Mood in Writing
the trees were in leaf.”
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 Heights were never visible…”
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 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 convinces us that he regrets a choice he made in the past.
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 following lines from Jonathon Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels is one of the great mood
examples created using diction:
“And being no stranger to the art of war, I have him a description of cannons,
culverins, muskets, carabines, pistols, bullets, powder, swords, bayonets, battles,
sieges, retreats, attacks, undermines, countermines, bombardments, sea-fights…”
In order to create feelings of disgust in readers, for the destructive consequences of
war, the writer chooses words that are unmelodious, harsh, and jarring. The diction in
the above passage corresponds with the subject matter.
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 show your tone. The
definition of "tone" in literature is the way the author expresses his
attitude through his writing.
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:
 Scared
 Anxious
 Excited
 Worried
 Foolish
 Smart
 Depressing
Conveying Tone in a Story
Tone in writing is conveyed by both the choices of words and the narrator of the
story.
In Charlotte's Web by E. B. White, although the book is sad, the tone is one of
peace and acceptance:
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 way I look at it, someone needs to start doing something about disease.
the many adjectives and verbs that imply insane, nervous, and guilty tones. What's the big deal? People are dying. But the average person doesn't think
twice about it until it affects them. Or someone they know.
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 Types of Conflicts Include:
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  Human vs. self
the observations of the men, but the noise steadily increased. O God! What  Human vs. human
COULD I do? I foamed -- I raved -- I swore! I swung the chair upon which I had  Human vs. nature
been sitting, and grated it upon the boards, but the noise arose over all and  Human vs. environment
continually increased. It grew louder -- louder -- louder!  Human vs. technology (machine)
 Human vs. supernatural
In A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, the tone could be said to be  Human vs. god
mysterious, secretive, ominous, or evil through the use of words like Usually there's a human involved, but conflict can certainly be animal vs.
"clammy," "followed," and "unwholesome." animal, etc.
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 Themes are equally numerous. The more common types of themes include:
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  Redemption
unwholesome sea might do. It was dense enough to shut out everything from  Resurrection
the light of the coach-lamps but these its own workings, and a few yards of  Prodigal Son
road; and the reek of the labouring horses steamed into it, as if they had made  Transformation
it all.  Vengeance
 Innocence
Formal and Casual Tones  Justice
 Sacrifice
An example of a casual tone is:
 Jealousy
 Friendship
 Fate

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 little girl’s father
would strangely leave the lights on beside 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 purposely leaves room for further plot developments. Some stories have happy
friends. endings; others have sad endings. The resolution leaves readers with a sense of
closure, so they understand the fate of the protagonists and antagonists.
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