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Mood
• Hopeful
DEFINITION • Angry
What is mood? Here’s a quick and simple definition: • Fearful
• Tense
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or
emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the • Lonely
work evokes in the reader. Every aspect of a piece of writing
can influence its mood, from the setting and the imagery to A single piece of writing can and usually does employ more than one
the author's word choice and tone. For instance, a story that mood, since different parts of the same work can have different
begins "It was a dark and stormy night" will probably have moods, but works are generally characterized by a single overarching
an overall dark, ominous, or suspenseful mood. mood. So for instance, a story that has happy passages and sad
passages might not be defined by either mood, but rather by its
Some additional key details about mood: overall mood of humorousness.

• Every piece of writing has a mood—whether it's a masterwork of

Wha
Whatt Mak
Makes
es Up a Mood?
literature or a short haiku.
These are the basic elements that help determine the mood of a
• Moods are established gradually over the course of an entire
piece of writing:
work, so it's often difficult to pinpoint the elements that
contribute to a work's mood at the level of the sentence Settting: A story's setting is where and when it takes place. Setting
• Se
or paragraph. is one of the first things to be described in a narrative, and
• Mood is often (and understandably) confused with tone, which is therefore plays a major role in establishing the mood.
related but different in that tone refers to the attitude of a piece of ◦ In the "dark and stormy night" example from above, the
writing, not its atmosphere. More on the difference below. story's mood is established almost entirely by the setting (in
this case, the weather and the time of day), which makes for a
Ho
Howw tto
o Pr
Pronounc
onouncee Mood gloomy and potentially even frightening atmosphere.
Here's how to pronounce mood: mude ◦ A story that takes place in a cotton candy kingdom, by
contrast, is likely to have a whimsical, cheerful, or light-
Mood E
Explained
xplained hearted mood.

Generally speaking, any word that can be used to describe emotion • Imag
Imagerery:
y: Imagery is similar to setting in the sense that it helps to
can be used to describe the mood of a story, poem, or other piece of establish mood using descriptions of physical things in the world
writing. Here are some words that are commonly used to describe of the story. Not every image in a work will be indicative of the
mood: story's mood, but images that are repeated or described in
detail usually do reflect the mood.
• Cheerful
◦ A poem that spends a lot of time describing babbling brooks,
• Reflective gentle rolling hills, and herds of sheep might have an
• Gloomy idyllic mood.
• Humorous ◦ A story that has a lot of roses, candlelight, and boxes of
• Melancholy chocolates might be trying to establish a romantic mood.
• Idyllic • Tone: Tone (or the attitude of piece of writing) is closely related to
mood: often, the tone and mood of a piece are similar or the
• Whimsical
same.
• Romantic
◦ It wouldn't be unusual for a poem with a somber tone to also
• Mysterious
have a somber mood—i.e., to make the reader feel somber as
• Ominous well.
• Calm ◦ A journalist who makes a jab at a politician might be
• Lighthearted conveying how they feel about their subject (using a critical

