Mood - how do you feel?

The mood of a story is what feelings you as the reader get from the work. When trying to decide what the mood of a piece is, ask yourself how the piece made the character feel, and how it made you feel.

                Some words that are typically used to describe the mood of a passage include:

Playful     Pessimistic

Hopeless    Nightmarish

Suspenseful     Painful

Lonely    Optimistic

Warm    Peaceful

Confident    Sympathetic

Can you think of any others?

The mood of a story is determined based on specific words used throughout the passage.

Let's practice describing the mood of the following passage together. While you read, think about the following questions:

What is the mood of the passage? Which words lead you to choose that mood?       
Click the link below to read the passage:
Hiassen, C. (2002). Hoot. New York: Random House, Inc. 

After reading, check out the video of the same passage from the movie. What similarities and differences do you notice? How do these differences impact the mood that the movie conveys?

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