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.