Mood in Writing
Heights were never visible…”
Usually, mood is referred to as the atmosphere of a literary
piece, as it creates an emotional setting that surrounds the
readers. Mood is developed in a literary piece through
various methods, including setting, theme, tone, and diction.
Let us see how writers use the afore-mentioned elements in
their literary works to create a particular mood.
Creating Mood through Setting
Setting is the physical location in a piece of literature that
provides background in which the events of
the narrative take place. A particular setting not only
provides support to the contents of the story, but also sets
the mood of the readers. Let us analyze a few examples of
mood developed using a setting:
Example #1: Pickwick Papers (By Charles Dickens)
Charles Dickens creates a calm and peaceful mood in
his novel Pickwick Papers:
“The river, reflecting the clear blue of the sky, glistened and
sparkled as it flowed noiselessly on.”
The depiction of idyllic scenery imparts a serene and non-
violent mood to the readers.
Example #2: Wuthering Heights (By Emily Bronte)
Emily Bronte, in Wuthering Heights, creates two contrasting
moods through two contrasting settings. The events of the
narrative takes place in two neighboring houses: Wuthering
Heights and Thrushcross Grange. A depressing mood is
created whenever Wuthering Heights is described. For
example, in chapter 12 the narrator says:
“There was no moon, and everything beneath lay in misty
darkness: not a light gleamed from any house, far or near all
had been extinguished long ago: and those at Wuthering
On the contrary, the description of Thrushcross Grange
creates a calm and peaceful mood:
“Gimmerton chapel bells were still ringing; and the full,
mellow flow of the beck in the valley came soothingly on the
ear. It was a sweet substitute for the yet absent murmur of
the summer foliage, which drowned that music about the
Grange when the trees were in leaf.”
The contrast presented in the settings also helps in the
development of the different characters. The people from
Wuthering Heights are unsophisticated, while those from
Thrushcross Grange are refined.
Creating Mood through Tone
The manner in which a writer approaches this theme
and subject is called the tone. The readers always rely on the
writer’s point of view of the events taking place in a story.
They observe the story through his eyes. They feel the way
the writer feels about the events taking place and the
description provided. Therefore, the attitude of the writer
evokes feelings and emotions in the readers.
Example #3: The Road Not Taken (By Robert Frost)
For instance, see how Robert Frost, in his poem The Road Not
Taken, creates a gloomy feeling through his tone:
“I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”
Frost informs us about his past with a “sigh” that gives the
above lines an unhappy tone and thus evokes an unhappy
mood. An unhappy mood is created because the poet show your tone. The definition of "tone" in literature is the
convinces us that he regrets a choice he made in the past. way the author expresses his attitude through his writing.

Creating Mood through Diction
Diction is the choice of words a writer uses. Diction or choice
of words conveys deep feelings, and depicts the events,
places, and characters in a literary work in specific colors,
having an effect on the way the readers feel about them.
Example #4: Gulliver’s Travel (By Jonathon Swift)
The tone can change very quickly or may remain the same
throughout the story. Tone is expressed by your use
of syntax, your point of view, your diction, and the level of
formality in your writing.
Tone in Writing
Examples of tone in a story include just about any
adjective you can imagine:

The following lines from Jonathon Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels is  Scared

one of the great mood examples created using diction:  Anxious
 Excited
“And being no stranger to the art of war, I have him a  Worried
description of cannons, culverins, muskets, carabines, pistols,  Foolish
bullets, powder, swords, bayonets, battles, sieges, retreats,  Smart
attacks, undermines, countermines, bombardments, sea-  Depressing
fights…” Conveying Tone in a Story
In order to create feelings of disgust in readers, for the Tone in writing is conveyed by both the choices of words
destructive consequences of war, the writer chooses words and the narrator of the story.
that are unmelodious, harsh, and jarring. The diction in the
above passage corresponds with the subject matter. In Charlotte's Web by E. B. White, although the book is
sad, the tone is one of peace and acceptance:
Function of Mood

Mood helps in creating an atmosphere in a literary work by

means of setting, theme, diction, and tone. It evokes various
emotional responses in readers, and thus ensures their
emotional attachment to the literary piece they read. Once
the readers are emotionally stirred, they fully comprehend
the message that the writer tries to convey to them.

