Tone in Poetry and Art

Interpreting TextAdvanced Composition & Grammar 2011

Mrs. Morrell

TODAY* (Day 1): [Student directions]1. Work with groups of three or four.2. Discuss each piece and record your

ideas on the chart*. We’ll do the first art piece and first poem together.

3. Remember: Each piece needs TWO tone words (adjectives to describe tone). Use the tone words handout or poster, please.

4. Consider which pieces “match” In other words, align each art piece with a poem. Be able to defend your choices.

*At the end of the tunnel…

Students will be able to1) Write coherently about tone in

various texts; and2) Use vocabulary that displays what

they know, now and in their academic futures.

1. d'Holbachie Yoko

What is the subject of this art piece?

List the outstanding details.

How does the piece make you feel?

Why?

What is the tone of this art piece?

2. Edvard MunchWhat is the subject?

What are the outstanding details?

How does the piece make you feel?

Why?

What is the tone of this art piece?

What is the subject?

List the outstanding

details.

How does the piece make you feel?

Why?

What is the tone?

3. Edgar Degas

4. Claude MonetWhat is the

subject?

Outstanding Details?

How does it make you

feel? Why?

What is the tone?

5. Anne Julie AubreyWhat is the

subject?

List outstanding

details.

How does it make you feel?

Why?

What is the tone?

Reminder: Details (words and phrases) reveal

TONE in poetry. Pay attention to the author’s craft. Every word is a

deliberate choice!

1. Hazel Tells Lavernelast nightim cleanin out myhoward johynsons ladies roomwhen all of a suddenup pops this frogmusta come from the sewerswimming around an tryin taclimb up the sida the bowlso I goes ta flushm downbut sohelpmegod he starts talkinbout a golden ballan how I can be a princessme a princess

well my mouth dropsall the way to the flooran he sayskiss me just kiss meonce on the nosewell I screamsya little green pervertan I hitsm with my mopan has ta flushthe toilet down three timesmea princess

Katharyn Howd Machan

2. The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner

From my mother's sleep I fell into the State, And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze. Six miles from earth, loosed from its dream of life, I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters. When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose.

Randall Jarrell

3. There Will Come Soft Rains There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground,And swallows circling with their shimmering sound;

And frogs in the pools singing at night,And wild plum trees in tremulous white;

Robins will wear their feathery fire,Whistling their whims on a low fence-wire;

And not one will know of the war, not oneWill care at last when it is done.

Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree,If mankind perished utterly;

And Spring herself, when she woke at dawnWould scarcely know that we were gone.  

Sara Teasdale

4. An Ancient GestureI thought, as I wiped my eyes on the corner of my apron:Penelope did this too.And more than once: you can't keep weaving all dayAnd undoing it all through the night;Your arms get tired, and the back of your neck gets tight;And along towards morning, when you think it will never be light,And your husband has been gone, and you don't know where, for years.Suddenly you burst into tears;There is simply nothing else to do. And I thought, as I wiped my eyes on the corner of my apron:This is an ancient gesture, authentic, antique,In the very best tradition, classic, Greek;Ulysses did this too.But only as a gesture,—a gesture which impliedTo the assembled throng that he was much too moved to speak.He learned it from Penelope...Penelope, who really cried. Edna St. Vincent Millay

5. The Red Wheelbarrow

so much dependsupon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rainwater beside the whitechickens.

-William Carlos Williams

Day Two1. Read the poem you brought today to your group

members . READ ALOUD.2. Talk to your group about why you chose this

poem. 3. Reveal the tone of the poem and the details that

led you to decide on tone.4. Search for a work of art to “match” your poem.5. Create a slide show that presents each work.

Include the subject, outstanding details, and tone of each work (as text on your slides).

6. Be ready to present your slides (next class).7. Be ready to write! (next class)

Day 3

Using the resources you have acquired in the last two class periods, write an essay in which you address this prompt:

Authors and artists use tone to reach out to their audiences. In a coherent essay,

compare/contrast how two distinct works (poem and art work) employ tone to appeal to the audience. Make sure you list your sources

in a Works Cited page (MLA bibliography).A draft of this work must be submitted to the instructor before the end of the class period.

Assessment (for your first draft)Excellent drafts will:•Employ a strong (arguable) thesis;•Express ideas that are insightful;•Use a balance of details from each work;•Be skillfully structured (use paragraphs in a crafted order);•Use words accurately & selectively.

Satisfactory drafts will:•Employ a thesis that may need tweaking;•Express commonly held ideas;•Use details from both works, but may lack balance;•Contain paragraphs that may need to be reordered;•Struggle to use words effectively.

Struggling drafts will:•Be missing an arguable thesis;•Express ideas that are foggy (unclear);•Address ideas from only one of the works;•Lack coherent , well-ordered paragraphs;•Fail to use “tone” vocabulary.

NOTICE1. At the top of your draft, identify where YOU think you are with this writing.2. At the top of your draft, write two questions that will begin the revision process for you. What do you need to know ?

Other resources for poetry and art

Google Art Project:http://www.googleartproject.com/ National Gallery of Art:http://www.nga.gov/onlinetours/index.shtm Poets.org: http://www.poets.org/ Poetry 180: http://www.loc.gov/poetry/180/