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tonal change

Device
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

The alteration of color or mood to suggest movement between tonalities

Detailed Definition
Tonal change denotes a deliberate shift in a poem’s emotional or attitudinal register—such as from despair to hope, satire to elegy—achieved through diction, rhythm, or imagery; this modulation creates dynamic range and complexity, as in Auden’s “Musée des Beaux Arts,” where detached observation gives way to horrified empathy in the final lines.
Example
Example in poetry:
“Joy rang bright — then shadows crept in low” — shift from high to low tone; “Laughter filled the hall; now only echoes crawl” — tonal descent mirroring mood; “Sunlight! — (pause) — rain returns” — abrupt tonal change; “We danced — (voice breaks) — before the war” — emotional tonal shift
Additional Notes
tonal change|The transition from one distinct emotional mood or voice to another within a poem, often marked by a shift in diction, imagery, rhythm, or punctuation (e.g., moving from despair to hope, or from satire to seriousness).
Also Known As
Key change Tonal shift Modulation Chromatic shift gradient change
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