Tones of Poems

527 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Poem tone quiz

Tones of Poems

It is easy to tell how somebody is feeling just by the tone of there voice during a conversation. If a person is happy or just being funny they usually have a smile on their face, but if they are mad their voice becomes more stern and loud. The author can use different techniques to show emotion in short stories and novels such as exclamation points or italicized words. These techniques make the reader more apt to figure out how the character is feeling. In poems it is harder to figure out the tone. The reader has to actually read the whole poem and not just look at a few words. The tone is made up of many different words. Poets Pat Mora and Anthony Grooms both convey feelings in their pieces, but in one the tone remains the same and the other changes with the setting.

In Pat Mora's "Elena" the person telling the story is from Mexico originally and moved to El Paso, Texas. She tells how her whole life has been changed due to this move. Right from the start you can tell the tone is negative because the speaker says "My Spanish isn't good enough"(L...

Show More
Related

  • How The Garcia Girls Lost Their Accent By Julia Alvarez Analysis

    717 Words  | 2 Pages

    Julia Alvarez wrote the novel “How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents”. Alvarez, (a Dominican-American novelist) was born in New York City. Her story is about four sisters (The Garcia family) who were living an established, upper class life in the Dominican Republic. They were forced to flee from the Dominican Republic to the United States due to their father’s opposition to Rafael Leonidas Trujillo’s dictatorship. The Garcia family were forced to face the challenges that came along with being an immigrant family in a foreign land. In her novel “How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents,” Alvarez highlights the challenges of immigration, cultural readjustments and family conflicts.

    Read More

  • Essay Comparing The Cask Of Amontillado And A Poison Tree

    448 Words  | 1 Pages

    Both authors use figurative language to help develop sensory details. In the poem It states, “And I sunned it with my smiles, And with soft deceitful wiles.” As the author explains how the character is feeling, the reader can create a specific image in there head based on the details that is given throughout the poem. Specifically this piece of evidence shows the narrator growing more angry and having more rage. In the short story ” it states, “We are below the river's bed. The drops of moisture trickle among bones.” From this piece of text evidence the reader can sense the cold dark emotion that is trying to be formed. Also this excerpt shows the conflict that is about to become and the revenge that is about to take place. By the story and the poem using sensory details, they both share many comparisons.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Se Habla Espanol By Barrientos

    1236 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Se habla Espanol” wrote by Tanya Maria Barrientos. She is growing up in Texas, but she was born in Guatemala. That causes she cannot speak Spanish like Latina. In the article, she talked about what the feeling as a Lantana without the ability to speak Spanish so well. Her parents give her a few of knowledge about speaking Spanish. Because, she grew up in a special era, which Mexican Americans were considered dangerous radical. Nowadays, this theory is politically incorrect. The author wants to find some people that like her, does not fit in Spanish culture and help them, giving them a big mental supporting. I’m from China, growing and living in different places, which have different language and culture habit.

    Read More

  • Always Writing In Spanish Marjorie Agosin Analysis

    605 Words  | 2 Pages

    In her essay “Always Living in Spanish,” Marjorie Agosin justifies her preference for writing in Spanish as surviving to culture shock, a reminder of her childhood, and a vivid experience of her senses. As a member of an immigrant family, Marjorie Agosin deals with the sorrow and pain of leaving behind her native land to migrate from Chile to United States. She illustrates the frustrations of “...one who writes in Spanish and lives in translation” (167). During her teenage years, Agosin discovers writing in Spanish as the only getaway to escape from constant discrimination, because “... [her] poor English and [her] accent were the cause of ridicule and insult” (167). For this reason, in such times of emotional turmoil, the author decides that

    Read More

  • Tone and Diction in Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby and T.S. Eliot’s Poem, The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock

    655 Words  | 2 Pages

    Each literary work portrays something different, leaving a unique impression on all who read that piece of writing. Some poems or stories make one feel happy, while others are more solemn. This has very much to do with what the author is talking about in his or her writing, leaving a bit of their heart and soul in the work. F. Scott Fitzgerald, when writing The Great Gatsby, wrote about the real world, yet he didn’t paint a rosy picture for the reader. The same can be said about T.S. Eliot, whose poem “The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock,” presents his interpretation of hell. Both pieces of writing have many similarities, but the most similar of them all is the tone of each one.

    Read More

  • The Drought Year By Hugh Wright

    912 Words  | 2 Pages

    Poetry is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and rhythmic qualities; it is solely used to evoke emotive feelings in the reader in which to convey a message or story. This form of literature has a long history dating back thousands of years and is considered a literacy art form as it uses forms and conventions to evoke differentiating interpretations of words, though the use of poetic devices. Devices such as assonance, figurative language, alliteration, onomatopoeia and rhythm are sometimes used to achieve a musical and memorable aspect to the poem. Poems are usually written based on the past experiences of the poet and are greatly influenced by the writer’s morals values and beliefs. Poetry regularly demonstrates and emphasises on the

    Read More

  • Optimism in Fahrenheit 451, Invictus, Freedom to Breathe, and The Nobel Acceptance

    781 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...in that person’s life for example the 2 poems I quoted the writers were in prison and depressed yet they show mercy and seek out compassion rather than defeat it takes a lot to show compassion after being in prison for speaking your mind. Make someone want to kill somebody for doing that to you. Can be found everywhere that has a story line basis to it the common method of writing is figuring out if it will be optimistic or pessimistic. In the novel “Fahrenheit 451” it has both it shows a lot of pessimism but does show optimism especially at the end where the city is bombed and everyone dies besides Montag and the professor as well as montags new friends.