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tone) while also trying to influence their readers to feel at all were out of the ordinary about the scene, contributing to the
similarly—i.e., creating a mood of anger or outrage. book's overall whimsical mood:
• Dic
Diction:
tion: The words that a writer chooses to use (i.e., diction)
She stretched herself up on tiptoe, and peeped over the
play a huge part in determining the mood of a piece, in part
edge of the mushroom, and her eyes immediately met those
because different words that mean the same thing can have
of a large caterpillar, that was sitting on the top with its arms
different connotations.
folded, quietly smoking a long hookah, and taking not the
◦ A writer might choose to use more antiquated diction like smallest notice of her or of anything else.
"thou art" instead of "you are" if they want to create a
whimsical mood. Even in her moments of discouragement, Alice manages to find a
sense of wonderment in her surroundings:
◦ Similarly, the difference between "a dull, uneventful night"
and "a peaceful, silent night" might contribute to the
"It was much pleasanter at home," thought poor Alice, "when
difference between a text with a gloomy or melancholic mood
one wasn't always growing larger and smaller, and being
and a calm, reflective mood.
ordered about by mice and rabbits. I almost wish I hadn't
• Genr
Genree and Plo
Plott: This one may seem obvious, but the genre gone down that rabbit-hole—and yet—and yet—it's rather
and plot of a work contribute to its mood in many different ways. curious, you know, this sort of life!"
For instance, a murder mystery with many complicated plot
developments and twists probably has a suspenseful or tense You could even say that, since the book's protagonist is a young child
mood. and the reader experiences much of the story through her eyes, the
overall mood is "innocent" or "childlike." Indeed, Caroll's book can be
thought of as a type of allegorical story that captures the way young
EX
EXAMPLES
AMPLES children experience the world: with awe, wonderment, and joy. Not
only does Alice experience these emotions—but, by extension, many
The following examples of mood are from different types of literature: readers do, too.
plays, novels, and poems. In each, we identify how the author builds
the mood of the work using a combination of setting, imagery, tone,
diction, and plot. Mood in Tennyson'ss Ulysses
Tennyson'
Tennyson's famous poem is an excellent example of a work that
Mood in Hamle
Hamlett establishes its mood quickly and effectively using just setting
and diction. The poem begins:
Shakespeare's Hamlet is a play about death, grief, and madness
(among other things). Shakespeare helps to establish the fantastical It little profits that an idle king,
and ominous mood of the play early on by making use of setting, By this still hearth, among these barren crags,
imagery, tone, and diction. The first scene takes place at night Match'd with an aged wife, I mete and dole
(setting), when three guards spot the ghost of Old Hamlet walking the Unequal laws unto a savage race,
castle grounds (imagery). But since it's a play, the mood depends That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me.
almost entirely on the dialogue of the characters. The guards say to
one another, "It harrows me with fear and wonder," and "How now, The mood of the poem is gloomy, melancholic, and reflective—which
Horatio? You tremble and look pale. Is not this something more than is reflected both in the poem's setting (still hearth, barren crags) as
fantasy? What think you on ’t?" (diction). To the ghost, the well as the poet's choice of words (the speaker describes himself as
guards speak animatedly and urgently, shouting "Stay! Speak, speak! "idle," his wife as "aged," and his subjects as a "savage race" of
I charge thee, speak!" (tone). Shakespeare continues to build on and hoarding strangers). The poem is written from the perspective of a
develop the mood of the play throughout, but he opens strongly with hero reflecting on his life in old age, so the mood helps readers to
a scene that establishes the mood of the entire play as one of have a similar emotional experience to the one the speaker seems to
excitement and suspense mixed with fearfulness and dread. be having.

Mood in Alic
Alice'
e'ss Adv
Adventur
entures
es in Wonderland
Lewis Caroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland has a whimsical,
WHY WRITER
WRITERSSU
USE
SE IT
lighthearted, and often cheerful mood. It uses a combination of Every piece of writing has a mood, but writers can use moods to
fantastical imagery, a famously "curious" setting, and lighthearted achieve vastly different effects in their writing. In general, mood
language to set the mood. In this passage, for instance, the narrator's serves the following functions in literature:
description of the giant caterpillar makes it seem as though nothing

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• It enables writers to take their readers on a journey that is • Mood on YYou

ouT
Tube: This short video gives a great overview of how
emotional in addition to being imaginary or imagistic. mood works in literature.
• It helps convey the central themes of the work. For instance, a
play about death might have a mournful or gloomy mood.
• It can help the reader identify more fully with the writer
HO
HOWWT
TO
O CITE
or characters by causing readers to feel the same emotions the
writer or characters feel. ML
MLAA
• It helps works of literature "come alive" by imbuing the language Kestler, Justin. "Mood." LitCharts. LitCharts LLC, 5 May 2017. Web. 11
with human emotions. Dec 2017.

Chic
Chicag
ago
o Manual
OTHER RESOURCES Kestler, Justin. "Mood." LitCharts LLC, May 5, 2017. Retrieved
December 11, 2017. http://www.litcharts.com/literary-devices-and-
• The Wikipedia P
Pag
agee on Mood: A basic overview of mood in
terms/mood.
literature.
• The Dic
Dictionar
tionaryy Definition of Mood: A simple definition of mood's
general meaning.

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