Dissecting Tone and Mood: Passengers on the Train of Life

Last Friday, December 9, both classes and I tackled imagery, tone and mood. The classes were heavy, hence the length of this post. Part of the gravity was due to the content of one of the poems we read, Nicole Breedlove’s, An Open Letter to Myself, which begins, “I didn’t mean for it to happen like this…my life that is.” Breedlove’s poem chronicles some extenuating times, battling hunger, homelessness and danger. The students pointed out the anger, sadness and frustration laden in the tone and the overall mood of fear and helplessness. After discussing the tonal messages of the poem, the class identified the imagery present: the speaker laying alongside 12 cats, eating spaghetti and ketchup, sleeping on the D train. To contrast, I asked the students to calm their minds and bodies: put down pens or pencils, and close their eyes, so they could focus and listen to me as I read the next piece.

This one, Night Train, by Anne Marie Cusack was very different from the previous one, but utilized a similar metaphor (the train). In Night Train, a passenger sitting on the train observes another passenger and quickly becomes a part of the narrative she herself is constructing, when the child of the other passenger climbs into her lap.

Tamara gave an impressive summary of the poem, putting herself in the place of the speaker as her eyes were closed. As I read, the students were able to see the woman board the train with her two children, and bags (of groceries, we presumed). They saw the woman fall asleep while her baby, resting on her chest, fed from a bottle; they saw the cornrowed headed baby climb into the lap of the speaker, pointing, slapping the window and pulling her hair. Perhaps the most important element they perceived, however, was the implied message in the piece: why the stranger participated in the mother’s life/journey in that moment. One student stated “Everybody needs help sometimes.” The mother, perhaps a single mother, perhaps homeless, was obviously tired from her day and it did not take much for a stranger to give the mother a moment to catch her breath, to rest.

After all, many of us who ride the train know- that ride can mean chaos, but it can also mean calm when you need it the most. At the end of a long day, taking that last empty seat, maybe the first you’ve taken all day, could be the sweetest refuge, the laughter of a child, a soothing reinforcement of hope, the fellow passenger sleeping across from you, proof that we are all just trying to get home, wherever that is, and we are in this together. My 6th, 7th, and 8th graders’ understanding of this and their ability to juxtapose the tone of both poems was a valuable part of the lesson. Night Train, was described as sweet, calm and quiet, in contrast to the volatile Open Letter…

Before writing, I shared a cure for “writers block”. “You will never have writer’s block if only you are willing to write the truth”, and as Open Letter…states, “…If it must be told, I’m telling you…” There is power and value in owning your own story, your own identity. And EVERY story matters.

We all have our truths and sometimes they are difficult ones…but as the writing prompt we used to get us started told us, the good and bad in our lives make us the beautiful human beings we are. The students were asked to write about what they would like to be remembered about them or their lives or what they would like to remain unsaid or forgotten. I gave the students more time to write and denoted time for them to go back and make line breaks and stanzas and to edit while considering other poetic elements that we have discussed in previous weeks.

At the end of both sessions, students shared their work. The work was highly emotional for a few students, so we exercised what we had learned earlier in the session; everybody needs help sometimes. The latter class with 7th and 8th grade ended in embraces and some words of wisdom from Mrs. Dydo regarding compassion and community.

This week, a few students asked to remain anonymous. I have respected their right to agency, and have chosen to showcase students whose words spoke to me and honored the dichotomy of the lesson…to make something of the good and the bad in life everyday…Thank you for bearing with me. Please enjoy.