Creative Writing

Creative Writing
Quarter 1 – Module 6: Elements of Genre: Theme and Tone
First Edition, 2020

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Published by the Department of Education - Schools Division of Pasig City

Development Team of the Self-Learning Module

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 Creative Writing

Quarter 1
Self-Learning Module 6
Elements of Genre: Theme and Tone
Introductory Message

For the Facilitator:

Welcome to the Creative Writing Self-Learning Module on Elements of Genre:

Theme and Tone.

This Self-Learning Module was collaboratively designed, developed, and

reviewed by educators from the Schools Division Office of Pasig City headed by its
Officer-in-Charge Schools Division Superintendent, Ma. Evalou Concepcion A.
Agustin, in partnership with the City Government of Pasig through its mayor,
Honorable Victor Ma. Regis N. Sotto. The writers utilized the standards set by the K
to 12 Curriculum using the Most Essential Learning Competencies (MELC) in
developing this instructional resource.

This learning material hopes to engage the learners in guided and independent
learning activities at their own pace and time. Further, this also aims to help learners
acquire the needed 21st-century skills especially the 5 Cs, namely: Communication,
Collaboration, Creativity, Critical Thinking, and Character while taking into
consideration their needs and circumstances.

In addition to the material in the main text, you will also see this box in the
body of the module:

Notes to the Teacher

This contains helpful tips or strategies
that will help you in guiding the learners.

As a facilitator, you are expected to orient the learners on how to use this
module. You also need to keep track of the learners' progress while allowing them to
manage their learning. Moreover, you are expected to encourage and assist the
learners as they do the tasks included in the module.
For the learner:

Welcome to the Creative Writing Self-Learning Module on Elements of Genre:

Theme and Tone.

The hand is one of the most symbolized parts of the human body. It is often
used to depict skill, action, and purpose. Through our hands, we may learn, create,
and accomplish. Hence, the hand in this learning resource signifies that you as a
learner is capable and empowered to successfully achieve the relevant competencies
and skills at your own pace and time. Your academic success lies in your own hands!

This module was designed to provide you with fun and meaningful
opportunities for guided and independent learning at your own pace and time. You
will be enabled to process the contents of the learning material while being an active
learner.

This module has the following parts and corresponding icons:

Expectations - This points to the set of knowledge and skills

that you will learn after completing the module.

Pretest - This measures your prior knowledge about the lesson

at hand.

Recap - This part of the module provides a review of concepts

and skills that you already know about a previous lesson.

Lesson - This section discusses the topic in the module.

Activities - This is a set of activities that you need to perform.

Wrap-Up - This section summarizes the concepts and

application of the lesson.

Valuing - This part integrates a desirable moral value in the

lesson.

Posttest - This measures how much you have learned from the
entire module.
 EXPECTATIONS

This is your self-instructional learner module in English 11. All the

activities provided in this lesson will help you learn and understand:
Elements of Genre: Theme and Tone.

PRETEST
Direction: Answer the following questions.

1. It is a type of literature that uses the sounds, rhythms, and meanings

of words to describe the world in striking and imaginative ways
a. lines b. rhymes c. poetry d. imagery

2. It is a description that appeal to the five senses.

a. refrain b. imagery c. variations d. meter

3. It is a literary device that involves sound patterning.

a. rhythm b. rhymes c. meter d. imagery

4. It refers to the repetition of sounds in a poem.

a. rhythm b. rhymes c. meter d. imagery

5. It is a grouped set of lines within a poem.

a. stanza b. rhyme c. rhythm d. imagery
 RECAP

We have learned that the process entails reading and re-reading

multiple times. It's a careful and purposeful rereading of a text. It`s an
encounter in the text where readers focus on what the author had to say,
what the author`s purpose was, what the words mean, and what the structure
of the text tells us.

LESSON

Genre means a type of art, literature, or music characterized by a

specific form, content, and style.
Genres allow literary critics and students to classify compositions
within the larger canon of literature. Genre (pronounced ˈzhän-rə) is derived
from the French phrase genre meaning “kind” or “type.”
Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language
defines the genre as "a category of artistic, musical, or literary composition
characterized by a particular style, form, or content.”

ELEMENTS OF GENRE
1. THEME
The theme is the main idea that weaves the story together, the why, the
underlying ideas of what happens in the piece of literature, often a
statement about society or human nature.

