G10B IGCSE poetry

Carol Ann Duffy

New Selected poems 1984-2004
 Friday 11th September 2020
Lesson objectives:
● To apply the steps of annotation to better
understand a poem.

● To assess how tone and mood shape our

understanding of a poem
Key Skills 5
Introduction

Pair up, and choose one (or more) of the

following statements. Try speaking them
aloud, using inflections and other prosodic
features, to express different tones about the
subject matter.

“I’m going to get married today”.

“I have to do my homework tonight.”

Image credit: Wikipedia Creative Commons

“We have holidays next week.”

Key Skills 5 - Tone and Mood
Goals:
● Know: definitions of tone and mood
● Understand: that tone provides the emotional colouring of a work and must be
considered for full understanding
● Be able to: identify the tone of a work using appropriately precise adjectives

Procedure:
● Video - definitions
● How to identify tone - mind mapping strategies
● Tone and mood vocabulary
● Individual poetry analysis
Video - definitions

Watch this video and define the terms tone

and mood.

Additional points:
● Tone is the writer or speaker’s attitude towards the
subject, his audience, or himself. It is the emotional
colouring of the work and thus essential for
understanding the full meaning.

● To identify the tone, read poems multiple times, slowly

and carefully.

Image credit: BrainPop ● Tone often changes throughout a poem like a roller
coaster. These are called tonal shifts.
 metaphor
(attitude is revealed by the
metaphor - is the association a diction
good or bad thing?) (denotation, connotation
imagery and sound)
(pleasant or unpleasant?)

What elements of language

should we examine in order
to discern the tone(s) of a
text?

irony
syntax, formal pattern
(often used to criticise or
(e.g. short, punctuated
ridicule)
sentences? Long, flowing
sentences?)
rhythm
Tone and mood vocabulary

Some example words to describe tone (and mood):

- Playful vs. solemn

- Reverent vs. mocking
- Calm vs. excited

How can we develop a vocabulary that helps sharpen

our thinking?

Consult this resource and continually look for

synonyms and precise nouns, adjectives and verbs.
Steps in annotation (re-cap)
Some reflection questions…

● WHAT is ‘annotation’?
● Annotation is a SKILL!
● WHY annotate?
● HOW do you annotate?
● WHEN do you annotate?
Annotating to make your learning visible (an example)
Sets poem in school environment. Names
memorable teacher
pronoun puts the speaker in the
past. Draws readers in so they
identify with the experience.
Place name list: evokes far
away. Exotic. Remembers
learning as fascinating, full of
wonder
Idea: Reminders of time
passing: an hour, rubbed into
dust. Look out for other
words / phrases suggesting
this.
Personification of bell: happy atmosphere, energy. Another sign
of time passing
In Mrs Tilscher’s Class
You could travel up the Blue Nile
with your finger, tracing the route
while Mrs Tilscher chanted the scenery.
Tana. Ethiopia. Khartoum. Aswân.
That for an hour, then a skittle of milk
and the chalky Pyramids rubbed into dust.
A window opened with a long pole.
The laugh of a bell swung by a running child.
Long opening sentence suggests
the slow care with which the
children follow the lesson. Eg
of enjambment
Chant denotes a soothing
musical quality: teacher’s
voice melodic
Shape of bottle / game: joy, fun of the
classroom.
The image of the chalk pyramid
drawn on board suggests the
real ones in the dusty desert.
Turning into dust also suggests
passing of time.