9.23.

16
A lane turned from the road. I entered it and after a while I slowed to a fast walk. The lane went between back
premises - unpainted houses with more of those gay and startling colored garments on lines, a barn
broken-backed, decaying quietly among rank orchard trees, unpruned and weed-choked, pink and white and
murmurous with sunlight and with bees. I looked back. The entrance to the lane was empty. I slowed still more,
my shadow pacing me, dragging its head through the weeds that hid the fence.
- William Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury

How do the excerpt's sentence starters and length impact its meaning?
In the final sentence, how does Faulkner slow the sentence down, reinforcing the sentence's meaning?
How would the impact of the last sentence change if we rewrote it to read: I slowed still more. My shadow
paced me and dragged its head through the weed-obscured fence.

In the passage from William Faulkners, The Sound and

the Fury, Faulkner conveys the thoughts of the
narrator through a contrast of visual imagery and actions of the narrator. At the beginning of the passage, the
narrator explains that, a lane turned from the road and as he walked to it, he, slowed to a fast walk.
Although he says he is slowing down, he says that he is still fast walking, implying that the narrator does not
have time to enjoy the scene about to be described. The narrator then describes the scene in one seemingly
endless sentence, the, unpainted houses with, startling colored garments on lines, a barn broken-backed,
decaying quietly among rank orchard trees, unpruned and weed-choked, pink and white and murmurous with
sunlight and bees. Because of the alluring sight, the narrator, looked back. Still the narrator does not have
time to enjoy the scene in the imagery; however, he then says, I slowed still more, my shadow pacing me,
dragging its head through the weeds that hid the fence. The imagery of the shadow getting tugged behind and
getting tangled in the grass implies that the narrator wants to stay, but he has no time and must keep going.
Faulkner contrasts the actions of the narrator with the imagery in the scene to suggest the consideration of
stopping that the narrator has.
Faulkner describes the actions of the narrator in contrast with his surroundings, producing visual imagery that
coincides with the pace of the passage
Faulkners use of diction
Faulkner controls the speed of the reader by using sentences of short length followed by sentences of long
length, placing i
9.30.16
"She looked into the distance, and the old terror flamed up for an instant, then sank again. Edna heard her
fathers voice and her sister Margarets. She heard the barking of an old dog that was chained to the sycamore
tree. The spurs of the cavalry officer clanged as he walked across the porch. There was the hum of the bees, and
the musky odor of pinks filled the air."
Kate Chopin, The Awakening
Hint: Consider imagery.

Although the narrator looks into the distance, the images are primarily auditory. What are the auditory
images in the passage?
What mood to these images create? The last sentence of this passage contains an olfactory image (the musky
odor of pinks fill the air).
What effect does the use of an olfactory image, after a series of auditory images, have on the reader?

In the passage from Kate Chopins, The A

wakening, the abundance of auditory imagery allows the reader into
the character's head, understanding the nervous and confusing thoughts pacing through her mind. The passage
starts of saying that Ednas, old terror flamed up for an instant, then sank again, implying that the scene

taking place is uneasy. The mix of auditory imagery is then introduced to the scene, describing the chaotic
sounds taking place all around her. She, heard her fathers voice and her sister...the barking of an old dog...the
spurs of the cavalry officer clanged, and, there was the hum of the bees. The auditory imagery of four
different people and things allows the reader to connect to Edna, and sense the confusion. The auditory
imagery of her family members talking, soothes the reader, but the nervous barking of the dog, and the spurs of
a cavalry officer worry the reader, wondering what Edna has done; however, it then ends, describing the calm
hum of the bees. The contradiction between the calming and frightening auditory imagery implies to the reader
that Edna is in a serious situation, but is trying to remain calm, focusing on people and things that calm her.
10.9.16
If my mother was in a singing mood, it wasnt so bad. She would sing about hard times, bad times, and
somebody-done-gone-and-left-me times. But her voice was so sweet and her singing-eyes so melty I found
myself longing for those hard times, yearning to be grown without a thin di-I-ime to my name. I looked
forward to the delicious time when my man would leave me, when I would hate to see that evening sun go
down cause then I would know my man has left this town. Misery colored by the greens and blues in my
mothers voice took all of the grief out of the words and left me with a conviction that pain was not only
endurable, it was sweet.
- Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye
Toni Morrison, in The Bluest Eye, uses sweet diction to prove her point in that pain from love is sweet.
In the The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, diction is used to prove the daughters point that pain caused by love is
sweet and desirable. The daughter describes her mothers singing voice as, sweet and her, singing-eyes so
melty. The two words, sweet and, melty, are both words chosen by the author to prove the daughter's belief
that pain is sweet. She goes on to say that she looks, forward to the delicious time when she herself would feel
the same way as her mother. The word delicious is used to confirm the daughters notion again that heartache
is sweet. Morrison uses dreamy and honeyed words to unconsciously reinforce in the reader the daughter's
impression that love is endurable and, sweet.
Consider details:
Why are parts of the passage in quotes?
What do the quoted details add to the passage?
Which details in the passage contribute to the conclusion that pain is sweet?
10.16.16
I can't forget
How she stood at the top of that long marble stair
Amazed, and then with a sleep pirouette
Went dancing slowly down to the fountain-quieted square;
Nothing upon her face
But some impersonal loneliness, - not then a girl,
But as it were a reverie of the place,
A called-for falling glide and whirl;
As when a leaf, petal, or thin chip
Is drawn to the falls of a pool and, circling a moment above it,
Rides on over the lip Perfectly beautiful, perfectly ignorant of it.
- Richard Wibler, "Piazza Di Spagna, Early Morning"

