Literary term
Mood
The emotional feeling a text creates in the reader.
What it means
Mood is the emotional atmosphere a piece of writing creates in the reader. It is the feeling you are left with as you read. It might be tense, peaceful, joyful, gloomy, eerie or hopeful.
Mood is built up through word choice, imagery, setting, sound and pace working together. It can shift within a text as circumstances change. It is closely related to atmosphere and tone.
But mood focuses on what the reader feels, whereas tone is the writer's attitude. Recognising mood helps a reader respond to the emotional experience a writer has designed.
Why it matters in the exam
In the reading and Literature papers, questions often ask how a writer creates a particular mood. The marks come from linking specific language and imagery to the feeling produced. In your own descriptive and narrative writing, deliberately build and shift mood.
This is one of the clearest ways to show control and earn credit for creating an effect.
Example
A description of a still lake at dawn, with soft light and no sound but birdsong, builds a calm, peaceful mood before any event has taken place.
How to use it
Name the mood precisely. Then gather the details that create it, such as word choice, imagery, sound and pace, and explain how each contributes. Track any shift in mood and where it happens.
In your own writing, choose details that build one clear mood at a time. Change them deliberately when you want the feeling to turn.
Knowing the term is the first step. In a paid one-hour trial, a teacher helps your child use "Mood" accurately in an answer.