Tone/Mood

Tone is shown through diction and is very important in a poem because it influences the poem's mood, which in turn influences the reader's interpretation of the poem. For example, in "Daddy" by Slyvia Plath, the tone is very resentful, bitter, and regretful. Grasping the poem's tone and mood prevents misunderstanding the poem. Because of the tone in this poem, it is made clear to the reader that this is a very serious poem and allows the reader to understand the speaker's inner struggles.

Diction

Diction, or an author's choice of words, influences the sound of a poem, which influences the poem's tone, which influences the poem's mood and the reader's interpretation of the poem. In Ozymandias, for example, the author starts off by using very delicate words, such as "antique" and "sculptor," which gives the poem a feeling of remembrance and thoughtfulness. Then, when the king is quoted, the words become stronger and a tonal shift occurs. The words in the quote connote power and dominance, which affect the tone. But then the words become quiet again in the last few lines, emphasizing time's subtle dominance over everything, even things as mighty as King Ozymandias.

Imagery/Figurative Language

In the poem "Pondering," E.E. Cummings, uses such vague language that it is difficult for the reader to decipher what he really means, but the reader is still able to obtain clear imgages from the author's descriptions. For example, "motheaten forum" (2) is an example of imagery because it paints the picture of a very old, dusty, neglected place and contributes to the setting of the poem. The personification of the stone is an example of figurative language because stone cannot literally cling to anything, but it implies a desperate and pitiful state.

Poetry Sounds

The sounds in "To an Athlete Dying Young" reflect the melancholy mood of the poem and the progression of the athlete's life from happy and glorious to sad and peaceful. Words in the first two stanzas, such as "cheering" and "high" sound somewhat grand and positive, and therefore depict the athlete's life However, words in the following stanzas, such as "whithers," and "fade," have more melancholy, yet peaceful sounds and relfect the sadness and sense of helplessness towards the athlete's death. In "Ozymandias", the sounds are, generally, very delicate, such as in words like "antique," "wrinkled," and "sculptor." However, the sounds change when the author quotes King Ozymandias. They change into stronger and demanding sounds. The sounds that words such as, "king," "look," and "mighty" make reflect King Ozymandias' strength and power, but the rest of the poem's delicate sounds reveal how fragile the king's empire and statue really were compared to time. Both poems have a majority of softer sounds, but there are tonal shifts, in which the sounds of the words also change.

Theme/Symbols

Themes are present in both Pride and Prejudice and Hamlet, but more so in Pride and Prejudice. However, symbols are not used very much in either story. In Hamlet, the poison is a reoccuring symbol and represents death, since it was used to kill Hamlet's father, Gertrude, Laertes, Claudius, and Hamlet. In Pride and Prejudice, the only real symbol is Pemberley, which represents everything that Elizabeth could have and claims not to want, meaning that she could have all of the wealth, but she would also have Mr. Darcy.
The main themes in Hamlet include death and indecisiveness. Hamlet constantly deals with these themes throughout the play. In terms of death, not only does he have to face his father's death, but he also has to face his father's ghost along with the deaths of Polonius, Ophelia, Gertrude and himself. Because of his indecisiveness, Hamlet suffers consequences, such as being killed himself. He tries the entire play to make up his mind about what to do about Claudius and while he tries to do that, the other characters get killed. Had he killed Claudius sooner, it would have at least spared the lives of Polonius, Gertrude, and Laertes. Hamlet's indecisiveness, however, is what keeps the play going and teaches the moral of the story which is that you should make up your mind sooner rather than later. In Pride and Prejudice, the themes include marriage, love, and social class. During the entire novel, Mrs. Bennet is obsessed with marrying her daughters and entire novel is in fact based on marriage: will Jane marry Bingley? Will Bingley marry Ms. Darcy? Will Elizabeth marry Mr. Collins? Will Charlotte marry Mr. Collins? Will Elizabeth marry Mr. Darcy? Will Mr. Darcy marry his cousin? Will Mr. Wickham and Lydia get married? etc. From the theme of marriage comes the theme of love, which revolves mainly around Elizabeth who, unlike the other characters, except maybe Jane, wants to marry for love. She struggles between marriage, which helps her family and love, which helps herself, because it seems that she cannot have both, like when Mr. Collins proposes. The other theme is social class which plays a very prominent role in who will marry who. The Bennets are below Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy, mainly because of Mrs. Bennet, and that fact is exploited by Mr. Bingley's sisters, who represent the worst of the judgemental society. Despite their social inferiority, however, both Elizabeth and Jane manage to marry for love and get wealth at the same time.

