MOOD

Mood Mood is the overall feeling a reader has about a piece of writing. The mood affects how the reader feels as he or she reads the writing. Writers create mood with details they give and words they choose. Mood can be found in literature, poetry, music, and art.

TAKS Stem Questions In paragraph____, the author created a feeling of_____. In paragraph ____, the author creates a mood of ____. The author’s choice of words in paragraph ___ of this story creates a mood of ___. In paragraph ___, the author creates a mood that is _____. What word describes the mood that the author establishes at the beginning of paragraph ____?

The following slides are some vocabulary words you should know for mood.

Amusing Definitions: Funny Humorous Silly Joking Laughable

Anger Definitions: Mad Furious Fury

Suspenseful Definitions: Excitement Thrilling Not knowing what will happen next Cliffhanger Mystery nervous

Eerie Definitions: Scary Frightening Ominous Spooky

Fear Definitions: Being afraid Frightened Scary

Enthusiasm Words with similar meanings: Excited Willing Cheerful attitude

Mournful Words with similar meanings: Grief Sadness due to death of a loved one gloomy **usually used in reference to death

Hope Definitions Optimistic Belief in a positive outcome Yes, we can!

Suspicion Definitions Believes something is wrong distrust

Relief Definitions Glad something is over or done that you worried about

Anxiety Definitions Nervousness Fear Worried

Keys to Answering Mood Questions Read the question carefully. If the questions asks for the mood of certain paragraph, draw a box around the paragraph and read the ENTIRE paragraph. Some of your answer choices may go for only one part of the paragraph. Underline key verbs, adjectives, or any other words that give you clues. Decide if those word are positive or negative. (Hint: even if you don’t know the meaning of a word, it will usually sound positive or negative to you. ) This should eliminate some of your choices. Pick the answer that is the closest emotion you would feel in that situation (in the box).

Mood: TAKS Questions Mamie ran onto the field and took her spot on the pitcher’s mound. She was feeling good, and her right arm felt strong. Even though Mamie was tiny, she didn’t feel small today. As the game began and she threw more and more pitches, she started to feel like a giant. Mamie struck out one batter after another and thought she was having her best game ever. Look at the paragraph. Notice the words highlighted in yellow (usually verbs and adjectives that help the author describe the mood). Ask yourself, “Is the feeling POSITIVE or NEGATIVE?” Feeling good, strong, like a giant, striking out batters, best game ever are all POSITIVE.

Mood: TAKS Questions Mamie ran onto the field and took her spot on the pitcher’s mound. She was feeling good, and her right arm felt strong. Even though Mamie was tiny, she didn’t feel small today. As the game began and she threw more and more pitches, she started to feel like a giant. Mamie struck out one batter after another and thought she was having her best game ever. Now let’s look at the question. In paragraph 8, the author creates a mood of_____ A. Amusement B. Fear C. Enthusiasm D. Anger

Mood: TAKS Questions Mamie ran onto the field and took her spot on the pitcher’s mound. She was feeling good, and her right arm felt strong. Even though Mamie was tiny, she didn’t feel small today. As the game began and she threw more and more pitches, she started to feel like a giant. Mamie struck out one batter after another and thought she was having her best game ever. Place a + (positive) in front of positive choices. Place a – in front of negative choices. In paragraph 8, the author creates a mood of_____ + A. Amusement (positive/funny) - B. Fear (negative/scared) + C. Enthusiasm (positive/excited) - D. Anger (negative/mad)

Mood: TAKS Questions Mamie ran onto the field and took her spot on the pitcher’s mound. She was feeling good, and her right arm felt strong. Even though Mamie was tiny, she didn’t feel small today. As the game began and she threw more and more pitches, she started to feel like a giant. Mamie struck out one batter after another and thought she was having her best game ever. In paragraph 8, the author creates a mood of_____ + A. Amusement (positive/funny) - B. Fear (negative/scared) + C. Enthusiasm (positive/excited) -D. Anger (negative/mad) -Since you have decided that the highlighted words are positive, that leaves you with the answer choices A or C. -Which answer choice is best?

