Tone and Mood

We are comfortable identifying a person’s mood through his/her facial expressions, body language, etc.

Look at the following pictures; what “moods” do you think the subjects are feeling?

Now look at these next pictures… What do you think is each speaker’s tone?

• Did you find yourself using some of the same words to describe the “mood” pictures and the “tone” pictures?

• That’s okay. It works that way in literature as well. Sometimes you will read a text with a similar mood and tone, and sometimes the tone will be quite different from the mood and vice versa….

Let’s explore the differences in tone and

mood…

Both tone and mood can be identified by one-word descriptors…

Here are some common tone words:

Here are some common mood words:

Both tone and mood can be identified by one-word descriptors…

Here are some common tone words:

Here are some common mood words:

Think about the following sentence:

Don’t use that tone with me!

• Which definition do you think best fits tone?

a)The feeling the reader gets him/herself from reading the author’s writing.

b)The author’s attitude toward their writing (i.e., the characters or the situation) and/or the audience

Think about the following sentence:

I am not in a good mood!

• Which definition do you think best fits mood?a)the author’s attitude toward their writing (i.e., the

characters or the situation) and/or the audienceb)The feeling the reader gets him/herself from

reading the author’s writing.

More on tone and mood….• Mood is the general, overall feeling that is

conveyed to the reader.• Some synonyms for “mood” could be

“atmosphere” or “ambiance”• To help identify the mood, imagine that you are

all of a sudden in the story, or painting, or whatever piece of artwork. How would it feel to be part of the scene?

• Tone is usually more specific to a certain event, character, or idea.

• To help identify the tone, try to figure out how the author feels about what he/she is writing about.

Now that you’ve got the theory down…We’re going to practice with real world

examples!!!!

Real World Examples: Poetry

Real World Examples: Art

Real World Examples: Passage“NO TALKING!!!! There is too much noise in this class room. No one is allowed to

speak for the rest of the class period. If you do speak, I’ll write you up!!!!” Ms. Hensen had reached the breaking point. She had tried to be a reasonable and

sympathetic teacher, but the students only tried to manipulate her. She had tried to be a motivating and positive teacher, but the students only listened to her when she screamed. And now she was tired. Tired of the disrespectful, talkative class, she had decided she would not allow any more opportunities for the students to misbehave. She had no choices left; she would have to be mean.

“Chop!” Ms. Hensen’s head whipped around; “who was that, and what did they just say” she thought.

“Chop!!!” Again, but this time from the other end of the classroom.“Chop! Chop! Chop!” The sound was coming from everywhere, from everyone –

but never from the student who Ms. Hensen was looking at.“Chop chop chop chop chop!!!!” Ms. Hensen’s face was turning red. She didn’t

know what to do. The students were revolting but she couldn’t even catch who was doing it.

“CHOP!”“TIMBER!!!!!!!!!!!!” And with that, all the students fell out of their desks and onto

the floor.As the students laughed and congratulated themselves on their jobs well-done,

Ms. Hensen realized “they don’t respect anything I say.”

Real World Examples: Poetry“We Real Cool”

Gwendolyn Brooks

We real cool. We Left school. We

Lurk late. WeStrike straight. We

Sing sin. We Thin gin. We

Jazz June. We Die soon.

Real World Examples: Art

Real World Examples: Passage

Excerpt From Black Boy, by Richard Wright

That night in my rented room, while letting the hot water run over my can of pork and beans in the sink, I opened A Book of Prefaces and began to read. I was jarred and shocked by the style, the clear, clean, sweeping sentences. Why did he write like that? And how did one write like that? I pictured the man as a raging demon, slashing with his pen, consumed with hate, denouncing everything American, extolling everything European or German, laughing at the weaknesses of people, mocking God, authority. What was this? I stood up, trying to realize what reality lay behind the meaning of the words . . . Yes, this man was fighting, fighting with words. He was using words as a weapon, using them as one would use a club. Could words be weapons? Well, yes, for here they were. Then, maybe, perhaps, I could use them as a weapon? No. It frightened me. I read on and what amazed me was not what he said, but how on earth anybody had the courage to say it. . . .