engaging and easy to follow scene for readers and watchers. However, unlike the rest of the characters, Hamlet stands out as a complex character living life through two different personalities: as the comic and the heavy-hearted man. His overpowering raw emotions ultimately force the reader to question the validity of his relationships with other people -- including Ophelia and Horatio -- as well as if Hamlet will present anger and depression to his friends and family in the future. Therefore, Hamlet creates an untroubled face in which he presents to his fellow peers, contrasting to the pure emotion that he preaches while alone.

"I have measured out my life with coffee spoons"

T.S. Elliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" illustrates the lack of confidence that a modern man faces through every thought and step in life. The whole poem creates a mediocre yet depressing setting through Elliot's diction; however, one line truly stood out to me, being: "I have measured out my life with coffee spoons". The character of Prufrock is obviously attempting to try and pull himself together, but this line illustrates his inability, as well as his suspicion of whether or not he really belongs in the world he lives in. As a man who does not receive any attention and fantasizes about women's arms, Prufrock is unable to make another step in his life, thus he measures out his achievements in life with one of the smallest and most insignificant things in life -- coffee spoons. Not only are coffee spoons something that every person sees every day, they also remain unnoticed in a world full of hustle-and-bustle. Therefore, the character of Prufrock feels as unimportant as coffee spoons, thus believes that his place in the world is not important to anyone around him, or even to Prufrock himself.

"Coy Mistress" mini essay

Andrew Marvell writes with a clever sense of diction in his poem "To His Coy Mistress". The choice of words that Marvell decides to utilize creates an interesting tone shift from the beginning of the poem to the end, allowing the poem's meaning to change through each stanza. Marvell starts off the poem with serene and comforting words, initially wooing the reader to make him or her believe that the poem is a soothing love poem. Thus, Marvell goes on into depth about how eternal and beautiful his love is for the "coy mistress". However, in the 2nd stanza, the diction changes the tone and point of the poem, as Marvell states: "then worms shall try / That long preserv'd virginity, / And your quaint honour turn to dust, / And into ashes all my lust." After successfully luring in the reader, Marvel cleverly changes the tone of the poem by utilizing words that are everything but serene. This effect, however, is not caught by many readers because the serenity and the soothing sound of the 1st stanza so efficiently lures the reader in, causing the reader to lose his or her focus from the diction and tone of the poem. Moreover, Marvell continues to change the tone by adding even more harsh words, such as "prey", "devour", "tear", and "rough" in the 3rd stanza. Such jarring words juxtapose the initial tranquil and engaging 1st stanza, changing the meaning of the poem from love being eternal to time is running out. Therefore, Marvell masterfully creates a shift in tone throughout the poem by carefully selecting intimate, meaningful words.

To His Coy Mistress

The aspect of Marvell's poem that stands out the most is his pivoting tone through the poem , more specifically as he states "Had we but the world enough, and time" but later firmly corrects himself, stating "But... Times winged chariot hurrying near". Without a close reading, the reader is unable to catch the fact that in the first stanza, Marvell starts the poem off with the word "had', and such a "tuned-out" reader may classify the poem as a sweet love poem. However, the poem truly changes its tone and its meaning after the word "but" in the beginning of the second stanza. What originally seems like a soft and sweet poem pivots into a poem having a harsh and vicious tone.

D.W. Harding comments paragraph

Is Collins funny or is he a nightmare?

Mr. Collins' character and personality is exaggerated throughout the novel. Mr. Collins' immature and pompous behavior is pushed to such an extent that he comes off as an annoying nightmare. Although at times he serves as a comical character -- such as the time he sent a letter to the Bennett's about his appearance at the house the following day -- Mr. Collins continues to humiliate himself throughout the novel through acts and comments of stupidity and carelessness. Also, Austen intentionally over exaggerates Mr. Collins' character in order to cover up the slight satires that the main characters shed. Thus, because Mr. Collins is so exaggerated as a satirical character, the reader becomes oblivious to the hidden satires that the normal characters (such as Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth) must overcome. Therefore, Austen's intentions were not for Collins to be a funny, comical character, but rather a supercilious and arrogant character that stands out more than the others.

What I need to work on as an English IV Student

I feel that what I really need to work on is my quality of writing and my usage of grammar in writing. I think that I can become a much better writer, but there are a few places where I get stuck. I need to work on being able to make sentences shorter and more concise while still saying the same thing. I also need to work on modifiers and how to use them in my writing.
I also want to work on becoming a better reader and being able to interpret what a book is trying to convey in a faster and more efficient way.

The most important aspects of an essay are....

I believe the most important aspects of an essay include clear, concise writing, creativity, and most importantly as strong essay really proves the writer's point

There were a lot of things I really liked about X for Xander. First, the writer went about a different approach to engage the reader through creativity. Second, the intro paragraph really described the two novels in a very clear and strong way. Lastly, the author of that essay truly stuck with his or her point throughout the whole essay and proved to the reader that their point was the one to believe.

A couple other essays I read were very clear. Mrs Bennett- Austen's Punching Bag was a very clear essay that carried a consistent thought through the whole essay. It gave great examples and the writing style was easy to read and engaging as well.

C2 - Mrs. Bennet: Austen's Punching Bag

This particular essay stood out to me because it was a new idea that no one had gone about doing yet

• Very clear and interesting introduction that makes the reader want to keep reading
• the author makes a stance that has not been made by any other authors, which makes this particular writer stand out 
• Carries the stance through the whole essay
• Author uses good examples to prove his or her point
• Very well written with great ideas too

X is for Xander

After reading 3 more college essays, X for Xander truly stood out to me

• First, the author's witty title completely what the author will state in the future
• This essay really stood out to me because of the style of writing... I like the way the author introduced the essay by setting the scene
• The author sticks with his/her point that he/she states in the introduction and analyzes and expands that point 
• The author understands how to engage the reader
• After reading the intro paragraph, I wanted to read more rather than wanting to stop (as I felt with other college essays)
• Overall, I thought the structure and writing of this essay was a really interesting and fresh outlook on writing and I think the writer did a great job on analyzing and expanding on each point that he/she made. 

M for Mathilda

Out of three essays that I read, M for Mathilda stood out the most in regards to following the rubric.

• The author took a clear stance and described what he/she was going to write about in the future in a specific way
• The author stuck to his/her idea and carried it out through the whole essay
• The author wrote a very concise yet clear thesis
• The author did not overly "narrate" the stories in the novel like some of the other essay writers did
• The author did a good job in not repeating him/herself when it came to reiterating the point that he/she was making through the essay
• Overall, I thought this essay was very clear and made a good strong point, and that is why I liked it the most. 

The utilization of foils and gossipers to introduce characters

Austen introduces characters as foils of oneanother, whereas Hurston introduces characters through the eyes and words of the townspeople.