CN:

UNIVERSITY OF THE EAST

Basic Education Department
Manila
Senior High School

ACTIVITY NO. _3_

Name: ________________________________________ Score: ____________________

Strand and Section: ____________________________ Date: _____________________

Subject Title: ______________________________________ Subject Code: __________________

Activity Title: Figurative Language

Type of Activity: Concept notes, essay, definition
Learning Targets: At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:
a. Differentiate a formal tone from an informal tone;
b. Look for the definition of given words
c. Analyze poetry and determine its tone

References: Diwa Senior High School Series: Creative Writing, 2017

Read the following poems and accomplish the tasks that follow.

POEM 1 POEM 2
When I am dead, my dearest My Life had stood - a Loaded Gun (764)
BY CHRISTINA ROSSETTI BY EMILY DICKINSON

When I am dead, my dearest, My Life had stood - a Loaded Gun -

Sing no sad songs for me;
Plant thou no roses at my head,
Nor shady cypress tree:
Be the green grass above me
With showers and dewdrops wet;
And if thou wilt, remember,
And if thou wilt, forget.
I shall not see the shadows,
I shall not feel the rain;
I shall not hear the nightingale
Sing on, as if in pain:
And dreaming through the twilight
That doth not rise nor set,
Haply I may remember,
And haply may forget.
In Corners - till a Day
The Owner passed - identified -
And carried Me away -
And now We roam in Sovreign Woods -
And now We hunt the Doe -
And every time I speak for Him
The Mountains straight reply -
And do I smile, such cordial light
Opon the Valley glow -
It is as a Vesuvian face
Had let it’s pleasure through -
And when at Night - Our good Day done -
I guard My Master’s Head -
’Tis better than the Eider Duck’s
Deep Pillow - to have shared -

To foe of His - I’m deadly foe -

None stir the second time -
On whom I lay a Yellow Eye -
Or an emphatic Thumb -

Though I than He - may longer live

He longer must - than I -
For I have but the power to kill,
Without - the power to die -
 TASK 1: As used in the context of the poems, look for the dictionary definition of the following
words and use them in your own sentence. (10pts)

1. cypress 6. opon (upon)

2. doth 7. vesuvian
3. haply 8. eider duck
4. sovereign (sovereign) 9. foe
5. cordial 10. emphatic

TASK 2: Based on your understanding of the poems above, answer the following questions in
no more than 5 sentences. (5pts)

1. Which of the texts would you consider formal? Informal? What makes you say so?

2. How does each poem tackle the subject death? Which of the two would you describe as “light”?
Which one is heavier? What in the text contributes to the feeling?

3. Which of the two did you like better? Why?

CONCEPT NOTES (5pts)

What is tone?

It refers to the writer’s attitude toward his/her subject and toward the readers. The writer’s tone
creates an atmosphere or mood for the story. A writer’s tone can be humorous, satirical,
passionate, zealous, sarcastic, condescending, formal/informal and so on. The tone can be anything the
writer chooses. 

The writer’s choice of words or diction often reveals his/her tone. Tone is often expressed by the
connotation of words. They can be positive, negative or neutral. For instance, in a poem by Anne Sexton
on suicide titled “Wanting to Die”, words like “enemy” and “heavy” already tell you that the speaker sees
suicide in a negative and affecting manner. Rhyme and other literacy techniques are also helpful in hearing
the tone. In Dorothy Parker’s “Resume”, the use of rhyme that can be deliberately heard already prepares
the reader for the light tone. The understatements “rivers are dry” and “drugs cause cramp also indicate
that the speaker is talking about suicide in an ironic manner.