theme and tone

Theme

• What a poem says involves its theme.
• A theme is not a topic or a cliche.

tone

• How a poem expresses the theme is the tone.

theme & Tone

• No two poems on the same subject affect readers in exactly the same way.

theme & Tone

• Themes and tones of poems on similar topics vary.

theme & Tone

• Various expressions of a particular topic create different themes and tones.

tone

tone

• refers to the qualities of the language a speaker uses in social situations or in a poem

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• Tone also refers to a speaker's intended effect.
• It is closely related to style and diction.

Reminder

• When analyzing, begin by identifying speaker, situation, and setting.

Leaving the motel

let's listen

• Who is the speaker?
• What is the situation?
• What is the setting?

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• What is the tone of this poem?
• Support?

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theme

theme

• A theme is not simply a work's subject or its topic.
• It is a statement about that topic.

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• A single poem may have more than one theme.

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• Identifying a poem's theme can be difficult.
• Take care not to treat the theme with too much simplicity.

topic vs. tone & Theme

Listen

• "Woodchucks"
• "Aunt Jennifer's Tigers"

Questions

• As I read Kumin's "Woodchucks," how did my tone of voice change from beginning to end?

question

• Exactly when does the hunter begin to enjoy the feel of the gun and idea of killing?

question

• Why are tigers a particularly appropriate contrast to the woman embroidering a hunting scene?

question

• Why are Aunt Jennifer's hands described as "terrified"?

language

Introduction

• In a poem, almost everything comes down to particular meanings and implications.

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• Sometimes poems contain only the essential words, so these words have been chosen carefully.

diction

• a poet's word choice

precision and ambiguity

• By examining a single word in a poem, we can see the multiple meanings and how they work.

Let's listen

• [The golf links lie so near the mill] by Sarah Cleghorn

One word: Play

• Another word: lie

let's listen

• "Of Time and the Line" by Charles Bernstein

One word?

• Choose one word and write a few notes about how the word can have multiple meanings here.

denotation & connotation

• Denotation is the "dictionary" definition of a word
• Connotation is that definition and all the emotions and "hidden" meanings of that word.

Word choice

"My Papa's Waltz"

• Refer to the questions that follow the poem on page 553.

syntax

• The way the chosen words have been ordered into sentences and lines to achieve an effect.

as you read

• Try to pay attention to the way the poet has chosen to order the words and lines.
• Think about the effect of this order.