Mood and Tone: A Lesson in Author's Style

Teaching tweens the nuances of mood and tone can be a challenge.  The terms are often interchangeable i.e., misused, and in a middle schooler's mind, they are sort of formless and abstract.  Yet, mood and tone are a very powerful literary concept.  They are literally what give text its "texture."

Enter my go-to visual Mood/Tone guy:

As the little guy above illustrates, the drive-through version of tone is the author's attitude toward the subject, and mood is the feeling of the reader.

Specifically, to teach tone, I refer to the anti-phony Holden Caulfield from The Catcher in the Rye:

• "All morons hate it when you call them a moron.
• “If a girl looks swell when she meets you, who gives a damn if she’s late? Nobody.”
• “Catholics are always trying to find out if you’re Catholic.”

Holden’s tone is bitterly sarcastic and critical as he ruminates on the nature of things and the hypocrisy of people.  Salinger's tone is achieved through word choice.

Some words used to identify tone could be:

1. Anxious
2. Bold
3. Confrontational
4. Curious
5. Dismissive
6. Encouraging
7. Hip
8. Hopeful
9. Open
10. Overbearing
11. Passionate
12. Sarcastic
13. Smarmy
14. Suspicious
15. Uncouth
16. Upbeat
17. Urbane
18. Wisecracking

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

To teach mood, I present Robert Frost's poem "The Road Not Taken":

“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.”

The gloomy, somber mood belies a voice and feeling of regret.  The speaker took the road less traveled, but wishes he could have traveled both.  The reader is left with the grave, somewhat melancholic fact that we only have one life to live, and choice is everything.

Some words used to identify mood could be:

1. Alarming
2. Brooding
3. Buoyant
4. Comical
5. Confining
6. Cool
7. Dark
8. Fantastical
9. Hopeful
10. Light
11. Melancholy
12. Ominous
13. Oppressive
14. Relaxed
15. Sexy
16. Spooky
17. Suspenseful
18. Warm

So forge ahead.  Demystify mood and tone, and teach author's style with aplomb.  Your students will catch on in no time, hopefully eager to hone their own writing style.

For more classroom activities and lessons on mood/tone and other literary concepts, visit my store at TeachersPayTeachers:

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Mood-and-Tone-PowerPoint-1706997