Hint: Consider tone

What is the speaker's attitude toward the woman he describes? List the images, diction, and details that
support your position.
Consider the last line of the poem. How does the repetition of the syntactical structure (adverb adjective,
adverb adjective) support the tone of the poem?

In the Poem, Piazza Di Spagna, Early Morning by Richard Wibler, the tone used to describe the woman he is
looking at implies his admiration for her. He starts the poem saying that he, Cant forget / How she stood,
proving that this woman has a heavy impact on him, because this moment in time is unforgettable to him, the
tone also being mysterious. Then, he says that, Nothing upon her face / But as it were a reverie of the place.
These two lines of the poem being magical, suggesting that she is a dream, and he is absorbed into her. Then, in
the last stanza of the poem, he compares her face to, When a leaf, petal, or thin chip / Rides on over the lip- /
Perfectly beautiful, perfectly ignorant of it. This last stanzas tone restful and affectionate towards the woman.
Overall the tone of the poem suggests his adoration towards the woman.
10.17.16
Twenty bodies were thrown from our wagon. Then the train resumed its journey, leaving in its wake, in a snowy
field in Poland, hundreds of naked orphans without a tomb.
We received no food. We lived on snow; it took the place of bread. The days resembled the nights, and the
nights left in our souls the dregs of their darkness. The train rolled slowly, often halted for a few hours, and
continued. It never stopped snowing. We remained lying on the floor for days and nights, one on top of the
other, never uttering a word. We were nothing but frozen bodies. Our eyes closed, we merely waited for the
next stop, to unload our dead.
- Elie Wiesel, Night
In the passage from Elie Wiesel's piece, Night, diction is used to dehumanize the people on the train. The
passage is opened, with, bodies being, thrown from their wagon. The choice to use bodies instead of
people, or individuals, expose the brutal treatment even the dead were given, and how the narrator feels.
Next, the scene is further described, saying that, naked orphans were left behind the train. Again, the choice
to use these words detail the treatment of the people, and how they themselves felt like nothing. Lastly, the
narrator refers to the people on the train as one, saying, we were nothing but frozen bodies. Referring to
himself as one with all the people signify that the narrator feels that they do not matter, because they are all
treated so poorly and all the same. Also, using the word bodies, instead of people illustrates that they are
not important enough to be considered human.

10.31.16
No sooner had these syllables passed my lips, than -- as if a shield of brass had indeed, at the moment, fallen
heavily upon a floor of silver -- I became aware of a d
istinct, hollow, metallic, and clangorous, yet apparently
muffled reverberation. Completely unnerved, I leaped to my feet; but the measured rocking movement of Usher
was undisturbed. I rushed to the chair in which he sat. His eyes were bent fixedly before him, and throughout
his whole countenance there reigned a stony rigidity. But, as I placed my hand upon his shoulder, there came a
strong shudder over his whole person; a s ickly smile quivered about his lips; and I saw that he spoke in a l ow,

