Introduction
Is it any coincidence that tone rhymes so perfectly with the words moan and groan? Not based on my recent experiences as the mere mention of the former induces a classroom full of the latter. I'm not even sure how this tone concept became the one most riddled with failure in my classroom—that wasn't always the case. For years, my students seemed fairly adept at identifying the tone of a passage as they are required to do on the AP English Language and Composition Exam; at the very least the success they experienced was in proportion to their analytical abilities across the board. No more—now the mere mention of the word elicits the aforementioned moans and groans. Their spirits deflate. Every brilliant idea or innovative strategy falls flat. I don't know what happened, but I do know that I am not alone. As I searched for new ideas, I found innumerable complaints from other teachers about this problem in their classrooms. Headings on the AP English electronic discussion group include, "NEED TONE HELP," and "If I hear that the tone was serious ONE MORE TIME ...!" " 1 Obviously, the struggles with teaching the concept of tone in the classroom are not unique to me. What is the problem? Why are students having so much difficulty?
A recent classroom experience gave credence to my theory that students are not struggling with tone per se—they are struggling with the identification of tone in a written context. Students can use the recognition of sound to improve their analytical skills. Students were presenting movie projects that required them to create their own visual texts and synthesize their knowledge of analysis. They essentially created a visual file that served as that analytical text, using the film program to juxtapose the speech audio file with image files and effects. The movie had to reflect the strategies and tone of the speech itself. While they were presenting, students heard a recording of Martin Luther King, Jr. juxtaposed with a speech by Malcolm X. The students identified the tone of each text and how it contributed to the speaker's purpose with greater ease than they had exhibited with the written text. I was somewhat amazed—this just seemed too easy after all our struggles. Clearly, the students can hear the tone of the spoken word—the question is: how do we help them make the transition to hearing the sound of the written text and identifying that tone? It seems clear that the emphasis on sound is what must be incorporated into our studies.es.
This unit will promote the idea that the study of poetry, with a particular emphasis on sound, can actually serve as the impetus for improving student facility in discussing the tone of any prose text, fiction or nonfiction. The unit will begin with a more substantive discussion of the definition of tone, accompanied by activities that build student confidence in the ability to recognize audible tones in their day-to-day lives. When we actually hear what someone is saying, we can easily recognize how it is being said—we hear the tone. Firmly rooted in an historically oral tradition, poetry serves as a natural bridge from the study of spoken words to written texts. As students shift to the study of poetry, they will begin with "dialogue poems" that specifically emphasize the connection between the audible sound they recognize and the written context they must learn to identify. The final transition in the unit will involve students taking the same approaches they have learned in the study of the sound of poetry and applying them to their study of prose. These techniques should be used in conjunction with other analytical techniques as an organic discussion of the meaning of the text—not isolated as arbitrary exercises. The ultimate goal is to improve, not replace, an already substantive analysis of text.t.
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