Name:__________________________________________________Date:______________________
MOOD AND TONE STUDY GUIDE
1. Define mood:
2. Define tone:
Read the story below:
“The School” by Donald Barthelme:
“And the trees all died. They were orange trees. I don’t know why they died;
they just died. Something was wrong with the soil possibly, or maybe the stuff
we got from the nursery wasn’t the best. We complained about it. So we’ve
got thirty kids there. Each kid had his or her own little tree to plant, and we’ve
see these thirty dead trees. All these kids looking at these little brown sticks; it
was depressing.”
In the box, write one adjective to convey mood of the story. Write one word in each circle for evidence
to support your claim of the mood of the story.
4.
3.
6.
5.
Read the story below:
Christine and Denise went into the yard to find Christine’s lost earring. “Oh, I hope
we find it,” Christine said, her eyes still searching for her precious earring. “My
grandmother from Baltimore gave me these ruby earrings,” she added. Denise,
turning over a stone and finding nothing, looked at her friend and shook her head.
“It’s not here,” Denise said. “I wish you’d lost it in the living room instead of here in
the yard. Honestly, finding your earring in this grassy yard would be like finding a
needle in a haystack.”
In the box, write one adjective to convey tone of the story. Write one word in each circle for evidence to
support your claim of the tone of the story.
8.
9.
7.
10.