Tones, Moods, and Irony in the Canterbury Tales - 833 Words

Forms of speech and intonation are extremely important to capture the attention of the audience, whether it is in writing or spoken aloud. In literature, the author uses some literary devices to entice the reader and extract some sort of reaction from him or her. Tone is a literary technique that shows the author’s attitude towards the audience or reader. The tone of a literary work can be informal, formal, serious, angry, playful, intimate, etc. Similar to tone is mood, which is the created atmosphere with the intention of coaxing a certain emotion from the audience, and is created through setting, theme, and tone. Irony, however, is a tone in which the real meaning is contradicted by the words that were used. The Canterbury Tales†¦show more content†¦Another example of irony is in the Franklin’s Tale when the rocks that Dorigen prays for disappear, all the trouble begins. The Miller’s Tale is also ironic because since John is concerned that his wife would cheat on him, he becomes extremely jealous and possessive, which makes his wife cuckold him. The travelers all have different reasons for telling his or her own tales, whether it is to make fun of someone else in the group, to make the rest of the travelers laugh, to show off, to confess, or to give a story of moral exemplum. With each story comes both different or similar moods and outcomes, and some even include moral teachings. Chaucer as the narrator wrote by memory about the profiles and stories told by the travelers. He included whether or not he liked certain travelers and how he felt about them just by how much or how little he wrote. The Canterbury Tales is a novel full of comedy, satire, irony, and reality. It is a cornucopia of tones and moods. The Canterbury Tales is truly a masterpiece ofShow MoreRelatedClassification of Literature3483 Words   |  14 PagesCLASSIFICATIONs OF LITERATURE I. Divisions of Literature Literature Prose Poetry Fiction Nonfiction Dramatic Narrative Lyric Drama Short Story Novel Tale Fable Myth Legends Folktales Essay Biography Autobiography Diary History Chronicle News Anecdote Tragedy Comedy Opera Operetta Ballad Epic Metrical Tale Metrical Romance Ode Sonnet Song Elegy POINT OF COMPARISON | PROSE | POETRY | Form | Paragraph | Verse | Language | Words and rhythms of ordinary and everyday language | Metrical,Read MoreFigurative Language and the Canterbury Tales13472 Words   |  54 Pages event, or another passage of literature, often without explicit identification. Allusions can originate in mythology, biblical references, historical events, legends, geography, or earlier literary works. Authors often use allusion to establish a tone, create an implied association, contrast two objects or people, make an unusual juxtaposition of references, or bring the reader into a world of experience outside the limitations of the story itself. Authors assume that the readers will recognizeRead MoreStudy Guide Literary Terms7657 Words   |  31 Pagesatmosphere- the dominant mood or emotional tone of a work of art, as of a play or novel: the chilly atmosphere of a ghost story. 13. antithesis- opposition, or contrast of ideas or words in a balanced or parallel construction. *Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice, moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue. Barry Goldwater *Brutus: Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more. Shakespeare, Julius Caesar 14. Anecdote A very short tale told by a characterRead MoreAmerican Literature11652 Words   |  47 Pagesphilosophical readers sense of idealism focus on the individual s inner feelings emphasis on the imagination over reason and intuition over facts urbanization versus nostalgia for nature burden of the Puritan past Genre/Style: ï‚ · ï‚ · ï‚ · ï‚ · ï‚ · ï‚ · literary tale character sketch slave narratives, political novels poetry transcendentalism Effect: ï‚ · ï‚ · ï‚ · helps instill proper gender behavior for men and women fuels the abolitionist movement allow people to re-imagine the American past Historical Context: