1. Monday
January 29-February 1

2. Review of “Snow-Storm” analysis
Let’s review “literal” meaning:
Literal: Taking words in their usual or most basic sense without metaphor or allegory.

3. Review of “Snow-Storm” analysis: Looking for literal meaning
Stanza One
What you write
1. Announced by all the trumpets of the sky, 2. Arrives the snow, and, driving o'er the fields, 3. Seems nowhere to alight: the whited air 4. Hides hills and woods, the river, and the heaven, 5. And veils the farm-house at the garden's end. 6. The sled and traveller stopped, the courier's feet 7. Delayed, all friends shut out, the housemates sit 8. Around the radiant fireplace, enclosed 9. In a tumultuous privacy of storm.
1. A loud noise from the sky let’s people know the snow is coming, 2. The snow lands pushing its way over the fields, 3. It seems like there’s no place for the snow to land; because the air is so white, the landscape can’t be seen. 4. The white air hides the hills, the woods, the river, and the sky. 5. The white air conceals the farm-house at the end of the garden. 6. The person travelling by sled, and the messenger are stopped or put behind schedule by the storm, 7-9. Friends can’t come over, and families sit around the fireplace, forced to stay at home by the storm.

4. Looking for Figurative meaning
Stanza one
What you write
1. Announced by all the trumpets of the sky, 2. Arrives the snow, and, driving o'er the fields, 3. Seems nowhere to alight: the whited air 4. Hides hills and woods, the river, and the heaven, 5. And veils the farm-house at the garden's end. 6. The sled and traveller stopped, the courier's feet 7. Delayed, all friends shut out, the housemates sit 8. Around the radiant fireplace, enclosed 9. In a tumultuous privacy of storm.
1. The trumpets of the sky may be a metaphor for thunder
2. Emerson uses inverted syntax so the reader learns what arrival the thunder announces is the snow; the use of the verb “driving” suggests a hard blowing wind brings in the snow,
Again, Emerson uses inverted syntax; the use of the word “alight – “ a gentle landing – seems to contradict the earlier choice of “driving, “ suggesting that while snow is weightless, it can create a force; the “whited air” offers the image of so much snow in the air the woods, the river, even the sky, are hidden from view; also, the snow is personified
5. The word “veils” offers a subtly different connotation than, say, “covers”

5. Looking for Figurative meaning
Stanza one
What you write
1. Announced by all the trumpets of the sky, 2. Arrives the snow, and, driving o'er the fields, 3. Seems nowhere to alight: the whited air 4. Hides hills and woods, the river, and the heaven, 5. And veils the farm-house at the garden's end. 6. The sled and traveller stopped, the courier's feet 7. Delayed, all friends shut out, the housemates sit 8. Around the radiant fireplace, enclosed 9. In a tumultuous privacy of storm.
6. The word “sled” may metaphorically refer to the sleds of children, or given the period (mid-eighteenth century) refer to a horse-driven sled carrying a group of people, or a couple. Rather than simply saying “the courier,” Emerson refers to the messenger’s “feet,” placing emphasis on the fact that the messenger must walk, and the storm has stopped his work “friends shut out,” can offer both a positive or negative connotation; here Emerson seems to imply some relief. “Shut out” suggests not wanted, while the “housemates,” (family? lovers?) “enclosed,” perhaps “encircled,” around the “radiant fireplace,” suggesting a joyful place, while the “tumultuous” or wild storm, keeps them alone.

6. Let’s talk about tone
“Calm” describes the ocean on a sunny, windless day or a baby, after a long crying jag, is given a pacifier.
“Monotone” describes someone who speaks without inflection.
Neither describe a writer’s diction and intention.

7. Knowing the meaning of the words will guide you to tone
“Tumultuous” means unrestrained, unbridled, riotous, boisterous, rowdy, wild, joyous…
Would you describe this as “calm?”
“Trumpet” means to broadcast, proclaim, declare, boast…
Would you describe this as “monotone?”
Do not guess at the tone. Just because there isn’t what you perceive as “action” in the poem does not necessarily mean there’s little happening.
Look at diction; word choice! Good writers choose these words intentionally!

8. Words that describe Tone
Here is a hand out that will offer you a number of choices for describing tone.
For a more extensive list, check out this writer’s website: