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 The tone – 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.