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Creating Mood in Poetry

Creating Mood in Poetry. Choosing the Right Words. What are the “right” words?.

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Creating Mood in Poetry

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  1. Creating Mood in Poetry Choosing the Right Words

  2. What are the “right” words? When you write poetry, or anything really, you need to be careful with the words you choose. The wrong word could confuse or mislead the reader about the message you are trying to get across and/or it can evoke a feeling or emotion other than what you intended. But how do you know what the right word is???

  3. DENOTATION First, you must look at the DENOTATION (actual meaning) of the word. How appropriately does it fit the statement you are making? For instance, say you have waited all year to ride your favorite rollercoaster and the day finally arrives when you get to do so… do you feel excited or anxious?

  4. DENOTATION • Many people say anxious when they are waiting for something to happen. While this isn’t necessarily incorrect, the definitions most commonly associated with these words are as follows: • Anxious: full of mental distress or uneasiness due to afear offuture danger or misfortune • Excited: emotionally stirred while eagerly awaiting something.

  5. CONNOTATION When choosing between these two words, you have to ask which one will fit best and be the least misunderstood. In other words, you must consider the CONNOTATION (associated meaning) that the word possesses. Most words fall under one of three categories of connotative meanings: positive, neutral or negative.

  6. CONNOTATION • Let’s go back to the first example using ANXIOUS and EXCITED. • Because “anxious” is often associated with fear or misfortune, for many it has a NEGATIVE CONNOTATION. • “Excited” usually refers to awaiting something good or rewarding and therefore has a POSITIVE CONNOTATION for most people.

  7. CONNOTATION • Another example: • You love SPAM. The word SPAM alone makes your mouth water. In other words, you have had a positive experience with SPAM and feel positively about the food and therefore you feel positively about it’s name. • Someone else hates SPAM because as a young child, they were forced by their grandmother to eat it. Upon hearing the word SPAM they cringe and begin to feel sick. They had a negative experience with the food and now associate the word SPAM with feelings of complete disgust.

  8. DICTION Once you have taken the the denotation and connotation into consideration, it’s time to make a choice: which word best supports what you mean? Which word will best help your reader to understand what you mean? This choice is referred to as DICTION (word choice). The words you choose will determine several different things including the effect you have on the reader and his or her feelings or emotions.

  9. DICTION EXAMPLE ODORSMELLFRAGRANCE The woman’s ___________ caught the attention of everyone who walked by her. Negative Neutral Positive

  10. TONE and MOOD TONE and MOOD in poetry are not the same thing, however, they do have something in common: they depend on the DICTION of the piece. DICTION effects the TONE by revealing the attitude of the author through the words that they chose to incorporate in the piece. DICTION effects the MOOD by using certain words to create an emotional reaction or response within the reader.

  11. TONE and MOOD • Simplified Version… • Tone= Author’s attitude towards subject. • Serious, ironic, humorous, romantic, playful, sarcastic. • Mood=The feeling a poem creates within a reader. • Love, fear, peace, hate, etc.

  12. PRACTICE Try to identify the TONE and MOOD of the following poem focusing on the author’s DICTION. Do a majority of the words have positive or negative connotations? Does this match up with the TONE and the MOOD?

  13. My Papa's WaltzTheodore RoethkeThe whiskey on your breathCould make a small boy dizzy;But I hung on like death:Such waltzing was not easy.We romped until the pansSlid from the kitchen shelf;My mother's countenanceCould not unfrown itself.The hand that held my wristWas battered on one knuckle;At every step you missedMy right ear scraped a buckle.You beat time on my headWith a palm caked hard by dirt,Then waltzed me off to bedStill clinging to your shirt

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