    Read More

  • Indian Boarding School

    1589 Words  | 4 Pages

    "Compressed emotions," that is the explanation a teacher once gave to the ongoing question, "What is poetry?" He said it was someone's deepest emotions, as if you were reading them right out of that person's mind, which in that case would not consist of any words at all. If someone tells you a story, it is usually like a shell. Rarely are all of the deepest and most personal emotions revealed effectively. A poem of that story would be like the inside of the shell. It personifies situations, and symbolizes and compares emotions with other things in life. Louise Erdrich's poem Indian Boarding School puts the emotions of a person or group of people in a setting around a railroad track. The feelings experienced are compared to things from the setting, which takes on human characteristics.

    Read More

  • Lanston hughes comparison of two poems

    825 Words  | 2 Pages

    In today’s modern view, poetry has become more than just paragraphs that rhyme at the end of each sentence. If the reader has an open mind and the ability to read in between the lines, they discover more than they have bargained for. Some poems might have stories of suffering or abuse, while others contain happy times and great joy. Regardless of what the poems contains, all poems display an expression. That very moment when the writer begins his mental journey with that pen and paper is where all feelings are let out. As poetry is continues to be written, the reader begins to see patterns within each poem. On the other hand, poems have nothing at all in common with one another. A good example of this is in two poems by a famous writer by the name of Langston Hughes. A well-known writer that still gets credit today for pomes like “ Theme for English B” and “Let American be American Again.”

    Read More

  • Pat Mora's Sonrisas

    1159 Words  | 3 Pages

    Pat Mora was born and raised in El Paso, Texas, the city in which her four Spanish-speaking grandparents migrated during the Mexican Revolution. Her firm belief in promoting cross-cultural understanding and the appreciation of Hispanic culture often reveals itself in her works. She often writes about the elements of the Southwest to relate to and empower Hispanics to embrace the cultural traditions that are so significant to their identities (University of Minnesota).

    Read More

  • The Blend of Cultures in English con Salsa by Gina Valdes

    825 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...new right away I could relate it since English is my second language. In this poem there is a combination of the two languages I know, English and Spanish, which then converts into a new language Spanglish. Many Latino teenagers and children, like me, speak English at work and school and speak Spanish mostly when they are at home. Therefore, the way we Latino people speak is almost like the way Ms. Valdez wrote this poem. This poem is also a reality in the lives of those who migrate to the United States. Many immigrants see that everything is different and new. They also see that they have to slowly adapt to the new environment. Through Gina’s choice of words and imagery, she makes the Latino audience feel more serene with the American Language and culture. All of the humor, imagery, and similes used in this poem made this poem much more enjoyable and relatable.

    Read More

  • Figurative Language: Anaphora

    1048 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout history, poets had experimented with different forms of figurative language. Figurative language allows a poet to express his or her meaning within a poem. The beauty of using the various forms of figurative language is the ability to convey deep meaning in a condensed fashion. There are many different figures of speech that a poet can use such as: simile, paradox, metaphor, alliteration, and anaphora. These examples only represent a fraction of the different forms, but are amongst the most well-known. The use of anaphora in a poem, by a poet, is one of the best ways to apply weight or emphasis on a particular segment. Not only does an anaphora place emphasis, but it can also aid in setting the tone, or over all “feel” a reader receives from a poem. Poets such as Walt Whitman, Conrad Aiken, and Frances Osgood provide poems that show how the use of anaphora can effect unity, feeling, and structure of a poem.

    Read More

  • I am a rock

    1264 Words  | 3 Pages

    When reading or listening to poetry, the main objective for me is to feel moved. Happiness, longing, sadness are some of the feelings that can be achieved just by listening to others’ words. It is within these words that creates another world, or separates us from our own. Words all have a certain kind of attachment to them, so if used properly an author can stimulate a reader beyond belief.

    Read More

  • Poetry Response Essay

    2145 Words  | 5 Pages

    Like in my poem, when certain events happen, I would exaggerate and shift my tone to express my feelings and emotions. Although, as I transition, the mood shifts to a subtler

    Read More

  • Esthetic Emotion In Poetry

    1386 Words  | 3 Pages

    Emotions are evoked with the aim to free persons from disturbing emotions. In instances of pity and fear persons tend to accumulate these feelings, which is harmful to the soul. In tragedy, however, whatever sufferings witnessed are not in our control and these emotions are easily released thereby relieve the excess in our souls. Tragedy transforms these distressing emotions into “calm of mind”, thus, the emotional appeal of poetry leads to pleasure. In addition, esthetic emotion in poetry translates to pleasure. The reader and the listener of the poem are prompted through figurative language to visualize what is in the real world. The vividness of the imaginary world that is experienced by the reader, poet and listener generates to a new spiritual knowledge or understanding which gives pleasure (Berlant, p.189). To add on, melancholy as an aesthetic emotion is a source of pleasure. Melancholy involves a variety of emotions; a yearning, sadness, feeling uplifted and even an elusive excitement. It has both pleasure and displeasure aspects. The displeasure aspect lies in the feeling of grief, fear of the unknown, loneliness and emptiness. The pleasurable aspect is entirely about reflecting on elaborate illusion and happy memories. Melancholy is therefore deliberately pursued by finding seclusion. In seclusion reflection is deepened which in turn prolongs the pleasure. Dylan in his poem reveals instances of melancholy Gale, Cengage Learning,

    Read More

More about Tones of Poems

Open Document