GCSE (9-1): Literature: Poetry: AQA Love and Relationships: Neutral Tones: Structure

focus at the beginning of 'Neutral Tones'

Hardy begins his poem by describing the wintery scene

focus in the second and third stanzas of 'Neutral Tones'

Hardy focuses our attention on the woman's face which shows bitterness

focus in the final stanza of 'Neutral Tones'

He tries to use the final verse to learn lessons from the failed relationship; painful memories soon draw him back to the past

symbol definition

characters, settings, images, or other motifs that stand in for bigger ideas

major symbol in 'Neutral Tones'

nature

effects of nature as the major symbol in 'Neutral Tones'

The poem makes a connection between nature and human emotions; in nature, nothing stays the same; seasons change and leaves fall. This is the same with relationships; they can be vibrant and full of life as the summer; they can also fade and die like trees in winter

Setting definition

The physical location as well as the time period in which the story takes place

setting in 'Neutral Tones'

Hardy chooses to set the poem in winter to reflect the cold and bare feeling of the failed relationship; an alternative interpretation is that it is nature that is indifferent

mental landscape definition

The surroundings (landscape or townscape) expresses or reflects what an individual is feeling, eg, the winter setting in 'Neutral Tones'

allusion

a reference to earlier pieces of literature or, sometimes, history

allusion in 'Neutral Tones'

- They had fallen from an ash, and were gray.'

effects of allusion in 'Neutral Tones'

- They had fallen from an ash, and were gray.' - The name of the tree reminds us of a word spoken at a funeral: 'ashes to ashes, dust to dust'

point of view definition

the type of narrator in the text

4 types of points of view in literature

first-person point of view (I), second-person point of view (you), third-person point of view, limited ("he" or "she") - the narrator is outside of the story and relating the experiences of a specific character - and third-person point of view, omniscient. The story is still about "he" or "she," but the narrator has full access to the thoughts and experiences of all characters in the story.

point of view in 'Neutral Tones'

first-person point of view

effect of the first person point of view in 'Neutral Tones'

gives us access to the speaker's thoughts, emotions, experiences and memories - we see the world through his eyes; he sees the world through the colour grey, suggesting that because he is depressed, he is finding it difficult to see the vibrancy and happiness in the world; this suggests that the speaker is joyless and the colour of the world represents his sadness

cyclical structure definition

ending with the same topic the text begins with

effect of the cyclical structure in 'Neutral Tones'

the poem begins and ends with a reference to 'a pond', suggesting a lack of hope or progress; the situation cannot be changed

enjambment definition

the continuation of a sentence beyond the end of a line, eg, 'as eyes that rove / Over tedious riddles'.

effects of enjambment in 'as eyes that rove / Over tedious riddles'.

subverts our expectations because the first line stops on 'rove', which would suggest looking and wandering aimlessly or looking with attraction but the following line clarifies that it is a kind of indifferent wandering

rhyme scheme in 'Neutral Tones'

ABBA, eg, 'day / God / sod / gray'

effect of the ABBA rhyme scheme in 'Neutral Tones'

could be a reflection of the cyclical structure of the poem; everything ends as it begins, no change, no improvement