Tone

"Is that what you mean? Your tone of voice indicates something else. You are being sarcastic, aren't you?

To know a person's feeling or attitude towards what is said (subject matter) is easier  when it is spoken. How do we know of a writer's or a poet's attitude towards the subject matter? Most of the times, through his/her word choice or diction.

In understanding literary works, identifying writer's/ poet's mood and tone of voice is as important as giving it a name. Is this a sad tone? Is it a happy tone? What other words can we use to describe tone besides 'happy' and 'sad'.  Tone of voice can be described in many ways, depending on the intensity of the feeling that the writer/persona/poet wishes to convey to the readers.

What is tone? According to the Kirszner and Mandell (2008), it is the "attitude of the speaker or author of a work toward the subject itself or the audience, as can be determined from the word choce and arrangement of the piece" (p. G10)

These are among the words that can be used to describe tone of voice.

Amused

Angry
Approving

Bitter

Compassionate

Concerned

Contemptuous

Critical

Cynical

Defiant

Disapproving

Disbelieving

Disdainful

Disgusted

Dispassionate

Disrespectful

Emotional

Hostile

Impassionate

Indifferent

Indignant

Insulting

Intolerant

Ironic

Light hearted

Malicious

Matter-of-fact

Mocking

Negative

Nostalgic

Objective

Pessimistic

Remorseful

Reserved

Sarcastic

Satirical

Scornful

Self-pitying

Sentimental

Serious

Skeptical

Solemn

Supportive

Threatening

Unemotional

Why Literature?

Why study literature.. it is only stories…

Why study literature? It is only stories about people, not even real people. Why go through the pain of looking at literary devices: metaphor, simile, symbols? To understand life better? But those things are not real. Only ideas, only assumptions!

Sounds familiar?

Well, how many of us really reflect on what we do every day? How many of us really learn from our mistakes and have the chance to explain what really happened - word by word, with its events, the people and the emotions involved at that time? Usually when asked for an advices, the most that we can do is to say, “Don’t do this, it will hurt you, I have made the same mistake myself. I know it.”  But is it really the same event, the same situation, the same feeling we are experiencing? How do we know for sure? We don’t have the time to bracket one point in time of our lives and really look into it. We lack the expertise to explain what really happened, and how did we really feel: be it during the saddest, the happiest or even the most memorable times of our lives.

Literature does that for us. It helps us to peep into the lives of the characters, their joyous moments, the mistakes the make, the way they learn or not learn from the errors, and the way they handle their lives. We make judgements and comments about those fictitious characters, saying what should and should have not been done. Since they are fictitious, no one is offended. But in the process, we start to look into our own lives. We could have done the same thing in that same situation, and since we ‘see’ the possible outcome, we could now think of alternatives to the same problem.

That is only one of the many benefits of studying literature. If today, we think that it is pointless studying the works of some dead writers,  think again. We may not like the novel, the short stories, the play or the drama, but aren’t our lives a story in itself? We can never loathe it, erase our stories and to choose to write another.  We ARE the writers of our life stories. We ARE making our piece of literature. Just that, no one is reading it except for ourselves.

Three Beserah Fishermen

Muhammad Haji Salleh's "Two Beserah Fishermen" portrays the difficulties faced by fishermen.  The fishermen are referred to as "three small souls". The choice of the word "small" and the phrase "in a frail old sampan" suggests how these fishermen have to face big challenges in the vast blue sea.  This idea of the fisherman's difficult life is further enhanced in the lines "there was no choice/ against the big winds/ and the capricious sea." From the first stanza itself, we could sense that being a fisherman is not easy. It is challenge of small soul in a big "capricious" sea, where the "big winds" blow with no mercy because "the wind has no heart."

There is a sense of despair in the voice of the persona. It seems as if a fisherman has to fight a battle which is almost impossible to win. However, these fishermen are aware that although "the wind has no heart," there is still "a promise of hope" "between the stretches of a red imagination."  This is because the fishermen do not live himself, but also for his family - "the wives, sons and daughters,"  and it is their responsibility as the head of the family to "go down into the bottom of the sea-dish" and "to swim into time and hope." Despite the challenges, and a tinge of hopelessness, the fishermen who realize that "to survive was as difficult as to die," anchor all their hopes in the big blue sea knowing that "to be responsible is to love/ and love is to live/ to be rich in life."

This is a poem about despair and hope, and the courage to survive. One has to continue to live, despite difficulties, and to do so, one has to find the drive to move on. For the fishermen, 'the drive' is their family at home, and the responsibilities they have to fulfill as the heads of their families.

23 October 2011

Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird

                             (by Amir Aizuddin and Erni Suliza)

1.       He has influenced his children in terms of maturity.

ü  “First of all” he said “if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you’ll get along… until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”

(Atticus page 39)

2.       He is the most influential person in Maycomb.

ü   He has been chosen to defend Tom Robinson.

ü  Even though he loses in the trial, the blacks respect him because he has done  justice in the trial by doing his best in presenting Tom’s case

ü  One thing about the Cunningham: once you earned their respect, they were for you tooth and nail. (fully  supportive)  - Atticus puts Cunningham as the one of the jury because he knows they are supporting him. He had gained their considerable respect from them on the night at jail. (Page 326)

3.       His character contributes to build the character of Jem and Scout

ü  Atticus advices his children to be fair to everyone and not to be someone that will discriminate other people for their social status

Ø Scout wants to invite Walter Cunningham for dinner, but Aunt Alexandra protests. She claims that they are not our kind of folks

4.       Atticus also instills good moral values.

ü  He treats his children like adults

ü  He answers all the confusion that his children have in mind.

ü  The most important values that Atticus has taught his children is that anyone who takes advantage and cheat from those who are less fortunate and less educated has the lowest rank in the society. (page 295)

5.        Atticus as the symbol of consistency.

ü  He is not affected by prejudice.

ü  He is not easily affected by other people in the town.