Mood and Tone
Learning Objective
Today we will analyze a passage to identify
the mood and tone.

To look at carefully and in
detail.
CFU:
 What does analyze mean?
 What are we going to analyze today?
 What are we going to identify today?
Activating Prior Knowledge
What are some words that you use to
describe the way you feel or your
mood?
What are some words you use to
describe someone’s tone of voice?
Importance
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to answer
the following questions:
-
What is the mood of the passage?
-
What is the author’s tone?
Being able to answer these questions will help you:
-score higher on the state test.
-improve your grade in your regular language
arts class.
Concept Development
 Definition
of Mood: The way a piece of writing
makes the reader (you) feel.
 Definition
of Tone: The way an author feels
about what they are writing.
 CFU:
tone?
What is the difference between mood and
Mood Concept Development

Almost any word that you can use to describe your
mood (the way you feel) can be used to describe the
mood of a passage or a story.

EX: happy, sad, delightful, depressed, excited, etc.

CFU: Can you and your partner think of some
other mood words?
Mood Concept Development
An author uses descriptive words and phrases to
create a certain mood when they write.
Ex: “And then I feel my weight coming back just
behind my knees then down to my feet then into the
earth and the pistol shot explodes in my blood and I
am off and weightless again…”
-Raymond’s Run pg 28
The underlined words help create a mood of
excitement in this passage.
CFU
Read the following passage from Raymond’s Run:
“And by the time he comes over I’m jumping up and down so
glad to see him – my brother Raymond, a great runner in the
family tradition. But of course everyone thinks I’m jumping
up and down because the men on the loudspeaker have finally
gotten themselves together and compared notes and are
announing ‘In first place – Miss Hazel Elizabeth Deborah
Parker.’ (Dig that.)” pg 30
What mood do you get after reading this passage?
What words and phrases help to give you that mood?
Tone Concept Development
Almost any word that you could use to describe
someone’s tone of voice can be used to describe
the tone of a passage.
Ex: angry, humorous, annoyed, serious, etc.
Can you and you partner think of any other tone
words?
Tone Concept Development
To decide on the tone of a passage, imagine what tone of voice
the author would have if they read the passage out loud.
Ex: “But of course when I pass her house on my early morning
trots around the block, she is practicing the scales on the
piano over and over and over and over. Then in music class,
she always lets herself get bumped accidentally on purpose
onto the piano stool…”- Raymond’s Run pg 23
The tone of this passage is annoyed.
*Just like with mood, the author uses descriptive words and
phrases to help create tone. The underlined words in the
passage help the reader understand that the tone is annoyed.
CFU
Read the following passage from Raymond’s Run:
“Sometimes I slip and call him my little brother Raymond.
But as any fool can see he’s much bigger and he’s older
too. But a lot of people call him my little brother cause he
needs looking after cause he’s not quite right. And a lot of
smart mouths got lots to say about that too… But now, if
anyone has anything to say to Raymond, anything to say
about his big head, they have to come by me.” – pg 21
What is the tone of this passage?
What words and phrases help create that tone?
Skill Development

Step 1: Preview the questions.

Step 2: Read the passage or story.

Step 3: Ask yourself how you feel after reading the
passage (mood) and how the passage would sound if
read out loud (tone).

Step 4: Choose the best mood and tone words to
describe the passage. (If you don’t know the definition of
a word in the answer choices, look it up!)

Step 5: Justify your answer by underlining the words and
phrases that helped develop the mood or tone.
Guided Practice

Read the prologue to the story “Zaaaaaaaap!”
The description of the earth in the first paragraph of the
prologue is intended to create what mood?
A. Joy
B. Hope
C. Despair
Underline the words and phrases that help create this mood.
Guided Practic
The description on organic engineering in the third
paragraph is intended to create what mood?
A. Loneliness
B. Hope
C. Sadness
Underline the words and phrases that help create this
mood.
Guided Practice
The overall tone of the author in the prologue can
best be described as…
A. Humorous
B. Serious
C. Sarcastic
Underline the words and phrases that help create this
tone.
Closure
 What
is the difference between mood
and tone?
 What
is an example of a mood word?
 What
is an example of a tone word?
Independent Practice

Read the story Zaaaaaaaap!

Answer the questions on the Independent
Practice Sheet.

Be sure to follow all of the skill development
steps!