Mood: TAKS Questions Mamie ran onto the field and took her spot on the pitcher’s mound. She was feeling good, and her right arm felt strong. Even though Mamie was tiny, she didn’t feel small today. As the game began and she threw more and more pitches, she started to feel like a giant. Mamie struck out one batter after another and thought she was having her best game ever. In paragraph 8, the author creates a mood of_____ + A. Amusement (positive/funny) - B. Fear (negative/scared) + C. Enthusiasm (positive/excited) -D. Anger (negative/mad) -THE BEST CHOICE IS C BECAUSE NONE OF THE EVENTS WERE MEANT TO BE FUNNY OR HUMOROUS.

Read the paragraph. Then answer the question Tacy leaned into the turn and let her horse swing around toward the first barrel. Stubby had never felt so fast. The ground seemed to thunder under them as he tore for the second barrel. In a dizzying whirl, Stubby was around it and streaking toward the third and final turn. Tacy could hear the noise of the crowd rising as they saw that she had a chance. Now Stubby turned hard around the last barrel, his hind legs bumping it as he dug for the finish. The crowd noise was increasing! The barrel had wobbled but hadn’t fallen. As Stubby flashed across the line, Tacy saw her time: 17.9 seconds! She had done it! After looking at the action verbs and adjectives (highlighted in red), do you think the mood is positive or negative?

Read the paragraph. Then answer the question Tacy leaned into the turn and let her horse swing around toward the first barrel. Stubby had never felt so fast. The ground seemed to thunder under them as he tore for the second barrel. In a dizzying whirl, Stubby was around it and streaking toward the third and final turn. Tacy could hear the noise of the crowd rising as they saw that she had a chance. Now Stubby turned hard around the last barrel, his hind legs bumping it as he dug for the finish. The crowd noise was increasing! The barrel had wobbled but hadn’t fallen. As Stubby flashed across the line, Tacy saw her time: 17.9 seconds! She had done it! In paragraph 10, the author creates a mood of A. doubt B. suspense C. caution D. disappointment

Read the paragraph. Then answer the question Tacy leaned into the turn and let her horse swing around toward the first barrel. Stubby had never felt so fast. The ground seemed to thunder under them as he tore for the second barrel. In a dizzying whirl, Stubby was around it and streaking toward the third and final turn. Tacy could hear the noise of the crowd rising as they saw that she had a chance. Now Stubby turned hard around the last barrel, his hind legs bumping it as he dug for the finish. The crowd noise was increasing! The barrel had wobbled but hadn’t fallen. As Stubby flashed across the line, Tacy saw her time: 17.9 seconds! She had done it! In paragraph 10, the author creates a mood of - A. doubt + B. suspense - C. caution - D. disappointment

Read the paragraph. Then answer the question Tacy leaned into the turn and let her horse swing around toward the first barrel. Stubby had never felt so fast. The ground seemed to thunder under them as he tore for the second barrel. In a dizzying whirl, Stubby was around it and streaking toward the third and final turn. Tacy could hear the noise of the crowd rising as they saw that she had a chance. Now Stubby turned hard around the last barrel, his hind legs bumping it as he dug for the finish. The crowd noise was increasing! The barrel had wobbled but hadn’t fallen. As Stubby flashed across the line, Tacy saw her time: 17.9 seconds! She had done it! The important thing to remember is that the questions asked about the mood of the entire paragraph. In paragraph 10, the author creates a mood of - A. doubt (The exclamation marks and the fact that the crowd was cheering eliminates this answer) + B. suspense (This is the correct answer because she hits the barrel, but it doesn’t fall over, Stubby is running fast, and she is successful) - C. Caution (Although she doubts herself at first, by the end of the paragraph, she realizes that she is doing well. - D. Disappointment (She had a fast time, so she won’t feel disappointed.)

Now try to find examples of mood in your reading and writing. These strategies will help you become more successful.