Why is mood important in literature

Mood allows a writer to create a memorable and meaningful story with which the reader can connect. In addition, writers reveal their artistic use of language and creative skills when establishing the mood of a literary work. We were all afraid. We all had our miseries. But to despair was to wish for something already lost. Or to prolong what was already unbearable…What was worse, to sit and wait for our own deaths with proper somber faces?

Or to choose our own happiness? In this passage, though the subject matter centers around pain, despair, and loss, the mood of the narrative is hopeful. Tan intentionally establishes this mood to evoke hope in readers in the same way that the mothers in the novel wish to inspire and evoke hope in their daughters.

Here are some common examples of adjectives to describe mood:. Mood is an essential literary device to bring cohesion to a story and create an emotional response in readers. This response allows readers to experience emotion and connection within a story, making the literary work more meaningful and memorable. When writers establish mood, it should be consistent with the literary work so that the mood is not disjointed from the story yet remains emotionally accessible and resonant for readers.

Though it may seem difficult to achieve mood in a story without being too overt or too subtle for readers, writers can rely on four techniques to craft this literary device. Setting can have a distinct impact on the mood of a story. For example, if a story is set in an idyllic pasture on a sunny day, readers will be inclined to expect a happy mood. In turn, if a story is set in a futuristic dystopia , readers may expect a mood of tension or hopelessness.

Though tone and mood appear similar, they are distinct. Mood indicates the emotions evoked in the reader by the story. Word choice in a story is key to establishing its mood.

On our right was an old cabin with a mossy, sagging roof and crashed-out windows. Graffiti, most of it too faded to be legible, danced in tangles across the gray, paintless sides. Ahead and above us was a great bulging forehead of granite. At the summit, just as Jacobs had told me half my life ago, was an iron pole jutting toward the clouds, which were now black and seemingly low enough to touch.

For example, the tone might be suspenseful because the author holds back particular information from the reader.

The tone is articulated through the thoughts, words, and actions of the characters and is a large contributing factor on the mood, rather than being a synonym for it. Theme and mood have a very close relationship as they often reinforce each other.

Identifying the theme, the overall meaning of a poem or story, will go a long way to recognising the mood of the piece. Conversely, ascertaining the mood of the writing will help a reader understand the meaning of the work. For example, if the theme of a poem is suicide, the mood will be dark, sad, and lonely. Or, if the mood seems joyful and celebratory, the theme might be based on the subject of marriage. Picking up on one of these elements will invariably lead to the other because they are complimentary.

Delve into a deeper discussion of theme through examining motifs. Find other writers who are good at it and study their work. One author who comes straight to mind, when thinking of mood, is horror writer Stephen King who is master at unsettling the reader and playing on their emotions. For further inspiration, explore even more great examples of mood employed in literature.

Mood Definition What is mood? Some additional key details about mood: Every piece of writing has a mood—whether it's a masterwork of literature or a short haiku.

Moods are established gradually over the course of an entire work, so it's often difficult to pinpoint the elements that contribute to a work's mood at the level of the sentence or paragraph. Mood is often and understandably confused with tone , which is related but different in that tone refers to the attitude of a piece of writing, not its atmosphere. More on the difference below.

How to Pronounce Mood Here's how to pronounce mood: mude Mood Explained Generally speaking, any word that can be used to describe emotion can be used to describe the mood of a story, poem, or other piece of writing.

Here are some words that are commonly used to describe mood: Cheerful Reflective Gloomy Humorous Melancholy Idyllic Whimsical Romantic Mysterious Ominous Calm Lighthearted Hopeful Angry Fearful Tense Lonely A single piece of writing can and usually does employ more than one mood, since different parts of the same work can have different moods, but works are generally characterized by a single overarching mood. What Makes Up a Mood? These are the basic elements that help determine the mood of a piece of writing: Setting: A story's setting is where and when it takes place.

Setting is one of the first things to be described in a narrative, and therefore plays a major role in establishing the mood. In the "dark and stormy night" example from above, the story's mood is established almost entirely by the setting in this case, the weather and the time of day , which makes for a gloomy and potentially even frightening atmosphere.

A story that takes place in a cotton candy kingdom, by contrast, is likely to have a whimsical, cheerful, or light-hearted mood. Imagery: Imagery is similar to setting in the sense that it helps to establish mood using descriptions of physical things in the world of the story.

Not every image in a work will be indicative of the story's mood, but images that are repeated or described in detail usually do reflect the mood. A poem that spends a lot of time describing babbling brooks, gentle rolling hills, and herds of sheep might have an idyllic mood.

A story that has a lot of roses, candlelight, and boxes of chocolates might be trying to establish a romantic mood. Tone: Tone or the attitude of piece of writing is closely related to mood: often, the tone and mood of a piece are similar or the same.

It wouldn't be unusual for a poem with a somber tone to also have a somber mood—i. A journalist who makes a jab at a politician might be conveying how they feel about their subject using a critical tone while also trying to influence their readers to feel similarly—i. Diction: The words that a writer chooses to use i. A writer might choose to use more antiquated diction like "thou art" instead of "you are" if they want to create a whimsical mood.

Similarly, the difference between "a dull, uneventful night" and "a peaceful, silent night" might contribute to the difference between a text with a gloomy or melancholic mood and a calm, reflective mood. Genre and Plot: This one may seem obvious, but the genre and plot of a work contribute to its mood in many different ways. For instance, a murder mystery with many complicated plot developments and twists probably has a suspenseful or tense mood.

Mood Examples The following examples of mood are from different types of literature: plays, novels, and poems. Mood in Hamlet Shakespeare's Hamlet is a play about death, grief, and madness among other things. In this passage, for instance, the narrator's description of the giant caterpillar makes it seem as though nothing at all were out of the ordinary about the scene, contributing to the book's overall whimsical mood: She stretched herself up on tiptoe, and peeped over the edge of the mushroom, and her eyes immediately met those of a large caterpillar, that was sitting on the top with its arms folded, quietly smoking a long hookah, and taking not the smallest notice of her or of anything else.

Even in her moments of discouragement, Alice manages to find a sense of wonderment in her surroundings: "It was much pleasanter at home," thought poor Alice, "when one wasn't always growing larger and smaller, and being ordered about by mice and rabbits.

Mood in Tennyson's Ulysses Tennyson's famous poem is an excellent example of a work that establishes its mood quickly and effectively using just setting and diction. The poem begins: It little profits that an idle king, By this still hearth, among these barren crags, Match'd with an aged wife, I mete and dole Unequal laws unto a savage race, That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me.

What's the Function of Mood in Literature? In general, mood serves the following functions in literature: It enables writers to take their readers on a journey that is emotional in addition to being imaginary or imagistic.

It helps convey the central themes of the work. For instance, a play about death might have a mournful or gloomy mood.