one in writing is not really any different than the tone of

your voice. You know that sometimes it is not what you
say, but how you say it.
It is the same with writing. Every adjective and adverb you
use, your sentence structure, and the imagery you use will
But I feel peaceful. Your success in the ring this morning
was, to a small degree, my success. Your future is
assured. You will live, secure and safe, Wilbur. Nothing
can harm you now. These autumn days will shorten and
grow cold. The leaves will shake loose from the trees
and fall. Christmas will come, and the snows of winter.
You will live to enjoy the beauty of the frozen world, for
you mean a great deal to Zuckerman and he will not
harm you, ever. Winter will pass, the days will lengthen,
the ice will melt in the pasture pond. The song sparrow
will return and sing, the frogs will awake, the warm wind
will blow again. All these sights and sounds and smells
will be yours to enjoy, Wilbur-this lovely world, these
precious days…"
In Hemingway's A Clean, Well-Lighted Place the tone is
calm and peaceful.
It was very late and everyone had left the cafe except
an old man who sat in the shadow the leaves of the tree
made against the electric light. In the day time the
street was dusty, but at night the dew settled the dust
and the old man liked to sit late because he was deaf
and now at night it was quiet and he felt the difference.
In A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean loss is
also addressed with a kind of acceptance. The tone here
is wistful, yet peaceful and moving towards acceptance
nonetheless.
This was the last fish we were ever to see Paul catch. My
father and I talked about this moment several times
later, and whatever our other feelings, we always felt it
fitting that, when we saw him catch his last fish, we
never saw the fish but only the artistry of the fisherman.
Choosing Words for Tone
Consider the tone of The School by Donald Barthelme.
Here, words like "death" and "depressing" set a
negative or unhappy tone:
And the trees all died. They were orange trees. I don't
know why they died, they just died. Something wrong
with the soil possibly or maybe the stuff we got from the
nursery wasn't the best. We complained about it. So
we've got thirty kids there, each kid had his or her own
little tree to plant and we've got these thirty dead trees.
All these kids looking at these little brown sticks, it was
depressing.
In the following excerpt from Edgar Allen Poe's "The Tell-
Tale Heart," notice the many adjectives and verbs that
imply insane, nervous, and guilty tones.
It was A LOW, DULL, QUICK SOUND -- MUCH SUCH A
SOUND AS A WATCH MAKES WHEN ENVELOPED IN
COTTON. I gasped for breath, and yet the officers heard
it not. I talked more quickly, more vehemently but the
noise steadily increased. I arose and argued about
trifles, in a high key and with violent gesticulations; but
the noise steadily increased. Why WOULD they not be
gone? I paced the floor to and fro with heavy strides, as
if excited to fury by the observations of the men, but
the noise steadily increased. O God! What COULD I do? I
foamed -- I raved -- I swore! I swung the chair upon
which I had been sitting, and grated it upon the boards,
but the noise arose over all and continually increased. It
grew louder -- louder -- louder!
In A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, the tone
could be said to be mysterious, secretive, ominous, or
evil through the use of words like "clammy," "followed,"
and "unwholesome."
There was a steaming mist in all the hollows, and it had
roamed in its forlornness up the hill, like an evil spirit,
seeking rest and finding none. A clammy and intensely
cold mist, it made its slow way through the air in ripples
that visibly followed and overspread one another, as the
waves of an unwholesome sea might do. It was dense
enough to shut out everything from the light of the
 coach-lamps but these its own workings, and a few  Human vs. supernatural
yards of road; and the reek of the labouring horses  Human vs. god
steamed into it, as if they had made it all. Usually there's a human involved, but conflict can
certainly be animal vs. animal, etc.
Formal and Casual Tones
An example of a casual tone is:
Themes are equally numerous. The more common types of
The way I look at it, someone needs to start doing themes include:
something about disease. What's the big deal? People
are dying. But the average person doesn't think twice  Redemption
about it until it affects them. Or someone they know.  Resurrection
 Prodigal Son
 Transformation
Types of Conflicts Include:  Vengeance
 Innocence
 Human vs. self  Justice
 Human vs. human  Sacrifice
 Human vs. nature  Jealousy
 Human vs. environment  Friendship
 Human vs. technology (machine)  Fate

