Comparing/Contrasting Mood in Music, Art, Movies, and Poetry

Grade Level: 6th- 8th
Classroom Time: One 1 hr. 15 min. period
Art

Skill Addressed:
ELA skill: Comparing and contrasting
ELA skill: Identifying mood
Visual Arts skill: Identifying/describing mood
Visual Arts skill: Analyzing artworks
Music skill: Identifying/describing mood
Music skill: Analyzing musical selections

Previous skills: Students have read and annotated “The Raven”
“The Raven” http://knowingpoe.thinkport.org/writer/annotated.asp
Full Text for printing- http://www.eapoe.org/works/poems/ravent.htm

Introduce or review mood. Here is a good definition of mood – “The overall feeling or emotion the author creates for his readers which is usually described in one or two adjectives”.
Ask students how music can influence mood – post student responses. Discuss what music students like to listen to when they feel sad, happy, excited, angry, etc….
Have students listen to various music choices (Or you can have them listen to 30 second samples from www.Amazon.com or iTunes, or use music from your own collection).Have them circle their choice on the “Name That Mood” handout. (attachment) Here are some suggestions:

Music:

Carmina Burana – O Fortuna
Munich – Remembering Munich
Robin Hood Prince of Thieves – Main Theme
Peter Pan – Flying
Angels in America – Main Theme
Chocolat – Main Titles
The Godfather – Main Theme
Dracula – The Beginning
Welcome to the S**k – Jarhead
A Daisy in December by Mick McAuley and Winifred Horan

Next have students view some visual art samples and again circle their choice on the “Name That Mood” handout. As with the musical selections, the students will have different answers as viewing art and listening to music evoke different interpretations. There is no right or wrong answer. Suggestions:

Visual Art:
Gentileschi, Judith Beheading Holofernes link

Hopper, Sun in an Empty Room link

Kahlo, Self Portrait link

Klimt, The Kiss link

Modigliani, Jeanne Hebuterne with hat link

Monet, Impression Sunrise link

Munch, The Scream or Cry link

Tiebaud, Cakes link

Waterhouse, The Lady of Shalott link
(careful about previewing because of other images on the screen)

Wyeth, Christina’s World link

Note: Before viewing art with your students, verify the links and make sure all work is appropriate for your students.

Ask students if they think music can affect the mood in a movie? If they didn’t already guess, tell them that several of the songs came from movies.

Tell students you are going to show two movie trailers, both for the same movie. Show The Shining Redux Trailer, and then the original. Ask them to identify the mood for each on their Name That Mood worksheet. Discuss what makes the two so different after you are finished viewing (music, images, facial expressions, etc…)

The Shining Redux (Created to look like a family movie)
http://www.ifilm.com/video/2681181
The Shining (original trailer, approved for all audiences) link

Discuss how in literature the same images we see and sounds we hear in movies are just written down for us and how literary devices such as the author’s diction, or word choice, help create the mood. We must interpret these devices to understand the mood.

Read aloud “The End of the Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe’s Cat –
“The End of the Raven” can be found at:
http://bertc.com/end_of_the_raven.htm

Use a Venn Diagramto compare and contrast the two poems http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/venn/index.html

Model with students the comparing and contrasting point of view
Students should identify the difference in mood

Extensions:

View “The Simpson’s” version of “The Raven”
Have students write a literary analysis essay on mood in “The Raven” (the student’s thesis statement will be what they believe the mood to be in “The Raven”)

Other recut trailers link

National ELA Standards

Students read a wide range of print and non-print texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.
Students read a wide range of literature from many periods in many genres to build an understanding of the many dimensions (e.g., philosophical, ethical, aesthetic) of human experience.
Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).
Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.
Students participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members of a variety of literacy communities.
Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).

National Visual Arts Standards

National Music Standards

Listening to, analyzing, and describing music.
Evaluating music and music performances.
Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts.

Links page:
Preset: “The Raven” http://knowingpoe.thinkport.org/writer/annotated.asp
Full Text for printing- http://www.eapoe.org/works/poems/ravent.htm

3. Musical selections: www.Amazon.com
Visual Art Suggestions: Gentileschi, Judith Beheading Holofernes
http://www.artchive.com/artchive/G/gentileschi/gent_holofernes.jpg.html

Hopper, Sun in an Empty Room link

Kahlo, Self Portrait link

Klimt, The Kiss http://www.penwith.co.uk/artofeurope/klimt_kiss.jpg

Modigliani, Jeanne Hebuterne with hat link

Monet, Impression Sunrise link

Munch, The Scream or Cry link

Tiebaud, Cakes link

Waterhouse, The Lady of Shalott http://www.jwwaterhouse.com/view.cfm?recordid=28
(careful about previewing because of other images on the screen)

Wyeth, Christina’s World link

5. The Shining Redux http://www.ifilm.com/video/2681181
The Shining link
8. “The End of the Raven” can be found at: http://bertc.com/end_of_the_raven.htm

Venn Diagram
http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/venn/index.html

Extension recuts: Link

Directions: Circle or highlight the word you feel best represents the mood of the movie trailer.
Movie Trailer 1	Movie Trailer 2
angry whimsical optimistic somber suspenseful ominous merry frightening mysterious poignant	angry whimsical optimistic somber suspenseful ominous merry frightening mysterious poignant

Name That Mood

Directions: Circle or highlight the word you feel best represents the mood of the different poems.
“The Raven”	“The End of the Raven”
angry whimsical optimistic somber suspenseful ominous merry frightening mysterious poignant	angry whimsical optimistic somber suspenseful ominous merry frightening mysterious poignant

Define mood: ________________________________________

Directions: Listen to the songs your teacher plays for you. After you listen to each song, identify the mood using one of the words below. Look at the paintings that your teacher shows you. Identify what you think the mood of the painting expresses.

	Mood of Song		Mood of Painting
Song 1		Painting 1
Song 2		Painting 2
Song 3		Painting 3
Song 4		Painting 4
Song 5		Painting 5

Angry	envious	mysterious	merry	apprehensive	Optimistic
Poignant	lonely	gloomy	thrilling	whimsical	Threatening
Introspective	frightening	ominous	suspenseful	Somber	Desire

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