Transcript Chapter 2: Mood/Tone Journals - Ms. Barton's English Classes

Chapter 2: Mood/Tone Journals
• Mood/Tone Journals help you explore the writer’s
attitude toward his/her topic or the feelings the
writer experiences while studying the text.
• Tone: The writer’s, speaker’s or narrator’s attitude
toward the subject, the audience or a character.
(AKA attitude)
• Mood: The feeling created in the reader; the
atmosphere of the piece. (AKA atmosphere)
Remember:
If it’s how the reader feels, it’s mood.
If it’s how the author feels, it’s tone.
Mood/Tone Journals
In the left column:
• record examples of elements such as diction or imagery
that contribute to mood or tone.
• note the context of the quotation or detail from the
text.
• use quotation marks around quotes, and note the page
numbers on which they appear.
In the right column:
• explain how the text reveals the mood of the passage
or the tone of the speaker.
• interpret words and images that have emotional impact
and connotative associations.
Mood/Tone Journals
Evidence (quotation or detail
and context)
Inference—Commentary
Quotation: “…the mildest and the
severest acts of public discipline
were alike made venerable and
awful Meager, indeed, and cold was
the sympathy that a transgressor
might look for from such bystanders
at the scaffold” (Hawthorne 4).
(mood words are underlined):
A gloomy atmosphere is set for the
reader as we await the entrance of
the main character. The reader
might even have a sense of
foreboding for the sake of a
character who is about to be so
harshly judged by his or her peers.
Context: The people of the Puritan
community wait for the prisoner.
They show no mercy.
Mood/Tone Journals
Evidence (quotation or detail
and context)
Inference—Commentary
Quotation: “…like a shadow
emerging into the sunshine, the
grim and grisly presence of the
town beadle, with a sword by his
side and his staff of office in his
hand” (Hawthorne 6).
(Tone words are underlined):
The negative connotations of the
word “shadow” imply that this
parish official is not simply an usher
for public events. He is a man
whose presence strikes fear in the
hearts of the colonists. Such
ominousness is reinforced by the
words “grim” and “grisly.” The fact
that he carries a sword also adds to
the menacing and threatening tone.
Context: The town beadle comes
out from the prison door to the
crowd of Puritans.