Definition of Mood
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes in the reader. Every aspect of a piece of writing... read full definition
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes in the reader. Every aspect... read full definition
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes... read full definition
Key Examples in House Made of Dawn
6. The Longhair, August 1
Explanation and Analysis:
The mood of the novel shifts, sometimes ominous, sometimes melancholy, and—by the end—hopeful and at peace. Momaday uses descriptions of the land and environment to set the mood. For example, in Chapter 6, gathering thunderheads help build tension:
A low line of thunderheads lay on the high horizon in back of the northernmost peaks. They were deep in the distance and seemed always to have been there, dark and unchanging in the end of vision, in some sense polar and nocturnal. [Father Olguin] kept an eye on them and speeded up, half hoping to rush upon the scent of rain.