Tone- how the narrator/speaker feels towards the events of the narrative they are describing Mood- how the piece makes us—the reader—feel Evidence- examples of the literary devices the author used and how they were used (diction, metaphor, imagery, contrast, etc.)
Paragraph #1: The tone (coming from the narrator) is joyous, lively, and sentimental The mood (to the reader) is warm, festive, and personal EVIDENCE: Imagery of pleasant sensations like “bright lights” the “smell of cookies and cider,” “bright packages,” and the “warm room” as well as the selected vocabulary of “gleamed,” “hummed,” and “playfully,” demonstrate the narrator’s comfort, familiarity, and enjoyment of the holidays while indicating to the reader that this is a safe, happy, and celebratory time.
Paragraph #2: The tone is depressed and disheartened The mood is bleak and expired EVIDENCE: words like “long, cold winter” “dry, brittle (tree),” and the juxtaposition (contrast) between putting “decorations back into their boxes” with the past “finery” of the house show the narrator’s disappointed feelings towards the end of the holiday season and the general “sigh” of the house.
Pathos (appeal to emotion) is a way of convincing an audience of an argument by creating an emotional response to an impassioned plea or a convincing story. Logos (appeal to logic) is a way of persuading an audience with reason, using facts and figures.
Explanation: The central idea is the central, unifying element of the story, which ties together all of the other elements of fiction used by the author to tell the story. The central idea can be best described as the dominant impression or the universal, generic truth found in the story.
