46. Close read by tone (shifts): (poetry analysis paper)

Definition:

Tone is an accent or inflection expressive of a mood, emotion, or attitude toward the subject discussed in a literary work. The pitch of a word is often used to express differences of meaning.

ADJECTIVES TO DESCRIBE TONE:

Example of a close read by tone in a

poetry analysis paper on "Design":

Design

I found a dimpled spider, fat and white,

On a white heal-all, holding up a moth

Like a white piece of rigid satin cloth-

Assorted characters of death and blight

Mixed ready to begin the morning right,

Like the ingredients of a witches' broth-

A snowdrop spider, a flower like a froth,

And dead wings carried like a paper kite.

What had that flower to do with being white,

The wayside blue and innocent heal-all?

What brought the kindred spider to that height,

Then steered the white moth thither in the night?

What but design of darkness to appall?-

If design govern in a thing so small.

-Robert Frost

The tone shifts throughout the poem. The first eight lines or octave of the sonnet establishes the problem and states that facts of the speaker's observations in an indifferent, declarative tone. The speaker states, "I found a dimpled spider, fat and white, / On a white heal-all, holding up a moth / Like a white piece of rigid satin cloth-" almost without emotion. (lines 1-3). The tone then shifts to a questioning, irreverent voice in the sestet, for the speaker asks a lot of questions about what he saw. He asks in a inquisitive tone:

What had that flower to do with being white,

The wayside blue and innocent heal-all?

What brought the kindred spider to that height,

Then steered the white moth thither in the night?

What but design of darkness to appall?-

(lines 9-12).

The repetition of rhetorical questions emphasizes the preponderance of questions and the lack of answers. Finally, the poem provides an answer to the questions in a resigned, melancholic tone when he states, " What but design of darkness to appall / If design govern in a thing so small." (lines 13-14). The final tone shift is significant because Frost's speaker is left to state that we are designed or controlled by a sinister creator.

CLOSE READ BY TONE STARTERS:

-The tone of the line “________________________________” is _______________________. This _____________ tone is in keeping with the poem’s message ________________________________.

-The _______________tone shifts to ____________________ in the line “____________________________.” This tone shift is significant because ______________________________________________.