Literary Terms: Theme, Tone, Mood, Conflict

Recognize and use the core vocabulary of literary analysis precisely.

English class has its own working vocabulary, and four words do much of the work. Theme is a message or insight about life that a story develops, usually stated as a sentence, not a single word. 'Friendship' is a topic; 'True friends tell hard truths' is a theme. Tone is the author's or narrator's attitude toward the subject, shown through word choice: playful, bitter, admiring. Mood is the feeling the text creates in the reader: tense, peaceful, eerie.

Conflict is the struggle that drives the plot, whether between characters, with nature, with society, or inside a character's mind. These words are easily confused, especially tone and mood. A quick test: tone belongs to the writer, mood belongs to the reader. In 'The wind clawed at the shutters, and the candle shrank to a trembling dot', the mood is uneasy, while the tone is serious and dramatic.

• 1Theme is a message about life, stated as a sentence.
• 2Tone is the writer's attitude; mood is the reader's feeling.
• 3Conflict is the struggle that drives the plot.