TYPES OF THEME
The explicit theme is when the writer states the theme openly and
clearly.
Example
Charlotte's Web: friendship. Primary explicit themes are common in
children's literature, as the author wants to be sure the reader finds it.

Implicit themes are implied themes. Opposite of Explicit: Implied

- a theme that is implied through Characters, Plot, Setting, Stylistic
Choices.

COMMONLY USED THEME

a. Courage
It is a wonderful theme to explore in writing. Life is full of
difficult moments that must be surmounted, so why not draw
inspiration from fictional and nonfictional characters in a piece
of literature? It just may be the story that inspires someone else
to push through the next challenge in life. Here are a few
examples of courage in major works of literature:

b. Death
Death is something everyone will face. It's packed with so
much uncertainty. And, for those left behind, it leaves lingering
feelings of sadness and, sometimes, even remorse. This can be a
great theme if your goal is to tug at the heartstrings of your
readers. Here are a few examples of death and dying in major
works of literature:

c. Love
Of course, love can move the world. When two characters
fall in love, they'll go to any lengths to stay together. It makes for
an interesting story to see how love survives, despite all the
curveballs the main characters might face. Here are a few
examples of love in major works of literature:
 d. Friendship
Valued friendships can completely alter one's life. It can
sustain you through moments when you need to pull out all of
your courage. It can bolster us when we're feeling down. And it's
also a wonderful prize when celebrating life's special moments.
Here are a few examples of the beauty of friendship in major
works of literature:

e. Revenge
Of course, the theme in a novel doesn't always have to be a
positive thing. It can be a negative attribute that might inspire
readers to take a better path in life. Here are a few examples of
the detriments of revenge in major works of literature:

2. TONE
Tone tells us the author feels about his or her subject. Words express
the writer's attitude toward his or her work, subject, and readers.
Without vocal inflection to help convey tone, the writer must choose
words with great care. We often describe a writer's tone but are not
aware of how we discovered the tone. It sort of creeps into our
consciousness. Tone can be serious, humorous, satirical, passionate,
sensitive, zealous, indifferent, caring, caustic...

Examples of Tone
a. Catcher in the Rye (By J. D. Salinger)
Holden Caulfield, in J. D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, unfolds his
personality through the tone he adopts throughout the novel. Let us
have a look at some of his remarks:

b. The School (By Donald Barthelme)

Observe the tone of a short story, The School, by Donald Barthelme:
 "And the trees all died. They were orange trees. I don't know why they
died, they just died. Something wrong with the soil possibly or maybe the
stuff we got from the nursery wasn't the best. We complained about it.
So we've got thirty kids there, each kid had his or her little tree to plant
and we've got these thirty dead trees. All these kids looking at these little
brown sticks, it was depressing.”

c. Robert Frost, in the last stanza of his poem The Road Not Taken,
gives us an insight into the effect of tone:
“I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”

ACTIVITIES

Direction: Read and answer the following questions.

Annabel Lee
by Edgar Allan Poe

It was many and many a year ago,

In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of Annabel Lee;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child,

In this kingdom by the sea,
But we loved with a love that was more than love—
I and my Annabel Lee—
With a love that the wingèd seraphs of Heaven
Coveted her and me.
 And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsmen came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in Heaven,

Went envying her and me—
Yes! —that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love

Of those who were older than we—
Of many far wiser than we—
And neither the angels in Heaven above
Nor the demons down under the sea
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride,
In her sepulchre there by the sea—
In her tomb by the sounding sea.

Choose the letter of the best answer.

1. What is the theme of the poem?
a. The love between the narrator and Annabel is so strong it can't
be stopped by death
b. When there are jealousy and envy bad things can happen.
c. When someone dies young it strongly influences our memories.
d. Sometimes bad things happen to good people.
2. Which of the following quotes best supports this statement? "Love can
sometimes be so strong it cannot be stopped by death."
a. “I was a child and she was a child / In this kingdom by the sea;
/ But we loved with a love that was more than love— / I and my
Annabel Lee” (Lines 6-10)
b. “So that her highborn kinsman came / And bore her away from
me / To shut her up in a sepulcher / In this kingdom by the sea.”
(Lines 17-20)
c. “The angels not half so happy in heaven / Went envying her and
me— / Yes! —that was the reason (Lines 21-24)
d. “And neither the angels in heaven above / Nor the demons down
under the sea / Can ever dissever my soul from the soul / Of the
beautiful Annabel Lee.” (Lines 30-33)

