Setting + Mood

Setting + Mood

By Jacob Franks

This will be classwork for Tuesday 1/27. This will count as attendance and a grade.

Mood is the feeling the author wants the reader to feel.
The author will often use adjectives to portray a certain feeling or idea.

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What is Mood?

Multiple Choice

Read the passages below. Which provides the reader with a positive mood?

• It was noon, but dark clouds were rolling in. Suddenly, the wind turned cold.

• Peter shivered as lightning flashed across the black sky and thunder boomed.

• The sun soon broke through the clouds. Peter felt the warmth of its rays.

• Mr. Franks laughed an evil laugh. Even though it was a snow day, he still forced his students to return to his boring, dark, and dreary classroom.

Mood

What is Mood?

Here's a more formal definition of mood: the feeling or atmosphere that a writer creates for the reader.

Multiple Choice

Select the words that best describe the mood.

Marshmallow stared at his owners hand. Inside that hand, Marshmallow could smell something. Something he had never smelled before. His owner stared at Marshmallow and stopped. Marshmallow started vibrating in anticipation. Was that a treat for him in his hand? Would he be praised for being a good dog? What would he need to do to eat this treat? Marshmallow sat, hoping this would cause his owner to give him whatever was held in his hand.

• scary and dangerous

• exciting and suspenseful

• comfortable and relaxed

• tense and angry

Setting and Mood

Writers want to show certain moods in their stories. Often, they do so by carefully describing the setting. The setting refers to the time and place of the story's action.

Multiple Choice

What mood does this description help to create?

Princess Rose lived in a magnificent castle high in the mountains. This morning, she and her father, the king, strolled through the sunny countryside and marveled at the beautiful landscape. The colorful flowers waved in the light breeze, and the birds chirped happily as father and daughter sauntered around the bend.

• scary

• pleasant

• mysterious

• funny

Multiple Choice

You've just looked at a castle in one setting. Here's a castle in another setting. Notice how the differences in the setting help to create a dramatically different mood.

Which words best describe the mood here?

• sad and angry

• happy and warm

• comfortable and cheerful

• spooky and forbidding

Maria and Jan worked in the brightly lit room. Their model of the solar system sat majestically on the table. It was sure to win at the science fair!

Example 1

​Jan's mother drove through the blinding rain. Hearing the rumbling thunder, she thought, "How can we keep that science project dry in this soaker?"

​​Example 2

Words that describe the setting help create, or set, the mood. The mood in the first paragraph is happy. The mood in the second paragraph is gloomy.

The steady drip, drip, drip of the faucet almost hypnotized me. (hearing)

Example 1

The piercing odor of the onion made tears come to my eyes. (smell)

​​Example 2

Think about the settings described earlier—the lush landscape enjoyed by Princess Rose and the dreaded castle towering above Grida. The writers used imagery—words that appeal to your five senses—to make the settings seem life-like.

Multiple Choice

Read this passage

Dana and Chris entered the circus tent. They brushed the sawdust from their seats and sat down as other people came in.

When the audience settled down and voices died down to a whisper, the clowns began their act. One by one, six neon-colored clowns climbed into the ring from a tiny, polka-dotted car. Each wore a flexible costume that ballooned out as he or she came into view. Each clown that emerged from the car was larger than the last. Everyone burst into laughter!

Which image creates a light-hearted mood?

• the feel of the sawdust

• the quiet audience

• the look of the clowns

• The random tin can on Mr. Franks' desk

Multiple Choice

Read the passage below

The ship bobbed up and down, back and forth, in the stormy sea. Waves crashed over its sides again and again. Some crew members struggled to take down the sails, which flapped uncontrollably in the high wind. Others worked on deck, furiously bailing water over the side to keep the ship afloat.

The setting of this passage creates a mood of—

• peacefulness

• dreaminess

• anger

• wildness

Multiple Choice

Which example of imagery would help create a somber, or sad, mood?

• Paint peeled from the walls of the silent, empty playroom.

• The roses on the table filled the kitchen with a sweet smell.

• The smell coming from Mr. Franks' desk made even the most hardy students faint.

• A warm breeze blew along the sunny beach.

Multiple Choice

Read the passage below

It was a new morning. Kathleen got out of bed and stretched as she walked to the window. She looked down at the young, green trees surrounding the garden below. The sun had just come up. The sky was blue, and the air was fresh. Kathleen said to herself, "On a day like this, I'm ready for anything!"

Which detail of the setting does NOT add to the cheerful mood of this passage?

• the new morning

• Kathleen's bed

• the young, green trees

• the blue sky and fresh air

Multiple Choice

Read the passage below

The old house was creaking loudly that night. Shadows of tree branches stretched across the walls of Brandon's room like the fingers of an alien hand. He stared at them for a moment. Then, with a shudder, he hid his head under the covers.

Which word best captures the overall mood of this passage?

• humorous

• sizabillatidiliocious

• angry

• frightening

Multiple Choice

Read the passage below

The bells in the old tower continued to echo through the rainy morning. Their ringing sounded like shouts of "Guilty!" to Leah.

"If only they would stop!" she thought wildly. She pressed her hands to her ears, trying to block out the sound. It seemed, however, that the bells were growing louder than ever! Leah suddenly screamed, "Someone help me—please!"

The mood of the selection is created through the image of—

• the look of the tower

• the feel of the rain

• the sound of the bells

• Mr. Franks becoming a fish