TONE/MOOD

Tone allows the author to reflect different attitudes toward the subject of the work. And mood comes hand in hand with tone as it is the result of tone: the feeling the reader gets due to the tone of the environment. Without tone or mood authors would not be able to include emotion in their works nor would they be able to increase readers' attention by sounding relatable. Literary devices such as diction, figurative language, imagery, syntax, all contribute to the tone and mood of a poem. These devices are then used in the writers choice of style to portray specific emotions. The tone and mood of a text can be difficult to determine without hearing the speaker's tone of voice, however, if you look beneath the surface of the text and analyze the type of words the author is using, the style the author chooses to configure, and the meaning created by figures of speech, you can hopefully decipher the tone/mood the author is trying to portray.

DICTION

Authors utilize diction to portray different environments or meanings to their writing. One way of using diction is to use a word or words that have multiple meanings. That way when analyzing the text, the reader must consider all possible meanings OR how they relate to other aspects of the text. Diction can also effect the tone of a poem such as how Sylvia Plath does in her poem Daddy. She starts off the poem with a sad tone but the poem progresses, she beings to use diction with harsh sounds that portray a more angry tone. Words such as.. Ich, Auschwitz, Taroc, and swastika. Diction allows an author to portray a second meaning below the surface of what is written and to change the tone of the text without actually saying so.

POETIC SOUNDS

Sounds increase the understanding of a poem. Readers are able to catch the symbols or imagery bring expressed by sounds that accentuate the image. Different sounds can create different feelings or tones to a poem. There are sounds such as assonance. An example of this is in the poem Dover Beach by Matthew Arnold: "Where the moon meets the moon-blanched land." Arnold uses assonance here to slow down the line and reveal the overall tone of the poem - Sadness and tranquility.

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE

Using figurative language allows the author to further explain a concept by comparing it to something more relatable to the audience. Poems cannot use music or props to increase the reader's understanding of the scene. Therefor, authors use figurative language such as imagery for detailed description. Using personification, metaphors, irony, etc... allows an author to be descriptive and relatable. For example, irony, brings forth extreme contradiction that reveals an unexpected truth. Using this more creative way of revealing information further increases the readers interest in what is going on. An example of this figurative language is in To An Athlete Dying Young by Housman: "I am become a name/ and early though the laurel grows/if withers quicker than the rose." (21.11-12) This use of a metaphor is to descriptively explain the death of a young athlete which allows Housman to create an image in the readers mind, thus increasing the readers interest in the poem.

SYMBOL and THEME

Symbols as well as themes greatly impact the perception of a story's meaning or purpose. Using symbols and themes allow an author to accentuate the deeper meaning of the plot. For example, the theme of 'To An Athlete Dying Young is time. This theme reoccurs throughout the entire poem to reinforce the deeper meaning behind the story. The theme is extremely significant as it allows the author to connect with their readers or audience. Similarly, symbols can create meaning behind characters or scenes that are revealed in the introduction and fully explained by the end. These deeper meanings usually connect with the audience by pertaining to current events or popular aspects of life.

SETTING

Setting is very important when it comes to creating a believable atmosphere that a character is trying to portray through speech. It also allows the audience to further engage in whats happening and understand why its happening. Different kinds of settings can portray all kinds of environments depending on the mood of a scene. If a scene is meant to be depressing, the setting would include dim lighting, quiet surroundings, and possibly rain. The setting may just be the background however as many may not realize, it greatly effects how an audience perceives the focus of a scene. The setting not only portrays this atmosphere but it also reveals time and location without having to inform the audience with this background information.

CHARACTER

The character hamlet in hamlet and elizabeth in pride and prejudice are both protagonists - main characters. Hamlets conflict is that he is eying to seek revenge on claudious for killing his father and overcoming his fathers death itself. Elizabeth's conflict is that she can't decided whether or not she is in lover with Darcy. Character can change throughout the plot just as hamlet does when he goes from mourning his father and open about his real emotions to using madness as a mask while seeking revenge on claudious. Contrastingly, a character like ms. Bennet stays a gossiper throughout the entire book.

PLOT

Both hamlet and pride and prejudice have a play that consists of a rising action that leads to a climax which is followed by the falling action. However fiction and drama are very different when it comes to how the contents of a plot are put together. The plot is what happen on a narrative and authors must "arrange conflicts, complications, and resolutions to create logical cause-and-effect relationships." (59). The climax is the moment of recognition or complete recognition within the plot. In pride and prejudice the climax occurs in the middle of the plot when Ms. Bennet's daughters begins to act out. This is more of a traditional structure, where as in hamlet he climax doesn't occur till the end of the play. Which is usual for tragedies where the climax Is known to occur before or after death. Though a plot does not have to be realistic, the reader must understand what is happening and why its happening. This is why the plot is so significant for an author to put together correctly.