TPCASTT for “The Bells” T-Title T: Predict the TITLE What do you think the title means?

TPCASTT for “The Bells”

TPCASTT P-Paraphase Summarize the poem by stanza Stanza #1: It’s winter time and silver sleigh bells can be heard lightly tinkling musically. Stars twinkle in the night sky. The bells predict merriment (happiness). Stanza #2: It’s summer time and golden wedding bells can be heard ringing calmly and musically. A turtledove looks at the moon as if it is in love (turtledoves symbolize marriage because they always come in two’s). The bells are musical and predict happiness.

P-Paraphrase (continued) Stanza #3: A fire has broken out and the bells now predict hopelessness. The bells cry out to the fire and ask it to stop, but the fire keeps burning and tries to reach the moon. The bells are now out of tune and ringing noisily. A person can tell when danger is worse because the sound of the bells fades in and out when there’s danger.

P-Paraphrase (continued) Stanza #4: A rusty iron funeral bell can be heard ringing monotonously (one sound over and over again). It is steady and depressing and scares people at night. There are ghouls and the king of the ghouls (zombie-like creatures who eat dead human flesh) happily ringing the bells up in the church tower. (A paean is a holy song)

TPCASTT C-Connotation (Poetry Vocab) Stanza 1: – Onomatopoeia: jingle, tinkle, tinnabulation – Alliteration: Line 3 (“thesis statement” line): “What a world of merriment their melody foretells!” – W and M sounds repeated – Lets you know the line is important – Repetition “Bells” and “Time” – Length: Shortest stanza

C-Connotation continued Stanza #2: – Onomatopoeia: Chiming, ringing – Alliteration: Line 3 again: “What a world of happiness their harmony foretells!” W and H sounds repeat and let you know the line is important (his “thesis” statement again) – Length: 2 nd shortest stanza

C-Connotation (Continued) Stanza #3: – Onomatopoeia Shriek, clang, clash, twang, clamor, clangor, twanging, wrangling, jangling – Alliteration 3 rd line again “What a tale of terror, now, their turbulency tells” – Repetition of “t” sounds lets you know this is important. The t sounds are harsh More alliteration in this stanza (desperate desire, clang and clash, frantic fire)

C-Connotation (continued) Stanza #4: – Onomatopoeia: tolling – Alliteration: “Muffled monotone,” “melancholy menace” (m sounds are mimicking the bell) – Assonance: 3 rd line: “What a world of solemn thought their monody compels.” – These O sounds slow down the poem – O sounds were very sad to Poe so he included them here – There IS alliteration here but it’s not the most important thing.

TPCASTT Attitude (Tone) Stanza #1 Tone=Very happy – Bell words: tinkle, jingle, tintinnabulation all trigger happy thoughts – Other words: heaven, delight, crystalline, oversprinkle, melody (all have happy connotations) – Images: kids on a sleigh, twinkling stars Stanza #2 Tone=Calm but still happy – Bell words: Chiming – Other words: Harmony, golden, delight, float, swinging, euphony – Images: turtledove and the moon

A-Attitude (Continued) Stanza #3 Tone= Panic/Fright – Bell words: jangle, clang, clangor, clamor, twanging, wrangling (negative words for ‘ringing’) – Other words: terror, turbulency, affright, fire, despair, danger horrified, frantic, desperate, etc. – Images: the fire trying to reach a pale moon Stanza #4 Tone=Sad/Dark/Serious – Bell words: monody, tolling/knelling (both words that are specifically for funeral bells), groaning, rolling, sobbing, throbbing, moaning (all have sad connotations/emotions associated with them) – Other words: melancholy, monotone, solemn, ghouls, runic (means old, mysterious) – Images: The image of the zombie-people ringing the bells, of people lying in their beds shivering

S-Shifts (Changes in tone, time, place, etc.) Shift in tone – Shift 1: happy/playful – Shift 2: happy/calm – Shift 3: violent/angry/frantic – Shift 4: sad/solemn – In other words, things just get worse and worse!!!

T-Theme (Major Ideas/Life Lessons) Life is full of different emotions Life gets worse as we get older. Happiness doesn’t last long compared with sadness/darkness.

T-Title Again Were you right in your predictions the first time we looked at the title? What does the title mean to you now?