3. Which of the following statements best summarizes (sums up) how the
speaker describes Annabel Lee?
a. The speaker describes her as coming from a wealthier family,
which is why she is taken from him.
b. The speaker describes her as fragile and dainty, which is why she
becomes sick so easily.
c. The speaker looks up to her, describing her as beautiful and
seemingly having no other purpose than to love the narrator.
d. The speaker looks up to her and describes her as perfect, but the
narrator also holds a lot of dislike for the way she treated him.

4. Why does the speaker focus his attention on Annabel Lee?

a. Because she was a young and innocent child
b. Because she was coveted by angels
c. Because she lived by the sea like the narrator
d. Because she loved the narrator and he loved her
 5. Who did Edgar Allen Poe base the poem Annabel Lee on?
a. No one knows. It came from Poe's gloomy imagination, and
possibly the death of his wife.
b. A childhood friend believed the poem was written about her.
c. It was written about Poe's dead sister
d. Poe said it was based on the death of a friend's sweetheart.

WRAP-UP

Based on your understanding of the lesson, complete the given

statement:

I have learned/discovered that GENRE is: ____________________________

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

VALUING

Theme makes the writer adjust their vocabulary so as to better express

the theme in the proper tone. Both are needed in poetry because of the
nature of the language and structure. Both enhance the poetry experience
and literature. Both can bring men and women falling to their knees in
wonder or pain.
 POSTTEST

Directions: Identify the tone of the following lines in the poem. Choose the
letter of the best answer.

1. What is the best word for the tone in this excerpt from The Great
Gatsby?
He smiled understandingly—much more than understandingly. It
was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it
that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced—or seemed
to face—the whole eternal world for an instant, and then concentrated
on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor.
a. Ironic b. Disillusioned c. Appreciative

2. Which one of these lines is the best example of a nostalgic tone?

a. I didn’t go to the moon; I went much further—for time is the
longest distance between two places. (The Glass Menagerie by
Tennessee Williams)
b. He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls
the present controls the past. (1984 by George Orwell)
c. Scars have the strange power to remind us that our past is real.
(All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy)

3. What is the tone of these lines in the poem “Don Quixote”?

Having thus lost his understanding, he unluckily stumbled upon the
oddest fancy that ever entered into a madman's brain; for now, he
thought it convenient and necessary, as well for the increase of his
honor, as the service of the public, to turn knight-errant. -Don
Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
a. Cheerful b. sarcastic c. ironic
4. What is the tone of these lines in the poem “The Scarlet Letter by
Nathaniel Hawthorne?”
The founders of a new colony, whatever Utopia of human virtue and
happiness they might originally project, have invariably recognized it
among their earliest practical necessities to allot a portion of the virgin
soil as a cemetery, and another portion as the site of a prison.
a. Ironic b. Skeptical c. sarcastic

5. What is the tone of these lines in the poem” To Kill a Mockingbird by

Harper Lee”?
Neighbors bring food with death and flowers with sickness and
little things in between. Boo was our neighbor. He gave us two soap
dolls, a broken watch and chain, a pair of good-luck pennies, and our
lives. But neighbors give in return. We never put back into the tree what
we took out of it: we had given him nothing, and it made me sad.
a. Nostalgic b. tragedy c ironic
 KEY TO CORRECTION

5. A 5. A 5. A
4. B 4. D 4. B
3. C 3. A 3. C
2.A 2. B 2. B
1.C 1. A 1. C
Posttest Activity Pretest

References

Reich, John. “2. What Is Genre and How Is It Determined?” Exploring Movie
Construction and Production. Open SUNY Textbooks, July 11, 2017.
https://milnepublishing.geneseo.edu/exploring-movie-construction-and-
production/chapter/2-what-is-genre-and-how-is-it-determined/.
“Tone - Examples and Definition of Tone.” Literary Devices, February 27, 2019.
https://literarydevices.net/tone/.
Raji, Belinda. “Genre Elements.” LinkedIn SlideShare, November 22, 2009.
https://www.slideshare.net/belair1981/genre-elements.