TONE AND MOODTONE AND MOOD

What feeling does the above photo give you? Be specific as to why it gives you that feeling. Explain in three to five sentences.

Teacher’s Answer

The picture gave me a forlorn feeling. The fact that the space is pretty much empty besides a couple of trees makes it feel lonely. The black and white color of the photo add to this making it appear lifeless. The trees are bare and have no color and the shadows of trees darken the space adding to its overall darkness, both literally and figuratively.

Mood Mood

• Defined, mood is the feeling the reader or viewer gets while reading or watching.

• Remember the "m" for "my feelings"

• What is the girl's mood?

How would you describe the mood of each person?

How does a writer create mood (atmosphere)?

• The setting

• Word choices/Choosing words that have particular connotations

• Sentence structure

• Figurative language

• Point of view

• Author 's tone

The author would describe this setting in writing or use The author would describe this setting in writing or use this setting in a film if he or she wanted to create what this setting in a film if he or she wanted to create what

mood?mood?

Mood and Setting

The author would describe this setting in writing or The author would describe this setting in writing or use this setting in a film if he or she wanted to create use this setting in a film if he or she wanted to create

what mood?what mood?

The author would describe this setting in writing The author would describe this setting in writing or use this setting in a film if he or she wanted or use this setting in a film if he or she wanted

to create what mood?to create what mood?

Watch your mood ring change!

• There may be, and usually is, more than

one mood that is elicited from a piece

of literature. • Just think of the last movie you watched...• For example, the movie Avatar has

romance, suspense, humor….

However, setting isn 't everything! A empty, barren landscape or a cemetery can be cheery just as a wedding can be horrifying. It all depends on the details the writer chooses to include.

The old house above could be describe in many different ways: spooky, mysterious, peaceful, tranquil, nostalgic....etcetera.

Mood and Connotation

• Most words have a dictionary definition (denotation) and a connotation.

• Connotation goes hand in hand with mood.

• The words that are used help to set the mood

• Grey

• A mixture of black and white (denotation)

• Depressing, sad, and gloomy (connotation)

Mood and Connotation

• Since everyone reacts emotionally to certain words, writers often deliberately select words that they think will influence your reactions and appeal to your emotions.

• All words have either a positive, negative or neutral connotation.

Anorexic vs. Slim vs. Skinny

• What is the difference?

• Nothing really as far denotation goes

• Skinny sounds more judgmental and less flattering than slim.

• Anorexic sounds unappealing and unhealthy; it usually conjures up images of sickly looking people.

Discuss the different moods and connotations of words within the

groups

• Creepy, weird, unusual

• Empty, unoccupied, deserted

• Horrified, scared, sickened

• Happy, ecstatic, elated, content

• Strut, walk, skip, waltz, march

Read the following sentences and choose the word that best fits the mood intended. How would the mood change

if choose if the others were used?

• "You look lovely in that blue dress; it shows off your __________ figure."

•

• skinny  slender   thin

• Everyone in the office respects Lori because of her kind but __________ attitude.

• bossy  assertive   domineering

• "Here's a scholarship that you might qualify for," said Huck’s advisor. "It's for people who are __________ ."

•    poverty-stricken  underprivileged   poor

Mood and Sentence Structures

• Sometimes mood is affected by sentence structure.

• You could use a long compound sentence to create a calm or peaceful mood.

• Maybe a series of short sentences for suspense.

• Maybe fragments to create confusion.

What is the mood of the following statement? Which words connotatively

help establish that mood?

The mysterious man stumbled down the cold, dark alley, pulling his coat tightly around him in the midnight air.

More practice with mood and connotation

• List 5 words that a writer would use to create a "mysterious" or " spooky" mood.

• List 5 words that a writer would use to create a peaceful mood.

• List 5 words

Mood and figurative language

• The author’s use of figurative language, such as simile, metaphor, hyperbole, alliteration, and personification and sensory details can affect the overall mood.

• Read the excerpt from “The Raven” on the slide and discuss

• Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,"Though thy crest be shorn and shaven thou," I said, "art sure no craven,Ghastly, grim, and ancient raven, wandering from the nightly shore.Tell me what the lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore."Quoth the raven, "Nevermore."

Common Mood Words

• There is a nice list of positive, negative, and neutral tone and mood words available at:

• http://s.spachman.tripod.com/SummerWork/tone_mood.doc

• http://www.blms.issaquah.wednet.edu/Teachers/greningerh/Tone-Moodwkst.pdf

Literature Examples: Describe the mood of the following

passages. • ... And so the days passed. David lost count of them, for it was dark all the time and there was nothing to distinguish day from night. Once he woke he picked up the strange bottle by mistake for his own, and after that he took a drink from it every time staying awake any longer grew too much for him, for he discovered that drinking from it soon made him feel sleepy. It tasted good, too - a little strong perhaps but not unpleasant and then he could sleep a while longer.