hurried, and gibbering murmur, as if unconscious of my presence. Bending closely over him, I at length drank
in the hideous import of his words.
"Not hear it? -- yes, I hear it, and have heard it. Long -- long -- long -- many minutes, many hours, many days,
have I heard it -- yet I dared not -- oh, pity me, miserable wretch that I am! -- I dared not -- I dared not speak!
We have put her living in the tomb!"
- Edgar Allan Poe, "Fall of the House of Usher"
Hint: Consider syntax!
How do the adjectives selected by Poe contribute to the overall tone of the passage?
How do Poe's commas and dashes impact the pacing of the piece?
Discuss the word color of Poe's language.
In the passage, Fall of the House of Usher from Edgar Allan Poe, his use of adjectives presents an eerie and
dark tone. The character describes a, distinct, hollow, metallic, and clangorous, yet apparently muffled
reverberation coming from Usher. All five adjectives used to describe the reverberation coming from Usher
are mysterious and obscure, and the repetition of five similar adjectives, creates an over described tone of the
scene. Additionally, Poe describes the reverberation as metallic, but then explains that it was muffled,
juxtaposing the sound. Poe juxtaposes his adjectives again, describing Usher sitting in his chair with a, stone
rigidity but then going on to say that when he touched him, Usher had a, strong shudder. By juxtaposing the
adjectives used to describe Usher, the reader becomes perplexed with the scene, and the tone becomes eerie.
Poe uses the juxtaposition of adjectives to portray and abnormal and shady tone of the scene.
11.7.16
Talent by Carol Ann Duffy
This is the word tightrope. Now imagine
a man, inching across it in the space
between our thoughts. He holds our breath.
There is no word net.
You want him to fall, don't you?
I guessed as much; he teeters but succeeds.
The word applause is written all over him.

In the poem Talent by Carol Ann Duffy, the use of end stopped lines and enjambment impacts the pace at
which the reader digests the words and puts importance on the point of the poem. In the first line, Duffy
introduces the scene and subject, writing, This is the word tightrope. Now imagine / a man, inching across it
in the space / between our thoughts. Because of the introduction of the setting as a succinct short sentence it
implies that the setting is not important to the poem, instead the subject, which is introduced in the following
sentence. Duffy introduces the subject and expands this introduction between three different lines. This speeds
up the pace of the reader and implies that the subject and what the subject is doing is much more important to
the poem. Duffy uses end stopped lines and enjambment in the introduction of the scene and subject to place
the importance on the subject of the poem.

11.13.16

We live in time - it holds us and molds us - but I never felt I understood it very well. And I'm not referring to
theories about how it bends and doubles back, or may exist elsewhere in parallel versions. No, I mean ordinary,
everyday time, which clocks and watches assure us passes regularly: tick-tock, click-clock. Is there anything
more plausible than a second hand? And yet it takes only the smallest pleasure or pain to teach us time's
malleability. Some emotions speed it up, others slow it down; occasionally, it seems to go missing - until the
eventual point when it really does go missing, never to return.
- Julian Barnes, Sense of Ending
(Hint - Consider syntax:
- How does the pacing of the excerpt reflect its topic?
- How do the sentence starts impact meaning?
- How does the punctuation impact meaning?)
In the excerpt Sense of Ending from Julian Barnes, the spacing due to punctuation reflects the topic of time
and how it seems to slow down and speed up. In the beginning of the excerpt, sentences are run on and have
little to no punctuation causing the pace to speed up. The lack of punctuation in the sentence, And yet it takes
only the smallest pleasure or pain to teach us time's malleability causes the reader to read at a fast pace due to
the lack of time for a breath or pause. Then, the last sentence pulls in the meaning of the passage when it uses a
comma followed by a semicolon, then a comma, and then even a hyphen. It writes, Some emotions speed it up,
others slow it down; occasionally, it seems to go missing- until and finally in the last section of the sentence,
a comma separates the last three words, saying, never to return. This choppy and punctuated sentence
impacts the meaning of the poem, exhibiting the effect that time has on us, some moments feeling longer or
shorter than others.

11.20.16
"If we had had jazz, would we have survived differently? If we had known our story was a blues with a refrain
running through it, would we have lifted our heads, said to each other, This is memory again and again until
the living made sense? Where would we be now if we had known there was a melody to our madness? Because
even though Sylvia, Angela, Gigi, and I came together like a jazz improvhalf notes tentatively moving toward
one another until the ensemble found its footing and the music felt like it had always been playingwe didn't
have jazz to know this was who we were. We had the Top 40 music of the 1970s trying to tell our story. It never
quite figured us out."
- Jacqueline Woodson, Another Brooklyn
Hint: Consider Details
- How do the comparisons to music -- both jazz and that of the 1970s -- impact the excerpt's tone?
- What effect does the inclusion of names have in the center of this excerpt?
- How do the rhetorical questions (with excluded responses) impact the overall text?

In the excerpt from Jacqueline Woodsons, Another Brooklyn, the use of rhetorical questions sets the
sentimental tone of the passage. Throughout the passage the speaker is questioning the outcome of her life,
saying, Would we have survived differently? and, Where would we be now if we had known there was a
melody to our madness? These questions that the speaker is proposing to the reader never get answered.
Because of these rhetorical questions the tone of the passage is sentimental, the reader having nostalgia about
past events. Also, because of the answers being avoided, the reader can infer that the speaker is not happy with
the outcome of those events. Instead, the speaker is reflecting on what other outcomes could have occured.
Rhetorical questions in the passage set the tone and attitude of the speaker.

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