little girl’s father would strangely leave the lights on beside

Summary of the Safe House
The events of “The Safehouse” by Sandra Nicole Roldan
took place during the period of President Ferdinand Marcos.
The entire story was from the point of view a small girl who
was 5 years old at the time as the near perfect life she knew
gradually faded. Here is a short summary of the story.
The story opens with what could be described as a
housing project that caters to the middleclass members of
society. Facilities were present such as tennis courts and a
swimming pool among others.
The little girl’s family stays in the same project, and from all
appearances were living like everyone in the community.
Everything was fine and nothing could go wrong. At night
when everyone turned their lights off before sleeping, the
the window for no clear reason. The house would have
visitors mostly at night when the family is asleep and no one
would notice, but eventually these people would come more
often and gather in another room. When asked about the
strange visitors, they were introduced as uncles and aunts.
This continued on for years and catering to these
seemingly insensitive relatives became a normal part of the
family’s practice. They would stay up all night and hold
meetings where mentions of “soldiers, dead bodies” and
“escaping through the tall grass is the best way” is routinely
heard. The kids would come home to see these relatives
gathered in front of the television watching the news or
programs with a revolutionary theme. At times, she would be
surprised at their reactions when they see the presidents
face on the monitor One year later, these uncles and aunts
became so used to the house that they acted as if they
owned the place. Angered with the loss of privacy and her
quiet life and burdened with unpaid bills and taxes, the
couple of the family finally had a talk. “We cannot go on like
this” the lady of the house said. “You have neglected
everything!” she yelled. “Marcos has to be stopped” The
husband replied. It was clear that the husband’s resolve is
unshakable. This prompted the mother’s decision to leave,
she does not want any more of this, she questions the
reasons for a revolution as this would lead nowhere. She
packed up her things and left, but not before painfully kissing
the children while they sleep.
A year later, the father was arrested in front of their
house in full view of everyone including the neighbors. The
children were left under the care of their grandparents. Now
with her new life, and living in a different house, she would
often have recurring dreams of searching for her former
home. She decided to see her father who was imprisoned at
Camp Crame. Fortunately, they were permitted to be with
each other on weekends.
No longer the innocent little girl when the story started,
she now understands everything. Those people who came in
the night were revolutionaries and her father is one of them.
At certain nights, there would be people that knock on her
door asking “Are you his daughter? to which she would reply
“He does not live here anymore …”
Background of the Author
Sandra Nicole Roldan, who wrote the Safe House, is a teacher
of literature and creative writing at the University of the
Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City. She earned her degree in
Creative Writing at the same school. Apart from winning the
Philippine Free Press literary award for essay, she is also
recognized by both local and international writing fellowships
Literary Analysis of the Safe House
The narrative started with the description of the scene. There
mentioned, "a one box among many", "identical to all
houses", and "it is easy to get lost here".
What kind of place is being described? What is exactly the
box that was mentioned?
With the mentioned lines above, we can sense that we are
inside an apartment complex, or might be a subdivision,
where houses all looks identical that if you're not that familiar
enough, you'll get lost.
Aside from the houses, being all looking the same, an
oozing feeling of luxury and elegance can be felt as luxury
cars, pools, tennis courts and a clubhouse was mentioned.
Yet, inside, reveals little of what happens - "there is not much
else to see".
The box mentioned here is our main building, where all
scenes takes place - the safe house.
The safe house, where silent cries are poured, wounded are
healed, and empty stomachs are filled.
The house that looks exactly the same with the other
buildings, but not THAT the same. A refuge where the visitors
know exactly where and when to turn even in the midst of
darkness.
"It is 1982." The time that there was a struggle against the
life in Martial Law. A five year old girl, witness through her
innocent eyes the coming in and out of strangers-- people
with faces that differ every night. She does not care that
much, but make sure to keep quite because the "relatives"
are "Talking about Important Things".
Who are these people?
The girl sees these people as her "relatives", well, at a
young age, with people eating, talking inside your house
every night, everyone just seems like relatives. Every new
face becomes her "newer relatives".
There was this man, with band-aids on his feet instead of
toenails and wears dark glasses on his eyes. Funny to think
about, she's wondering if he man has superhuman powers
like laser vision, or maybe a one-eyed pirate.
Needless to say, this man might have went to tremendous
danger, with wounds on his feet. What could have happened
to his toenails right? What happened to his eyes that even at
night, he covers it with dark glasses?
"sundalo, kasama, talahib --- katawan" A lot of things can
come to mind, yet one thing can be clear -- someone died in
the midst of the bushes. It may be their comrade, the
government's army, or the army killed their comrade.
SOMEONE DIED.
We later get to know that these people are against the
current administration - the rule of Marcos. With the
grownup's eyes nailed on the television, she did not have the
chance to watch her favorite channel, instead, curses are
heard. People are not just angry, they are furious!
A year passed, 1983, and more and more people are
coming. With children's birthday as masks for their meetings.
Dusty beer bottles that are never opened were serve. The
"relatives" do not drink at all, it's all just a game of
pretending. A laughing game through the eyes of the little
girl. Then, there's the mother not enjoying the game at all,
crying as the laughter of the husbands continues.
