Musical Vocabulary
Analyze the poem "Burn". What is the mood/meaning of this poem? Why? Give at least three details from the poem and explain how they support your claims.
Mood: Anger/Sadness*
Reason: It talks about being hurt in a relationship.
Detail One: Spontaneous Combustion
Explanation: Spontaneous combustion is a sudden explosion which can symbolize anger.
Detail Two: She talks about how “he lit me on fire from the inside out”
Explanation: Fire can be destructive and this symbolizes hurt which makes the reader feel angry and sad.
Detail Three: Burning
Explanation: Burning can consume things and reduce them to ash, relating to how anger can consume you.
*Though both work, it is best to only put one as the mood
WIP
What is purpose?
The reason why something is done
Who is a speaker?
The person who is talking
What is volume?
How loud or soft something is
Analyze the poem "The Old Pond". What is the mood/meaning of this poem? Why? Give at least three details from the poem and explain how they support your claims.
Mood: Calm, then exciting, then calm once again.
Reason: It describes a sudden event occurring in a tranquil setting
Detail One: The use of punctuation
Explanation: In the first line, “An old silent pond…”, there is an ellipsis at the end, creating a long pause of silence, contributing to the feeling of calmness because silence is associated with tranquility. The following line, “A frog jumps into the pond—”, uses a dash to connect the line after to the current one, which is important because the line describes an exciting event happening and the dash implies there is an impact. The last line, “splash! Silence again.”, uses an exclamation mark to emphasize the surprise of the splash, inciting additional excitement. The period at the end of “Silence again.” represents how the quiet atmosphere of the pond returns after the splash, creating a feeling of calmness once again.
Detail Two: The description of the pond
Explanation: The description of the pond creates the initial and ending calm mood of the poem, as the pond is described as “silent” and silence is often associated with calmness.
Detail Three: The frog jumping into the pond and making a splash
Explanation: The act of a frog jumping into a pond and making a splash can create a mood of excitement. The first line uses the words “old” and “silent” to create a dull image of the pond. However, the following line, “A frog jumps into the pond—” contrasts this by describing a frog, a typically colorful and animated creature, about to jump into a pond, which is a fast and sudden event. All of these things are correlated with excitement and surprise. The last line describes the splash created, emphasizing the exciting feelings built up in the previous line.
What is the mood?
The feeling an author is trying to create
What is structure?
The parts of a story and how they fit together; the way something is built; a foundation that something is built upon; to build and/or support something in a particular way
What is pitch?
How high or low a sound is
Who are the audience?
Who the piece is for, the people who are watching, reading, listening, etc.
What is a call and response?
When one speaker says something and another replies
What is tone?
The manner in which something is said; the qualities of a sound, including its pitch, volume, and other characteristics
What is the theme?
The message or idea that the author wants us to think about
What is a thesis?
A statement or theory that is put forward as a premise to be maintained or proved