New
New
Year 10
AQA

Analysing the poem ‘Neutral Tones’ by Thomas Hardy

I can explore how Hardy uses imagery to present a foreboding interaction during the breakdown of the relationship.

New
New
Year 10
AQA

Analysing the poem ‘Neutral Tones’ by Thomas Hardy

I can explore how Hardy uses imagery to present a foreboding interaction during the breakdown of the relationship.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Hardy uses colour imagery to create a bleak and barren emotional landscape.
  2. Hardy uses an oxymoron to convey the hostile and hopeless nature of the relationship.
  3. Hardy uses personification to suggest how he feels misled by love.
  4. Hardy uses ominous imagery to show how the relationship was ill-fated.
  5. Analytical paragraphs should consider a writer’s meaning, use of language and purpose.

Common misconception

You need to include a reference to the wider context in every analytical paragraph.

The best analytical responses only include relevant pieces of context and weave it subtly throughout. It is important to include context in your answer but it isn't necessary to include it in every paragraph.

Keywords

  • Ominous - foreboding; suggests something bad will happen.

  • Hostile - unfriendly or unwelcoming.

  • Oxymoron - a language technique which combines two opposite ideas.

  • Colour imagery - vivid descriptions of colours to evoke emotions or ideas.

After exploring Izzy's model analytical paragraph, you could pause here and write a 'WE DO' analytical paragraph on the whiteboard as a class. This could help students bridge the gap between a model answer and their own response.
Teacher tip

Equipment

You will need access to the poem 'Neutral Tones' by Thomas Hardy. This can be found in the AQA Love and Relationships Poetry Anthology.

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of sensitive content

Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Loading...

6 Questions

Q1.
In 'Neutral Tones', the quotation "starving sod" is an example of which language technique?
simile
rhyme
Correct answer: alliteration
assonance
repetition
Q2.
'Neutral Tones' was written during the era.
Elizabethan
Jacobean
Correct answer: Victorian
Edwardian
Q3.
Which of the following words completes this quote from 'Neutral Tones': "We stood by a pond that day"?
autumn
Correct answer: winter
spring
summer
Q4.
Which two of these quotes from 'Neutral Tones' contain a simile?
Correct answer: "the sun was white, as though chidden of God"
"some words played between us to and fro"
"The smile on your mouth was the deadest thing"
Correct answer: "A grin of bitterness swept thereby / Like an ominous bird a-wing..."
"love deceives and wrings with wrong"
Q5.
Hardy mentions two colours in 'Neutral Tones'. What are they?
Correct answer: grey and white
black and red
yellow and brown
green and pink
silver and gold
Q6.
How many lines does 'Neutral Tones' have?
10
12
14
Correct answer: 16
18

6 Questions

Q1.
Which of these techniques means 'attributing human characteristics to non-human entities for effect'?
alliteration
simile
Correct answer: personification
metaphor
symbolism
Q2.
What is an oxymoron?
a list of similar items, placed together for effect
two words that have similar ending sounds
Correct answer: combining two opposing ideas for effect
using 'like' or 'as' to compare two things to emphasise their shared qualities
using two contrasting ideas at the beginning and end of a line of poetry
Q3.
Which of the following quotes from 'Neutral Tones' is an example of an oxymoron?
Correct answer: "grin of bitterness"
"like an ominous bird a-wing"
"greyish leaves"
"God-curst sun"
"enough to have strength to die"
Q4.
In 'Neutral Tones', Hardy suggests that the speaker blames __________ for the breakdown of their relationship.
fate
their partner
Correct answer: love
that day
themself
Q5.
Complete this sentence: Hardy's use of pathetic fallacy, __________ and __________ in stanza 1 of 'Neutral Tones' creates a pessimistic tone.
an oxymoron
Correct answer: colour imagery
Correct answer: symbolism
alliteration
Q6.
Why might you use square brackets ([]) in your analytical paragraph?
to correct your own spelling mistake
Correct answer: to slightly modify a quote to fit the structure of your sentence
to add in something your forgot to include earlier
to add extra detail to your explanation
to include a quote from the poem