• I Am David by Anne Holm

Describe the mood of the following passages.

• “My room belongs to an alien. It is a postcard of who I was in the fifth grade. It is a demented phase when I thought that roses should cover everything and pink was a great color. “

• Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Describe the mood of the following passages.

• “Do this!” I command myself. Clenching my jaw, I dig my hands under Glimmer’s body, get a hold on what must be her rib cage, and force her onto her stomach. I can’t help it, I’m hyperventilating now, the whole thing is so nightmarish and I’m losing my grip on what’s real. “

• The Hunger Games Suzanne Collins

Mood and Tone

• Tone is the author’s attitude or feelings toward his or her subject.

• The author’s tone often affects the reader’s emotions.

• For example, the teacher is yelling at the student. Her tone is what? What is the student’s mood? What would yours be? The teacher's tone affects the student’s mood

Tone and Mood may be the same…

Sometimes the tone and mood are the same.For example, the adopt-a-child commercials…

sympathetic tone which evokes sympathy from viewer.

Tone and Mood are often different

• For example, news articles usually have an objective tone.

• However, suppose you read an article about a new mall going up. What would your mood be?

• What if it was a news article about a cold blooded murder? What would your mood be?

Mood vs. Tone

• The adorable children flitted through the park, making patterns in the grass as they went. (mood: playful, tone: peaceful, positive)

• The wild children stamped though the park, flatting grass as they went. (mood: rowdy, tone: negative, disapproval)

Practice

You walk into a restaurant wearing a cut off tee and gym shorts. Everyone else is dressed in suits.

The tone of the restaurant is __________Your mood or feelings are likely to be________

Practice

• If a writer wanted to make you feel scared (mood) what tone of voice would he or she use?

• If a writer uses a sarcastic tone you are likely to feel what mood?

• If a writer wants to make you feel tense or on edge? Sympathetic?

Practice

• Read the following passages and answer the follow up questions.

• I whirled round, and there, on one of those dry gravel beds, was the biggest snake I had ever seen. He was sunning himself, after the cold night, and he must have been asleep when Antonia screamed. When I turned, he was lying in long loose waves, like a letter “W.” He twitched and began to coil slowly. He was not merely a big snake, I thought – he was a circus monstrosity. His abominable muscularity, his loathsome, fluid motion, somehow made me sick. He was as thick as my leg and looked as if millstones couldn’t crush the disgusting vitality out of him. He lifted his hideous little head, and rattled. I didn’t run because I didn’t think of it – if my back had been against a stone wall I couldn’t have felt more cornered. I saw his coils tighten – now he would spring, spring his length, I remembered. I ran up and drove at his head with my spade, struck him fairly across the neck, and in a minute he was all about my feet in way loops.

• from My Antonia,Willa Cather

• 1. Does feeling does the author want to get in this passage (mood): a pleasant or unpleasant one?

• Find three words or phrases whose connotation contribute to this feeling.

• Find two examples of figurative language that contributes to this.

• 2. How would you describe the narrator’s attitude or feelings toward the snake?

• The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green. The people of the village began to gather in the square, between the post office and the bank, around ten o'clock; in some towns there were so many people that the lottery took two days and had to be started on June 2th. but in this village, where there were only about three hundred people, the whole lottery took less than two hours, so it could begin at ten o'clock in the morning and still be through in time to allow the villagers to get home for noon dinner.

• From The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

1. What is the mood of the passage? Tell two ways this mood was conveyed.

2. The tone of the passage is objective. Explain why.

• Iguacu Falls, which sit on the border between Argentina and Brazil, are said to make Niagara look like a leaky faucet. The great cataracts stretch for two and a half miles across lushly foliaged rocky out croppings before plunging a staggering two hundred and thirty feet into the river below. The falls region is densely forested, and is home to a wide variety of plants and animals, including a number of endangered ones. It is a paradise where parrots dive and swoop through the spray, butterflies cavort among the tropical plants and coatis, and giant otters and anteaters amble through the trees. The foliage itself varies between tropical and deciduous with orchids blushing in the shade of pines and ferns nodding gracefully in the shadow of fruit trees

• The author’s attitude toward Iguacu Falls can best be described as which of the following?

• A. Overweening pride.

• B. Positive appreciation.

• C. Mild acceptance.

• D. Apathetic objectivity.

• E. Cautious optimism.

1. Find three words or phrases that help to convey this tone.

2. Find three sensory details that help to convey this tone.

3. What mood does the passage elicit?

• In groups you will be given a slip of paper with a tone word.

• You are to write a letter to a fake boyfriend or girlfriend conveying that tone. You may not use the word on your slip of paper

• The other groups will listen to your letter to guess the tone and explain how it was conveyed (student will read it in a monotone voice).

• They will tell the mood or the way they would feel if they were the receiver of this letter.

More Practice

• http://wps.ablongman.com/long_henry_sr_1/0,7967,1663702-,00.html