Tone/Mood- Blog #8

Tone is the speaker's attitude, whereas mood is the reader’s feeling. These devices are therefore crucial to literature in order to familiarize and personalize the text, providing an emotional relationship to the reader. In “To His Coy Mistress”, Marvell’s tone shifts throughout the poem. Seeming romantic, the poet explains how his love for his mistress transcends time, "My vegetable love should grow Vaster than empires, and more slow". The reader expects the poem to be a progression of their mutual love and unwavering loyalty to each other. However, the speaker expresses urgency, with morbid descriptions of inevitable death, contradicting his previous claims about boundless and timeless love, "Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound My echoing song; then worms shall try".  In lines 27, 29, and 30, the words "worms,” “dust,” and “ashes" alter the pleading (manipulative?) tone introduced through imagery associated with decomposition. These words firmly establish the crass reality of looming death, developing a melancholy tone. The jarring juxtaposition leads the reader to question the speaker's true desires regarding his lover. The matter becomes convoluted and the only solution is the passionate tone, devoid of genuine affection: "And now, like amorous birds of prey, rather at once our time devour". "To His Coy Mistress" begins with a tone of romance and tranquility but concludes with almost violent lust. In response to this tonal transition, the mood of the poem changes drastically. The reader is clued into the mood shift by obvious word such as “But” and “Now”. From sweet and romantic to sexual and tense, the reader responds to the man’s shift in mentality.

Diction- Blog #7

     Diction conveys emotions, intent, and point of view by the author. Evidently, diction is the key of exploration into Shakespeare's world. The playwright uses different types of diction to develop a character's thought process, intent, and desire. In his "To be or not to be" soliloquy, Hamlet weighs the value of life and fortune and suicide as an escape, further revealing his indecisiveness. He relates death to sleeping and by metonymy, claims that self-destruction is just a pleasant and extended rest. However, he stops at the realization that to sleep implies dreaming, and "in that sleep of death what dreams may come, when we have shuffled off this mortal coil, must give us pause." In other words, Hamlet, fearing to find himself in Hell should he commit suicide, discovers that his fear of the after-life prevents people with fortune to commit suicide.
     Therefore, diction is not only an essential foundation for a coherent Shakespearean plot , but also for the actors, who need to speak seeminly without effort in order for audience to become engaged rather than regard Shakespearan literature as archaic monotonous. To do so,  enunciation rather than pronunciation of Shakespeare is vital for the audience, as variation in tone will facilitate meaning and give depth to stark words rather than existing as a mere distraction. As evidenced above, analysis of diction, often minimized, leads to a crucial understanding of Hamlet's soliloquy, his character, and the entire play. Hence by firm belief that  diction is the actor on the stage of emotion, storytelling, and experience, namely drama.

Fig Language/ Imagery- Blog #6

Through carefully chosen syntax, diction, and meter, Shakespeare defines Claudius and Gertrude’s culpability in their current situations. Thus, Shakespeare’s craftsmanship of language enables him to create the roles necessary to fulfill his plot. The playwright used lightweight language for Gertrude because he needed a petty queen and stilted language for King Claudius, crucial for his imitation of his nearest royal model, Hamlet Sr. By imitating his brother, Claudius fools himself and this deception creates a degree of dysfunction by definition. Claudius and Gertrude’s syntax, vocabulary, and meter, depending on their situations, create these duplicitous impressions imperative for the actors, audience, and themes. Furthermore, Shakespeare’s figurative language is transformational, manipulating the audience’s imagination through verbal communication, rather than visual setting. Even without physical descriptions, the reader still draws a mental picture based on the characters’ speech. 

Poetic Sounds- #5

The sound of poetry? The poetry of sound? Both provide the literature with a melody that connects the brain memory and mental image to colorful diction and meaning. Unlike many other abstract devices found in poetry, poetic sounds are determined by the author and therefore very concrete and purposeful. The best poetry, in my opinion, has been the succinct ones that encourage the mind to wander through the challenges of ambiguous text. In poetry, the rhyme scheme offers a roadmap that sometimes "connects the dots" between unseen parallel images or themes. In "Out, Out" the speaker is somber, yet Robert Frost uses words that create an ironic tone eventually exploring the crass reality of child labor: "The buzz saw snarled and rattled."

Theme-Blog #4

In Pride and Prejudice's tightly defined world, finances and convenience, rather than romance, provided the foundation for relationships and marriage.The reality of having to raise five daughters stresses the imminent threat to poverty on the Bennet family. Therefore, in this context, Mrs. Bennett acts rationally because marriage was not about love, rather about safety, security, and reputation. Mirroring the characters' constant anxiety over doting and impressing the opposite sex in early English society, Austen incorporates marriage throughout the novel, which sadly proves it to be a necessity rather than a luxury.


Examples of Marriage:
1. Austen's first sentence introduces the theme of marriage in an ironic manner.
2. Mr and Mrs Bennet have been married for 23 years, though it was initially based on physical attraction. Mrs. Bennet's has committed her life to marrying off her five daughters to prosperous men.
3. Charlotte accepts Collins marriage proposal solely for the purpose of fulfilling society's expectations.
4. Bingley and Jane's marriage was based on rationality, love, and respect. 
5.  Even though Elizabeth and Darcy end up in a happy marriage, Elizabeth initially defies the cultural expectations, by refusing to marry in accordance to society's necessity for marriage.
6. Lydia and Wickham's unhappy marraige was their reaction to irresponsible behavior.