Mood and Tone as Literary
Devices
How does each song make you feel?
Mood: the general atmosphere created by
the author’s words. It is the reader’s
emotional response to the text.
Tone: the author’s attitude toward the
writing and subject matter
How do mood and tone in music
compare to mood and tone in
literature?
How do mood and tone in music
compare to mood and tone in
literature?
Angry
Tranquil
Energetic
Identification of Mood and Tone
• Key words are used to identify tone and mood
• Mood and Tone are often reflected by the
same keywords
• Tone is responsible for Mood
Tone?
He furtively glanced behind him, for fear of his
imagined pursuers, then hurriedly walked on,
jumping at the slightest sound.
Paranoid
He furtively glanced behind him, for fear of his
imagined pursuers, then hurriedly walked on,
jumping at the slightest sound.
Mood?
He furtively glanced behind him, for fear of his
imagined pursuers, then hurriedly walked on,
jumping at the slightest sound.
Nervous and Fearful
He furtively glanced behind him, for fear of his
imagined pursuers, then hurriedly walked on,
jumping at the slightest sound.
Tone?
Bouncing into the room, she lit up the vicinity
with a joyous glow on her face as she told
about her fiancé and their wedding plans.
Gleeful
Bouncing into the room, she lit up the vicinity
with a joyous glow on her face as she told
about her fiancé and their wedding plans.
Mood?
Bouncing into the room, she lit up the vicinity
with a joyous glow on her face as she told
about her fiancé and their wedding plans.
Energetic and Joyous
Bouncing into the room, she lit up the vicinity
with a joyous glow on her face as she told
about her fiancé and their wedding plans.
Annabel Lee
Tone?
Mood?
Mournful
For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide I lie down by the side
Of my darling- my darling- my life and by bride,
In the sepulchre there by the sea,
In her tomb by the sounding sea.
Painful and Haunting
For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide I lie down by the side
Of my darling- my darling- my life and by bride,
In the sepulchre there by the sea,
In her tomb by the sounding sea.
Lets Act!
Homework
• Read “The Tell Tale Heart” and write a
response that identifies the mood and tone.
Give examples of word choice that create the
tone and mood.
Further Examples of mood and tone
• Mood and tone explained using movie trailers