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7th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 2 of 13

Tone & Mood

How writing feels and sounds

What your child practices

Telling the writer's attitude (tone) apart from the reader's feeling (mood), and seeing how word choice and connotation shape both.

Arizona Academic Standards learning standard: 7.RL.4; 7.L.5 · tone and mood

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Tone is the writer’s attitude toward the subject: enthusiastic, nostalgic, objective, sarcastic.
  2. Mood is the feeling the reader gets: tense, peaceful, gloomy, cheerful.
  3. Look at word choice and connotation. Words like creaked and shadows build a tense mood.

Example: “I still remember those summer evenings at the lake. Those were the best days.” What is the tone? The writer is looking back fondly at the past. Warm longing for the past is nostalgia. Answer: Nostalgic

Tone & Mood in Arizona

In the Arizona Academic Standards, this is unit 2 of 13 in 7th grade English Language Arts, after Literary Devices and before Persuasive Power.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Arizona Department of Education

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Which word best describes the writer's tone?

    The city council voted 6 to 3 on Tuesday to extend library hours. The change will take effect next month.

    • Sentimental
    • Objective
    • Outraged
    • Sarcastic

  2. Question 2

    Which word has the most negative connotation?

    • stingy
    • thrifty
    • economical
    • frugal

  3. Question 3

    Which word best describes the writer's tone?

    Please read this carefully. If you see a fallen power line, stay at least ten meters away and call 911 right away.

    • Playful
    • Sarcastic
    • Nostalgic
    • Urgent

  4. Question 4

    Which word best describes the writer's tone?

    Looking back, I realize the argument was never really about the soccer game. We were both afraid that changing schools would change our friendship.

    • Reflective
    • Hostile
    • Panicked
    • Giddy

  5. Question 5

    Which word best describes the writer's tone?

    The movie's plot was predictable, the jokes fell flat, and the ending dragged on for twenty minutes too long.

    • Critical
    • Fearful
    • Nostalgic
    • Admiring

  6. Question 6

    Which word best describes the writer's tone?

    My little brother's idea of “helping” in the kitchen is eating the chocolate chips before they reach the bowl. So far, he has helped with zero cookies and about four hundred chocolate chips.

    • Furious
    • Humorous
    • Tragic
    • Formal

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