Setting

The differences in setting between a play and a novel are obviously that, in a play, there is a limited number of settings that have to be physically seen on a stage and can only be described in dialogue, whereas in a novel, multiple settings can be described by the narrator. In Hamlet, the setting of a castle is very sinister and presumably dark, which reflects the tone of the entire play. In Pride and Prejudice, however, the tones of the story change along with the settings. The tone changes from hopeful and happy, to gloomy, to panic, to uncertainty, to resolved. The setting expands over England and multiple buildings and allows for a wider range than a play would.

Characters

The characters in Pride and Prejudice and Hamlet are very different. Hamlet tends to have flatter characters: Claudius is the villain, Polonius is his advisor/accomplice Ophelia is the damsel in distress, Horatio is the voice of reason. Gertrude and Hamlet are the most complex or round characters in the play. Hamlet, the protagonist, is more round because he is struggling with an internal battle over whether to kill Claudius or not. Gertrude is also somewhat round because the reader is hardly ever clear of her motives for siding with Claudius and not Hamlet. In Pride and Prejudice, most of the characters are more complex, partially because the novel uses narration as opposed to just dialogue; the narration allows the reader to learn things about a character that no one says out loud. The flat characters in Pride and Prejudice includes Mrs. Bennet, Lydia, and Caroline Bingley, but the majority of the characters are more round than in Hamlet. The roundest character in Pride and Prejudice is definitely Elizabeth, the protagonist, who changes dramatically when she realizes that her judgements are not always accurate. What the two stories have in common in terms of characters is that both of the protagonists are the most developed characters, but Elizabeth is more developed than Hamlet.

Plot

Both stories follow the conventional narrative illustrated in the text. The exposition in Hamlet would include the ghost telling us how he died and Claudius' speech, which introduces us to the current state of events. In Pride and Prejudice, it would be Austin's introduction of the main characters and basically everything leading up to the first ball where we meet Mr. Darcy. The rising action takes up most of both stories and leads to the climaxes. The climax in Hamlet is when he finally kills Claudius and the falling action is when everyone dies. The climax in Pride and Prejudice is when Elizabeth reads Mr. Darcy's letter and realizes that her perception of him has been wrong; the falling action is Elizabeth's internal struggle about if she loves Mr. Darcy or not and whether she wants to act upon it. The resolution in Hamlet is that Fortinbras will rule Denmark and, in Pride and Prejudice, it is that Jane marries Mr. Bingley and Elizabeth marries Mr. Darcy. Hamlet is much more violent than Pride and Prejudice, and has a much more depressing ending. They do, however, share the same structure when it comes to their plot.

Hamlet Essay Review

I need to work on small things like italisizing, commas, and page headers. I also need to work more on discussing and analyzing the language patterns

Coy Mistress and To the Virgins

Both of these poems focus on time and the idea of taking advantage of the present. Both authors emphasize living in the moment and not waiting until time passes, because it might be too late by then. The two poems are different because in His Coy Mistress, Marvell uses tonal shifts to change from persuasive to more hostile. But in To the Virgins, Herrick uses much more concise and straightforward with his language. He gets more to the point, but still manages to use metaphors, personification, and other literary devises.

Ozymandias vs. Ponder these busted statues

These two poems share the central theme of time and the idea that time destroys what was once great. In Ozymandias, time has destroyed the magnificent statue and the great civilization that it represents. In Ponder, time has destroyed the aqueducts, which represent the great civilization of Rome. Both of the poems remind us that time is undefeatable, even for the mightiest empires and kings.

