TONE/MOOD

The tone and mood of a written work directly affects the reader's interpretation of an author's work. A narrator's diction influences the tone of a poem, which therefore allows his message to be more easily exposed to the reader. In Ulysses by Tennyson , for example, Odysseus uses words like "idle" and "empty" to illustrate his unemotional and unmotivated feelings. He feels as though he no longer has a purpose in life and unravels his frustration throughout the poem. His depressing and empty words convey the tone to the reader; melancholy and sad. As a result, the tone makes the poem much stronger and much easier for one to relate to.

DICTION

Diction serves as a direct outlet for the author to describe his emotions and messages to his reader. In Percy Bysshe Shelley's "Ozymandias,"the narrator illustrates the affects of Time by illustrating once beautiful and glorious objects and comparing those things with their now diminished remains; "Nothing besides remains. Round the decay of that colossal wreck..."The narrator clearly juxtaposes his initial feelings of the seemingly beautiful masterpieces with his later feelings of resentment towards Time because it destroys everything in the world, both good and bad. The diction allows the reader to fully understand his frustration; "decay," shattered," and "wrinkled." These words all serve to prove to the reader that everything, even beauty, is meaningless because Time will eventually destroy it all. In addition, the narrator's soft and slow diction allows his meaning to be stated in a very delicate way. He never directly states that Time is horrible and that it destroys everything, but his descriptive diction allows the reader to completely understand and relate to the poem's meaning.

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE

In Andrew Marvel’s “To His Coy Mistress,” figurative language ultimately reveals the author’s tone and mood. The poem deals with a man trying to sway a woman, who he is very fond of, to make love to him. He begins the poem in a more or less passionate and delicate tone, and later shifts that feeling towards carpe diem; “…While the youthful hue sits on thy skin like a mourning dew…” The narrator is clearly implying that the woman’s beauty is like dew; in that, it is temporary. He claims that she should seize the day and loose her virginity to him right away so that Time will not diminish the “love” that they currently have. Figurative language, therefore, reveals many other messages and tones within a poem.

POETIC SOUNDS

In Tennyson's Ulysses, poetic sounds enable the poem to demonstrate a very complex contrast between Odysseus' longing for the past with his unmotivated attitude towards the present. When Odysseus talks about the past, he uses very passionate and active words; "Through scudding drifts the rainy hyades vexed with the dim sea: I am become a name." The use of "vexed" and sucdding" are both very active words which both have harsh sounds to them. This harsh noise that is made serves to reveal the narrator's tone and attitude towards his once adventurous past. In contrast, when Odysseus refers to the present, he uses very dull adjectives to describe his current life; "The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs." This line's assonance causes the reader to slow down and take his/her time to read the phrase. This, therefore, proves to underline Odysseus' resentment towards the progression of Time, and shows his slow approach towards the end of his life. Therefore, poetic sounds allow the reader to understand the narrator's tone, meaning and overall attitude through word choice and their sounds.

SYMBOL/THEME

Symbols play a huge part in a text's meaning. They can depict a scene, person, or object as innocent or tainted, and allow the reader to understand the author's true messages and feelings about a particular issue or object. As I stated in my last essay, To an Athlete Dying Young and Ulysses both utilize the symbol and theme of "Time" to describe how it ultimately destroys everything it crosses paths with;  “It withers quicker than the rose.” (Housman 12) The narrator's use of "withers" and "rose" in To an Athlete Dying Young describe his juxtaposing emotions and longing for the past. He uses lifeless words such as "withers" to depict the death of the athlete, and uses the passionate "rose" as a symbol for the athlete's once very precious and thriving life. This use of symbol, therefore , allows such a developed and detailed idea to be described in a simple and eloquent way. In addition, Ulysses by Tennyson discusses an old man's resentment towards Time. Odysseus, an old war hero, is frustrated and lonely; he feels as though he is worthless because his prime and glory days have passed him, and he is no longer the "macho man" he once was. He is now in a constant state of resentment towards Time because he feels as though it, alone, has ruined his life; " “The long day wanes; the slow moon climbs…” (Tennyson 55). The author uses words such as "long" and "slow" to clearly illustrate Odysseus' unhappiness and his unemotional outlook on life. In addition, when this line is read aloud, its assonance forces the reader to slow down the line, which, therefore, ultimately proves Odysseus' slowly-moving, unexciting life.   

SETTING

Setting not only allows the reader to put himself into a distinct era, location, and mood, but it also makes the substance of the text much more meaningful. For example, a plot can be described to the reader, but it means almost nothing if the reader is not given the setting. It allows the reader to connect aspects of a specific setting to the story; therefore giving more meaning and substance to the text. In Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, for example, the stuck-up, superficial society that Elizabeth is trapped in makes her story and circumstances that much more unique and different, compared to others in her town. In addition, Shakespeare’s Hamlet, portrays a very gloomy and ominous setting. This description reflects the overall plot, and therefore, strengthens the whole play’s significance. 

CHARACTER

In both Hamlet and Pride and Prejudice, there are two round-character protagonists; Hamlet himself, and Elizabeth. The two characters are in situations that illustrate big predicaments; in Hamlet, he is contemplating on how to seek revenge on his uncle, and in Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth is struggling to defy societal norms and figure out if she loves Mr. Darcy. The two texts differ, in that, Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice uses indirect characterization to illustrate her characters, while Shakepeare's Hamlet uses direct characterization to depict each individual character. In one, we are told what to assume and think, while in the other, we make our own conclusions and judgments of the characters through raw and un-sugar-coated conversations. In Austen's novel, Elizabeth is the uninterested, different, and intellectual woman, while her family and her peers are more self-consumed and interested in town gossip. In Shakespeare's Hamlet, however, Hamlet is a mourning and obsessive prince who must take revenge on his guilty uncle.