In Domestic Work, 1937, Natasha Trethewey uses a hopeful, wishful and optimistic tone with the use of personification, imagery, and similes to show the life of an African American woman in the time period and the hopefulness she had to change her life. When cleaning someone’s house she “stared down her own face in the shine of copper-bottomed pots”. She looked at her reflection and analyzed herself which shows this is not who she wants to be. The toilet is personified when she said she would “pull the lid to--that look saying”. The toilet is trying to say something to her to help her “make a change” in her life. On Sunday’s she is happy and free and “the whole house dancing”. She is most hopeful on Sunday because the Sunday’s “are hers”. As she does her chores in her house she points out that “she blows dust from the broom like dandelion spores”. She compares the dust to dandelion spores because when someone blows a dandelion it represents a wish. This wish she has is embedded in her everyday life and even though she does not have best life she stays optimistic and this is shown through the use of tone, imagery, personification, and similes.

In Tour, Carol Snow uses an insightful and peaceful tone with the usage of imagery and form to show the reader that a place is looked at differently from the outsider's perspective and the caretaker's perspective and that a place means so much more than what is plainly seen. He “placed the camellia blossoms there” but “we had no way of knowing” what happened. The tourist may never know how the blossoms got there and what work was put in for it to happen. The two separate stanzas show how there are two different perspectives. This poem shows the reader that an outsider looks at all of the beautiful scenery but the outsider does not know how everything came to be. The caretaker understands the site on a deeper level. The tourist may enjoy everything at that site but he will never understand it on the level that the caretaker does. Carol Snow uses this tone, form, and imagery to show that the perspective of the caretaker and the tourist are completely different.

Repetition and Personification in "The Partial Explanation" by Charles Simic

In “The Partial Explanation”, Charles Simic uses an anxious and bored tone to show how people have a need to have social interaction and that loneliness causes feelings of anxiety and boredom. He uses repetition and personification to show this theme. He uses “seems like” twice which gives off a negative connotation of boredom. Using repetition gives off a sense of boredom and need to do something. As he waits for his meal he says “a glass of water keeps me company”. This personification also shows a need for social interaction because he is resorting to inanimate objects to keep him company. When he says he has “a longing, an incredible longing” to listen in on the cooks shows how he is anxious to know why they are taking so long to come out. Simic uses an anxious and boring tone by using repetition and personification to teach that people have a need to have social interaction and that loneliness can have tragic effects over time.  

In the poem “The Farewell”, Edward Field uses a sad and tolerant tone to teach the reader a lesson that you shouldn’t trust people too easily and that trust can be easily broken and end in tragedy. The author uses the ice in the poem in the literal sense and the figurative sense by use of metaphor and symbolism. The speaker says that “they say the ice will hold” but just like his trust with them the ice broke just as easily. The ice is being compared to the fragility of trust and is also a symbol for how easily it can be broken. The speaker says that “the ice meets over my head again with a click”. The ice just like trust might have come back together but it is still always going to be broken. Edward Field teaches the reader using metaphors and symbolism that trust can be easily broken and that you shouldn’t trust people to easily like the average person does.

In “The Poet”, Tom Wayman uses a informative, and annoyed tone by using an unorganized  form without periods and little punctuation to show the reader how complicated and confusing a poet's mind actually is. The author also uses a lot of negatives like “cannot” or “does not” to show that he is annoyed by a poet's complexities. The fact that the poem uses little punctuation shows how unorganized and confusing a poet is. The author says “cannot handle “yes-no” questions.” This quote is making a generalization and it does that a lot throughout a poem which also shows how it has an annoyed tone. Tom Wayman uses this tone and unorganized form to show the reader how unorganized and complex a poet's mind is.

In Neglect, R.T Smith uses an intimate, aware, and slightly regretful tone to show how we should not only enjoy things in life but also care for them and nurture them because if we neglect them they can die out or become a lesser form. The author does this by using creative diction. This gives the reader a sense of appreciation and respect for things in life so that we can be properly care for them. The author calls the apple a “Red Delicious” which gives the reader a sense of color and taste. This gives the apple importance in the poem and shows that it is something the author is trying to focus on. The author says, “splendor ripens a final time in the firebox” which means that this is the last of the trees beauty and this is the last that will be enjoyed of it. R.T Smith uses this tone and  diction to show how you should care for things so you can enjoy them to the fullest ability.

“At the Un-National Monument Along the Canadian Border” by William E. Stafford

In the poem “At the Un-National Monument Along The Canadian Border”, William E. Stafford uses personification and a creative rhyme scheme with an appreciative and sensitive tone to teach the reader to value and honor simple places and sites of nature that have nothing to do with war. In the first stanza the author says “the only heroic thing is the sky” which shows how something so simple can provide for many things in nature. Also, the word “sky” rhymes with the last word in the sentence, “where the unknown soldier did not die”. A soldier is a heroic figure so by rhyming these two letters it is comparing the two. By comparing the two, the author is showing how a simple place should be appreciated just as much as a battlefield. Stafford uses personification and a creative rhyme scheme which shows the importance of a simple scene of nature and how people only recognize places where wars and battles take place and never take the time to recognize simplicity.

"Do You Have Any Advice For Those of Us Starting Out" by Ron Koertge

In “Do You Have Any Advice For Those of Us Starting Out”, Ron Koertge uses a optimistic and relaxed tone by using imagery which advises new writers to not over-stress and overwhelm themselves but to be more relaxed and put themselves in the right environment to be successful. The notebook the writer carries should be cheap “with pages the color of weak tea and on the front a kitten or a spaceship”. This kind of notebook helps the writer write freely in a more relaxed style rather than a strict and confined style. The authors also uses the environment to teach you to not go to certain places such as “any snow-covered chalet with deer tracks across the muffled tennis courts”. This shows the writer that he/she does not need a fancy or beautiful scene to write because this might make the writer's expectations for himself unrealistically high and could overwhelm him/her. When the writer fails or when “the tower falls”, “laugh so loud everybody in the world frowns and says, "Shhhh." This helps the writer be optimistic and helps him not dwell on his failures which sets him apart from the average writer. Through these examples using imagery, Koertge teaches you that in order to be a successful writer, you must place yourself in the correct environment, take a step back, and relax.