Hamlet Performance Choice

My partner and I chose to perform the scene from Act II, Scene I, Lines 72-118 (pg 749-750) where Ophelia and Polonius are talking about Hamlet's inappropriate behavior towards her. As Ophelia, I've been thinking about portraying Ophelia as flustered, submissive, and apologetic because her words are very obediant and not strong willed.

pg 833 #3

Words that have to do with appearance are very common in Hamlet. Their reoccurance implies that things are not always as they seem, which is proven to be truue as the play progresses. For example, Claudius, who acts like a true and just king, turns out to be exactly the opposite because he killed his brother and usurped the throne. Hamlet also puts on an act and makes people think that he is more insane than he really is.

pg 830 #14

When Hamlet says, "Why, then, 'tis none to you; for there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so," (2.2236-37), he assumes that Claudius has sent his friends to come talk to him. He is saying that Denmark is not a prison to them because they don't think of it that way. I somewhat agree with what he is saying.
When Hamlet says "I am but mad north-north-west: when the wind is southerly I know a hawk from a handsaw" (2.2.330-31), he suggests that he is crazy and that he can recognize something truly dangerous, referring to Claudius as the hawk. I don't think he is really mad. I think that he is angry and depressed and exaggerating to make people think that he is actually mad.

pg 830 #7

By saying that he is going to put on an "antic disposition" (1.5.172), Hamlet is saying that he is going to act like nothing is wrong even though he is very suspicious of Claudius and is planning to kill him. His behavior is a deliberate strategy in order to increase his chances of avenging his father.

pg 830 #4

Claudius and Polonius both think that the way Hamlet is conducting himself towards Ophelia is improper and they are worried that he is not stable and could therefore be a threat to Ophelia. Polonius' argument seems more fair because it seems like he is really trying to protect his daughter. However, in Act I scene III, Polonius' treatment of her reveals that he is over protective and controlling. Polonius believes that he knows best because he is her father and therefor looks down on Ophelia, which suggests that he believes he is superior to all women.

pg 832 #9

Hamlet's first soliloquy (1.2.129-59) in the play is significant because it reveals more about Hamlet to the audience. Instead of hearing other people's perceptions of him, the audience can finally observe Hamlet for themselves. In his soliloquy, Hamlet expresses his desire to die and even thoughts of suicide. However, he is conflicted because his religion is against suicide. The fact that he will not go against his religion shows that he is very religious. Hamlet also expresses his grief for his father and his feelings towards his mother and women in general. He feels somewhat betrayed by his mother because she got remarried to Claudius so quickly when he thought that she truly loved his father. Hamlet's last line in his soliloquy tells the audience that Hamlet doesn't want his true feelings to be known, even to his friends.

Claudius and Gertrude: The Lion and his loyal follower

In the play, Hamlet, Shakespeare assigns different speech patterns to each character. This gives each character a distinct personality and brings different tones to the play. One of the most unique speech patterns in Hamlet is that of Claudius, who is, more than anything, manipulative. Another character who certainly uses similar language, but not quite as extreme, is Gertrude. Both Claudius and Gertrude try to mask their ill-intended implications by using kind and friendly tones, although Gertrude is more genuine than Claudius.

Prufrock

"We have lingered in the chambers of the sea/ By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown/ Till human voices wake us, and we drown." (129-131)

The reference to the sea in this quote connects back to the comparison of himself to a crab earlier in the poem. Although the crab is implied to be solitary in the depths of the ocean, the "We" in this quote is implied to be surrounded by mermaids, and perhaps other people. Those other people can be thought of as dreamers like the narrator. The words "human voices" gives the impression that the narrator does not think of himself as human, but as something more carefree and content. The narrator has been living in a bliss fantasy for, perhaps, his whole life. By the end of the poem, he finally starts realizing the reality of his life and of the world around him; he finds that it is not at all like his dream.

Topic Two: Bad Dad: One page essay with evidence not just describing how Austen turns us against Mr. Bennet but her purpose in doing it. Why does Austen at first align us with Mr. Bennet, but over the course of the novel shows weaknesses of his parenting style? In the end, what is Austen helping us to see about parenting in the Mirror of Satire?

Although readers relate to and support Mr. Bennet at first, Austen later shows him as an irresponsible parent in order to reveal the importance of strong parenting. At the beginning of the novel, Mr. Bennet is introduced as the practical one in the family along with Jane and Elizabeth. Throughout the novel, especially at the beginning, he serves to point out the flaws of characters such as Mrs. Bennet and Mr. Collins by gently mocking and ridiculing them. This characteristic of his allows the readers, who also undoubtedly feel the same way about such characters, to relate to Mr. Bennet. However, as the story progresses, Mr. Bennet appears to the reader as unable to take things seriously.  When Lydia wants to go to Brighton, for example, he does not stop to think of the possible consequences. Even though Elizabeth, his favorite daughter who he trusts most, pleads with him not to let Lydia go and provides good reasons, he does not even consider her request. He is more concerned with his own happiness than the welfare of his daughter: “We shall have no peace…if Lydia does not go to Brighton,” (156). From this, Austen reveals that Mr. Bennet does not necessarily want what is best for his daughters, but instead gives them whatever they want. This tendency is seen earlier in the novel when Mr. Bennet does not force Elizabeth into marrying Mr. Collins. The difference is that, in the case of Elizabeth, the reader applauded his passiveness, but in the case of Lydia, the reader views his consent as irresponsible. Austen turns the reader against Mr. Bennet in order to point out that parents need to be firm with their children and think of them first.

To His Coy Mistress

"Now, therefore, while thy youthful hue sits on thy skin like morning dew" (33-34)

The tone in this line is very conditional, much like the first stanza, but while the first stanza is slower and calmer, this line, which is the beginning of the third stanza, is much more urgent and demanding because of the word "now". In this line, the narrator is essentially saying that he will only love the mistress when she is young, which suggests that the narrator's love is not very deep.

D.W. Harding--Is Collins funny or a nightmare?

          Although Harding finds Mr. Collins's caricature funny and entertaining, I agree more with Elizabeth Bennet in that he is a nightmare. I realize, as does Harding, that Austen meant to make fun of the people who resembled Mr. Collins in her society, but he, along with Mrs. Bennet, just becomes irritating and ridiculous. Making Mr. Collins so unlikeable actually does accomplish Austen's goal of mocking the people in real society, but the character does not qualify as comedic. Instead, Mr. Collins serves as an unfriendly reminder of those in society one would prefer to avoid.

Pride and Prejudice Essay Improvements

I need to work on making my thesis, arguments, introduction, and conclusion more specific. I also need to avoid the word "you", include headers, and a works cited page.

Most Important Aspect of an Essay

The most important aspect of a strong essay is deep analysis. In The Ball's Latest Gossip (18), the best essay that I read, the author goes beyond the typical arguments by examining the precise language that Austen uses in Pride and Prejudice.

3 more sample essays

I read Faulty First Impressions (4), Precise Introductions for Intdividual Interpretations (5), and First Impression (19). The introduction to the first essay was pretty good, but too many quotes were used in the body paragraphs and the author absolutely should not have quoted dialogue between multiple people. The introduction to the second essay used an example in the introduction paragraph, which is a major errror. Also, some of the quotes, the first one for example, didn't seem to have anything to do with the analysis that follows them. The third essay is written the best, although there are no ground-breaking points.

3 more sample essays

I read Characters in Collaboration, Mrs. Bennet, and An Examination of Class and Economy. The first essay was by far the worst. In the introduction, the author claims that Caroline Bingley continually judges Mr. Darcy, but there is no indication of her judgement in the novel. Furthermore, the author never goes on to explain how she judges him, only how she helps reveal his character. Also, the author refers to Caroline as Darcy's lover, which she is not; she is only interested in Darcy, but nothing ever happens between them. Another fault that I found with the essay is in the first quote. When I read it, it seemed like the quote disproved the author's claim that Elizabeth dislikes Mr. Darcy. Although the author goes on to explain that Elizabeth is using sarcasm in the quote, the author could and should have chosen a quote that better demonstrated Elizabeth's true feelings about Darcy. The second essay was the second best. I found the introduction to be my least favorite part because the author makes claims that Mrs. Bennet is represented more than the other characters, which I do not agree with. However, the author goes continues on to make valid points and analysis, which make up for the introduction. The third essay was the best because the author uses a very minor character to make very bold, valid claims. This unconventional approach provides allows for interesting, and seemingly accurate analysis.

Rank 3 Sample Essays from Red Reader

I read Actions Speak Louder than Words, The Ball's Latest Gossip, and Austen Teaches Every Reader, Don't Judge Others. The paragraphs in the first essay were dominated by quotes an contained only a few sentences of analysis. Furthermore, it seemed to me that the author actually disproved his/her thesis that society's opinion differed from the behavior of characters; in each example given, it seems like the character's actions reflected society's opinions. The second essay is the best of the three because, although the thesis is a little wordy, each paragraph is very focused on a specific point, yet all are related to prove the author's thesis. Also, the second essay pays close attention to specific words used by Austen, which a a different, deeper approach. The third essay is the second best because, although the author does a good job of proving his/her point, the overall essay is not as deep and complex as the second essay.

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