1. Tone, Mood, Theme, and Motif
Honors English 9
To Kill a Mockingbird

2. TONE

3. “Boy, watch your tone when speaking to me”
Tone: The writer’s attitude towards the subject of the piece, the audience, and self. Also known as, the way feelings are expressed.
Conveyed through the use of:
Diction (the words that the author uses in his/her writing)
Point of View (the author’s view and how it affects his/her writing)
Syntax (the arrangement of words to create sentences)
And, the author’s level of formality (how formal or informal is the piece?)

4. “Don’t you use that tone of voice with me!”
Has anyone ever said to you, "Don't use that tone of voice with me?"
Your tone can change the meaning of what you say.
Tone can turn a statement like, " You're a big help!" into a genuine compliment or a cruel sarcastic remark. It depends on the context of the story.

5. Important Tone Words Accusatory: charging of wrong doing
Bitter: exhibiting strong animosity as a result of pain or grief
Critical: finding fault
Earnest: intense, a sincere state of mind
Intimate: very familiar
Matter-of-fact: accepting of conditions; not fanciful or emotional
Optimistic: hopeful, cheerful
Reverent: treating a subject with honor and respect
Reflective: illustrating innermost thoughts and emotions
Sarcastic: sneering, caustic
Sincere: without deceit or pretense; genuine
Solemn: deeply earnest, tending toward sad reflection

6. Examples of Tone
I’d rather stay here and wait, than go into that dark room.
What is the author telling you about how the character feels?
I could feel a headache beginning as a One Direction song came on the radio.
I called my friend at their house, her brother said she’s not home, but I heard her voice in the background.

7. mOOD

8. “Girl, you’re in a mood!” Mood: emotion evoked by a text.
Writers use many devices to create the mood in a text:
Dialogue (language between the characters)
Setting (where/when the story takes place, who the characters are, etc.)
Plot (the rise and fall of action and events throughout the piece)

9. Important Mood Words
The following are examples of moods that a text can cause the reader to feel:
Suspense
Lonely
Happy
Angry
Anxious
Tense
Suspicious
Excited
Depressed
Scared
Disgusted

10. Examples of Mood The night was dark and stormy.
What feeling does that give you?
The man kicked and threw the poor cat out of his house.
There was plenty of food, and the music was playing. Everybody was having a good time.

11. Tone and mood can very easily be confused!
While ‘mood’, refers to the feeling of the atmosphere the author is describing. It is what the author makes you feel when you read his writings. You can read a sentence, and feel sad, happy or angry.
Tone simply refers to how the author/the author’s characters feel towards the subject, or towards something. You will know what the author’s tone is implying by the words he uses.

12. Theme

13. What is the definition of theme in literature?
A common thread or repeated idea that is incorporated throughout a literary work, usually involving some insight into human existence
Themes are often related to the author’s purpose in writing the literary work.
Theme differs from the subject or topic of a literary work in that it involves a statement or opinion about the topic.

14. Examples of theme
The need to take care of one’s own behavior now, for it affects one’s condition in the afterlife
Dante’s Inferno
The struggle of young girls turning into women
Little Women
Inhumanity of racism
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

15. Questions to help locate a theme
Does the text examine some common life experience or problem?
Does the text offer any solutions or answers to common problems?
How do the other elements in the story work together?
What ideas or observations about life do they reveal?

16. How is theme presented?
Often, stories suggest a theme through the details of:
Characters
Plot
Setting
Point of view
Themes of most literature have to do with emotions and experiences that make us human—fear, courage, loss, love, etc.

17. Motif

18. What is a motif?
A unifying element in an artistic work, especially any recurrent image, symbol, theme, character type, subject, or narrative detail.
Recurring structures, contrasts, or literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text’s major themes
A given motif may be unique to a work or it may appear in numerous works by the same author or different authors.

19. use a motif?
Along with presenting a prevailing theme, writers include several motifs in their literary works as reinforcements.
Motifs contribute in developing the major theme of a literary work and help readers to comprehend the underlying messages that writers intend to communicate to them.
It allows us to see main points and themes that the author is trying to express, in order that we might be able to interpret the work more accurately.

20. Examples of motif Journey Money Tests of skill or wisdom
Separations and reunions
Rebirth
Prejudice
Swords

21. Popular Example of a Motif
Cinderella motif
- a poor, mistreated, beautiful, kind young girl is rescued by a dashing, kind, rich man.
How many movies, books, etc. can you name with this motif?

22. Assignment
To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel, which utilizes key ideas to relay tone, elicit mood, and uses motifs to convey theme.
Choose 3 of the following 6 contrasting ideas to identify quotes which relate to tone, mood, theme, and motif.
Prejudice and Tolerance
Guilt and Innocence
Knowledge and Ignorance
Courage and Cowardice
Youth and Aging
Fear and Acceptance
For each of the three chosen ideas, you must find a quote which identifies a motif that enhances the idea. Discuss the tone conveyed to the reader, the mood of the reader, and the theme which it aims to emphasize. Write the quote and explicate the quote for meaning and significance.

23. EXAMPLE MOTIF Quote Tone Mood Theme The mockingbird
"Shoot all the bluejays you want... but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird"  (p. 99).
EXAMPLE
Guilt and Innocence