Blogpost #8 Tone and Mood

Both Tone and Mood are elements that are usually necessary in any poem or work and provide the reader with a sense of understanding and allows them to relate to that mood. Tone and mood are not exactly necessary in a poem or play, but they do happen to appear in both and contribute to the author's meaning as well as provide emotion to the work to make it ever more dramatic. The authors sometimes do not purposefully provide a tone or mood to their work to make it sound dramatic, but rather it is automatically placed or even made up by the reader to make their experience of reading better. For example, when comparing poems such as "The Second Coming" by William Butler Yeats, and "Ode on a Grecian Urn" by John Keats are examples of poems with in some ways the same tone/mood are presented in both poems. Yeats provides his poem with a very ominous and dark foreshadowing tone because he discusses chaos and disorder in civilization. The Second coming is a time of chaos and where basically the world is falling apart and there is nothing to stop this disorder. Keats's explains his poem with a very similar tone and mood  about chaos and about anarchy that exists during the poem's time. Keats is very descriptive and this provides the tone with a lot more meaning and makes his poem become filled with emotion.  

Blogpost #7 Diction

Diction is a more complicated idea used in every poem or play by characters to help express theme, plot, setting, symbol, or figurative language. Diction is basically the author's choice of words in a certain context and these word choices may be denotations or connotations or maybe expressed through character's colloquial language. The author purposefully uses diction formally or informally to send a concealed message discussing what the author wants to make known without openly expressing it. Diction operates in a way so that the reader can understand and become connected with what the character's are saying and allows the reader to relate to certain themes of the poem or play. In comparing "Traveling through the dark" by William Stafford and "Fast Break" by Edward Hirsch, these authors use totally different diction in both poems to express their meaning and by allowing the reader to understand what their inside meaning is. Even though these poems don't really have characters to follow, the author uses diction in his own words to describe some moment in time or some event. In the diction used by William Stafford, he uses slow and monotonous word choices such as "dead", "dragged", and "stiffened" to express the death of the deer and how the awful environment around it is dark and gloomy as well. This diction used by Stafford clearly exemplifies his message of darkness, and ominous tone that he provides to the poem. In "Fast Break", Hirsch uses a different type of diction including denotations and connotations to exemplify the "hidden" meaning he attempts to express. Hirsch's word choice such as "both forwards racing down the court" or "the power-forward explodes past them in a fury" help portray Hirsch's need to express the fast paced and accelerated game that he wants to explain. He clearly expresses the quickness and swift motions of the players on the court through his diction and allow the reader to realize the swiftness of the poem. Diction is essential in expressing the theme and meaning of a poem or play. Author's use diction for this exact purpose and they carefully pick their word choice wisely.

Blogpost #6 Imagery/Figurative Language

Imagery and Figurative language are key essential elements in a poet's wording and diction, and they help provide an image that explains clearly what each poet is trying to depict. In a poet's mind, they are always trying to send a message to the reader that the reader can not only depict, but fully understand the complex theory or idea. Figurative language is in a figure of speech or metaphorical which means that whatever figurative language the poet uses is not exactly literal or true. Poets like to alter the diction by using metaphorical language because this diction usually expands on an idea and provides a more detailed analysis that the reader can understand and see clearly. In "The Second Coming," William Butler Yeats explains the use of imagery and figurative language through images of exaggerated chaos and disorder that is occurring when the second coming happens. An example of figurative language as well as imagery is depicted in Yeats' word choice such as "A shape with lion body and the head of a man, a gaze blank and pitiless as the sun." As the reader can see, there is both personification, metaphor, hyperbole and imagery in this line of the poem because the reader can clearly identify the exaggerated as well as clear diction that the poet uses. This metaphorical diction provides the reader with a more detailed depiction of exactly the message that Yeats is trying to explain. Obviously, in this poem Yeats is trying to explain the chaos and sense of disorder that is occurring during the second coming. He clearly explains this message the reader through his use of imagery and figurative language in his diction.