Tone and Mood Handout Teacher Copy

Tone and Mood Video Questions

Name:____________________      
Date:_____________________

Directions: Listen to T.S. Eliot read The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock and answer the questions below.

1.     How would you describe his tone in the beginning of the poem? Use at least three adjectives to describe it.

Eliot's tone suggests that he is feeling at least somewhat confident about himself and his subject. However, there is a hint of dark nervousness surrounding what he is saying.

2.     Pay attention to the ninth stanza (the one about the arms). Eliot’s tone seems to change here. Do you agree? Why or why not? What do you hear?

His tone becomes more and more depressed throughout the reading. This stanza is a big turning point. I believe it is because it is very sexual in it's imagery.

3.     Write here any lines that seem particularly powerful here based off of Eliot’s reading. (You may need to listen to it a few times to answer this.)

To me, the most powerful lines are the last three. They are so heavy with meaning. The way he reads them makes them incredibly profound.

4.     What mood did Eliot invoke in you when he read the following lines:
-“That is not what I meant at all. That is not it at all.” sad, lonely, heartbroken

-“To say: ‘I am Lazarus, come from the dead, / Come back to tell you all, I shall tell you all’- momentary strength, "I know something you don't know"

-“We have lingered in the chambers of the sea/ By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown/ till human voices wake us, and we drown.” Feeling of longing, ending with acceptance of death