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Mood Examples and Worksheets

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Mood can be thought of as atmosphere or overall feeling of a piece of writing or literature. Scholars sometimes use the word atmosphere in place of mood. Some scholars may use the word tone in its place as well. We can think of atmosphere as the feeling that reader has when reading a text, while tone can be thought of as how the author feels toward their reader or subject.

Usually atmosphere and tone work together to create an overall feeling within a piece of writing. Mood can be thought of as the result of atmosphere and tone combined to create a general feeling that surrounds the text and reader as they interact and work together. Therefore, an author can use a tone that creates an atmosphere or feeling that the reader experiences.

For instance, if we watch a horror movie, the overall tone is one that is creepy, dark, and/or scary. This can come from eerie music in the background, or it can come from a creepy setting where the film takes place. The combination of elements can set the mood that is meant to be scary.

We generally associate mood with the feeling that surrounds the piece of text or the feelings that surround the reader when examining a piece of text. In literature, mood helps the reader feel what characters are feeling and helps the reader place themselves, mentally and emotionally, into the setting of the story.

It should be noted that authors and pieces of writing may try to evoke or contain a specific feeling or emotion, but all readers respond differently to text. However, we generally associate feelings with particular genres of writing. For example, we usually say that detective stories have a suspenseful and mysterious mood. This mood of mystery comes from lack of information the story gives us and the amount of questions that we need answered.

We can also think of mood in terms of music with lyrics. What makes a great love song or a good rock song? Love songs usually make us think of our loved one, or they make us feel loved. They often talk about their loved one or the feelings of despair from a lost love. They evoke the emotion in us by talking about a topic in a specific way that makes us feel the emotion, even if we were not feeling that emotion previously.

These are typical words to describe the mood of a particular piece of text:

  • Humorous -Maddening
  • Sad -Fearful
  • Gloomy -Desiring
  • Scary -Love/Loving
  • Hopeful -Paranoia
  • Depressing -Suspense/Suspenseful

The following examples from literature use mood to evoke certain emotions and overall feelings:

From “The Bells” by Edgar Allan Poe:

“How it swells!

How it dwells

On the Future! How it tells

Of the rapture that impels

To the swinging and the ringing

Of the bells, bells, bells,

Of the bells, bells, bells

Bells, bells, bells–

To the rhyming and the chiming of the bells!”

Poe uses his rhyme and his repetition of words to show a sense of paranoia and madness. When someone repeats words, we associate it with madness. Therefore, the mood in Poe’s work is madness and makes us feel uneasy.

From “Endless Love” by Lionel Richie with Diana Ross:

“My love

There’s only you in my life

The only thing that’s right

My first love

You’re every breath I take

You’re every step I make”

This song, written by Lionel Richie, gives the impression and feeling of love. The text directly talks about love, but it also uses metaphors to evoke a sense of longing and loving. The mood used is one of love and affection. The mood becomes especially powerful because the song is a duet, so the listener hears the exchange of feelings between two individuals. As a duet, the mood becomes a feeling of shared and mutual love.

Mood Worksheets

This bundle contains 5 ready-to-use mood worksheets that are perfect to test student knowledge and understanding of what mood is and how it can be used. You can use these mood worksheets in the classroom with students, or with home schooled children as well.

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Link will appear as Mood Examples and Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, July 11, 2017

Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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