Tone and mood both deal with the emotions centered around a piece of writing.

Though they
seem similar and can in fact be related causally, they are in fact quite different.

Tone

Tone is the author’s attitude toward a subject. While journalistic writing theoretically has a tone
of distance and objectivity, all other writing can have various tones.

If we were to read a description of a first date that included words and phrases like “dreaded”
and “my buddies forced me to go on the date”, we could assume that the individual didn’t really
enjoy the date.

Some tone words include:

hostile ominous

impatient outraged

incredulous paranoid

indifferent pathetic

indignant patronizing

inflammatory

insecure

insolent

irreverent

lethargic

melancholy

mischievous

miserable

mocking

mournful

nervous
Tone and mood both deal with the emotions centered around a piece of writing. Though they
seem similar and can in fact be related causally, they are in fact quite different.

Tone

Tone is the author’s attitude toward a subject. While journalistic writing theoretically has a tone
of distance and objectivity, all other writing can have various tones.

If we were to read a description of a first date that included words and phrases like “dreaded”
and “my buddies forced me to go on the date”, we could assume that the individual didn’t really
enjoy the date.

Some tone words include:

POSITIVE TONE WORDS NEUTRAL NEGATIVE TONE WORDS

(+, –, or neutral)
admiring hilarious commanding abhorring hostile

adoring hopeful direct acerbic impatient

affectionate humorous impartial ambiguous incredulous

appreciative interested indirect ambivalent indifferent

approving introspective meditative angry indignant

bemused jovial objective annoyed inflammatory

benevolent joyful questioning antagonistic insecure

blithe laudatory speculative anxious insolent

calm light unambiguous apathetic irreverent

casual lively unconcerned apprehensive lethargic

celebratory mirthful understated belligerent melancholy

cheerful modest bewildered mischievous

comforting nostalgic biting miserable

comic optimistic bitter mocking

compassionate passionate blunt mournful

complimentary placid bossy nervous

conciliatory playful cold ominous

confident poignant conceited outraged

contented proud condescending paranoid

delightful reassuring confused pathetic

earnest reflective contemptuous patronizing

ebullient relaxed curt

ecstatic respectful cynical

effusive reverent demanding

elated romantic depressed

empathetic sanguine derisive

encouraging scholarly derogatory

euphoric self-assured desolate

sentimental
excited despairing
serene
exhilarated desperate
silly
expectant detached
sprightly
facetious diabolic
straightforward
fervent disappointed
sympathetic
flippant disliking
tender
forthright disrespectful
tranquil
friendly doubtful
whimsical
funny embarrassed
 gleeful wistful enraged

gushy worshipful evasive

happy zealous fatalistic

fearful

forceful

foreboding

frantic

frightened

frustrated

furious

gloomy

grave

greedy

grim

harsh

haughty

holier-than-thou

hopeless

Tone vs. Mood

Exercises: Review
Mood
is the emotions that you feel while you are reading. Some literature makes you feel sad, others
joyful,
still others, angry. The main purpose for some poems is to set a mood.
Tone
is the attitude that an author take
s toward the audience, the subject, or the character. Tone is conveyed
through the author's words and details.
"
Tone
" is the author's attitude toward a subject while "
mood
" is the emotion created (and usually experienced
by the reader/audience) due to the
author's
tone
. For example, a sarcastic
tone
from a child (author) can often
create anger in the parent (audience). For example, contempt for the subject and arrogance
toward the audience
will be revealed in a scathing or sarcastic
tone
which, in turn, c
reates a
mood
of pain, anger, sadness, revulsion
or contempt in the audience. When detecting and discussing
tone
, answers will be similar (except in satire
when it is easy to miss the
tone
), but when discussing
mood
, they depend on the reaction of each m
ember of the
audience. What makes one angry may make another pity, etc.
Tone
emanates from an author's attitude toward his subject; the reader needs to recognize how the
narrator's
emotions toward the subject should color his own response to the text.
Moo
d
results more from the
author/narrator's intention to produce an emotional response in the reader to what is going on in
the text; thus
the reader needs to recognize how (s)he is supposed to feel as opposed to what the narrator is
feeling.
Examples
Duri
ng the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung
oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly
dreary tract of
country, and at length found myself, as the shades
of the evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House
of Usher
Tone
: melancholic and somber (Atmosphere: oppressive)
Content
(what) clues: At dusk on a cloudy autumn day, a solitary horseman
passes an isolated house.
Style
(how) clues: diction, (du
ll, dark oppressive, dreary, melancholy); syntax: highly descriptive, complex
sentences; long vowels (reads slowly), alliterative, assonant
Now, what is the mood???
A throng of bearded men, in sad-
colored garments, and gray steeple-
crowned hats, intermixed with women,
some wearing hoods and others bareheaded, was assembled in front of a wooden edifice, the
door of which was
heavily timbered with oak, and studded with iron spikes.
Tone
:
Content (what) clues:
Style (how) clues:

Function of Tone

Tone, in a piece of literature, decides how they readers read a literary piece and how they should
feel while they are reading it. It stimulates the readers to read a piece of literature as a serious,
comical, spectacular or distressing. In addition, tone lends shape and life to a piece of literature
because it creates a mood.

Moreover, tone bestows voice to characters and it throws light on the personalities and
dispositions of characters that readers understand better.