Theme, mood, tone, point of view Literary elements Theme, mood, tone, point of view

Theme The central, underlying, and controlling idea or insight of a work of literature The idea the writer wishes to convey about the subject - the writer’s view of the world or a revelation about human nature

Theme is not: Expressed in a single word The purpose of the work The moral The conflict

The difference between a subject and a theme A piece of literature may have both a subject and a theme. The subject is a specific topic of the selection. The theme is the generalization about life at large that the specific selection leads you to see.

MOOD – or atmosphere, is a feeling that a literary work conveys to the reader They sat down by the fire again. Outside, the wind was higher than ever, and the old man started nervously at the sound of a door banging upstairs. A silence unusual and depressing settled upon all three, which lasted until the old couple rose to retire for the night.

Mood What type of mood is created from the following pictures?

Sadness Happiness Peaceful Anger Think of words (colors, things, places, etc.) that personifies the following moods: Sadness Happiness Peaceful Anger

Tone – expresses the writer’s attitude toward the subject Angry energetic Sad shy Humorous hopeful Dull bored Playful disgusted Frightened puzzled Surprised solemn

Point of view – the perspective from which a story is told 1st person – the narrator is a character in the story Uses I, ME, WE

Point of view continued… 3rd person – the story is told by a narrative voice outside of the action, not by one of the characters. Uses words HE, SHE, IT, THEY

POV Limited – narrator can only view actions of the characters Omniscient – narrator can see actions and see thoughts of characters

POV practice I walked through the doorway and saw a magnificent garden. Joey came up to bat with the bases loaded and two outs.   In the stands, his dad sat nervously biting his nails. Joey tried to muster up some confidence as he came up to bat with bases loaded and two outs.  In the stands, his dad sat nervously biting his nails and remembering his own little league experiences.