"underground, revolution, taxes and bills" words that does
not make any sense to the little girl.
The mother left her for good. The siblings would just spend
their days playing outside as their house is occupied with
more and more papers, plus the smoke that most probably
from the cigarettes of the "relatives".
There is a mention of the "small red book". Based on the
description of the little girls, we can say that it is a book of
Mao Zedong or Mao TseTung. This book was distributed in
China during the Cultural Revolution, in which many people
were killed, owning it became a way of surviving. This book
covers class struggles, correcting mistaken ideas, and other
things that talks about revolution. This book has been
carried secretly by the "relatives" and may be a source of
idea and inspiration.
Another year had passed, the father got arrested. Everyone
was quite witnessing the arrest, but after the soldiers left,
murmurings went louder.
The siblings lived with their grandparents. A story about
lovebirds was also mentioned, that may have an underlying
meaning of soldiers that has been taking over since long ago.
The little girl would come visit her father in his "new
house", of course that means prison cell, and sleep there
during the weekends.
She had dreams, bad dreams -- scary images of what's
supposed to be her house. She sees her house now as a
dangerous place, a scary place. To make things better, she
paints it pink, blue and yellow. Such lovely colors through the
eyes of a girl, then have the sun and the moon and the star
on the floor, to provide light to such dark world. A world
where she is left-- alone.
Soon after, when she comes of age, she will still be living
in the same old house -- the safe house. With it's new door,
and a familiar stranger will come knocking looking for his
now gone father. She knows the stranger needs help, but she
will still decide to close the door, and "push the bolts firmly
into place".
The safe house, was actually not safe. Years passed and the
house has been catering defectors, "relatives" that were not
actually relatives. Now, she knows better. Though she knows
she can help but, she chose to close her doors so that what
happened before will not repeat itself. She will keep her
house--- safe.
Guide Questions in the Safe House
1. What is the dictionary meaning of "safe house"?
2. What is the double meaning of the title The Safe House?
Why do you think this was used for the title?
3. Why did the narrator feel unsafe? What makes you feel
safe? Can you relate to the narrator? Why or why not?
4. Why did the man in the story have band aids instead of
nails? What does this imply about the visitors in the house?
5. Do you sympathize more with the visitors or the narrator?
Why do you feel this way?
6. Why did the mother leave? Do you understand this
decision? Would you have left as well? Why or why not?
7. How does the narrator's view of martial law differ from her
father's view?
8. Why does she have a different point of view?
9. What effect does reading this story have on you? How
does it affect the way you look at martial law? What did you
feel about it before you read the story, and after you read the
story?
10. Why was it necessary for the narrator-to tell us that she
locks the door against the visitors nowadays? What does this
symbolize? Do you agree with the narrator? Why or why not?
Parts of a plot
Exposition: Beginning of the Story
The exposition is the beginning of the story and prepares the
way for upcoming events. In the exposition, the author
introduces the major characters, establishes the setting and
reveals major conflicts in the story. The author often
discusses the characters' backstory, so readers gain insight
as to why characters act or respond as they do. For example,
the exposition in "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by
Mark Twain centers on the introduction of Huckleberry Finn,
an adolescent who's unhappy living with a strict widow, and
has a shallow relationship with his greedy, unfit father. The
setting is the mid-1800s in a small river town along the
Mississippi River; the conflict revolves around Huck's desire
to experience adventure, and his running away. The
exposition sets the stage for his tumultuous, life-changing
journey on a riverboat.
Rising Action
The rising action occurs when the main problem or conflict is
addressed with a form of action. The rising action always
leads up to the climax. During the rising action, the
protagonist often encounters some sort of crisis that creates
tension. For example, in "The Maze Runner" by James
Dashner, the rising action occurs when Thomas -- the
protagonist -- enters the maze to try to escape his prison-like
existence and save his friends.
Climax or Turning Point
The climax is the pivotal point in the story when the
protagonist deals with the culmination of events. The climax
often centers on the protagonist's most difficult challenge or
bleakest moment, according to Pasadena City College. For
example, in "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins, the
climax occurs when Katniss and Peeta -- the primary
protagonists -- decide to eat poisonous berries and commit
double suicide, rather than kill one another. The climax is the
most exciting part of the story and initiates a turning point in
the characters' lives.
Falling Action
The falling action occurs immediately after the climax and
details the consequences -- good or bad -- that the
characters must deal with after the turning point of events. It
leads up to the resolution and sets the stage for the final
chapter of the story. For example, in "To Kill a Mockingbird"
by Harper Lee, the falling action occurs when the antagonist,
Bob Ewell, assaults two of the primary protagonists -- Scout
and Jem Finch -- and the town recluse saves the children by
killing Ewell. The altercation is a direct result of the climax --
Ewell wants revenge after the children's father, an attorney,
defends an innocent black man and rebukes Ewell for lying
about the case and mistreating his own daughter.
Resolution: End of the Story
The resolution tells us what happens to the characters after
the conflict is resolved. All the loose ends are tied up, unless
the author plans to write a sequel and purposely leaves room
for further plot developments. Some stories have happy
endings; others have sad endings. The resolution leaves
readers with a sense of closure, so they understand the fate
of the protagonists and antagonists.