Mood
Mood
• Definition: The atmosphere that pervades a
literary work with the intention of evoking a
certain emotion or feeling from the audience.
Mood Example: Fantasia frequently uses music and setting to
drastically shift the mood from light and playful to dark and
foreboding.
Creating Mood Through Setting
• A particular setting
– provides support to the contents of the story
– sets the mood for the readers.
• Examples:
– The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
– The Great Gatsby
– The Harry Potter series
– Star Trek and Star Wars
Creating Mood through Tone
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The tone
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The manner in which a writer approaches this theme and subject
Readers always rely on the writer’s point of view
They observe the story through the writer’s eyes
They feel the way the writer feels about the events taking place
The attitude of the writer evokes the feelings and emotions in the readers
Creates the mood
Robert Frost in his poem “The Roads Not taken” creates gloominess feeling
through his tone:
“I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”
“sigh” that gives the above lines an unhappy tone
– evokes an unhappy mood
– convinces us into thinking that he regrets a choice he made in the past.
Creating Mood through Diction
• Diction is the choice of words a writer uses.
– conveys deep feelings
– the events, places and characters,
– having an effect on the way the readers feel
• Look at the following lines from Jonathon Swift’s “Gulliver’s
Travel”:
– “And being no stranger to the art of war, I have him a description of
cannons, culverins, muskets, carabines, pistols, bullets, powder,
swords, bayonets, battles, sieges, retreats, attacks, undermines,
countermines, bombardments, sea-fights…”
• In order to create feelings of disgust in readers
– destructive consequences of war,
– the writer chooses words that are unmelodious, harsh and jarring.
Function of Mood
• Helps in creating an atmosphere in a literary
work
– setting, theme, diction and tone.
• It evokes various emotional responses in
readers
– ensures their emotional attachment to the literary
piece they read.
• Once the readers are emotionally stirred,
– they fully comprehend the message
Homework
• Describe two moods created in two of the
books we have read.