Illustrations: Mood, Characters and Setting

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Content Illustrations: Mood, Characters and Setting

Illustrations – Mood, Character, and Setting
What is the Purpose of Illustration?
Using Illustrations to Understand Texts – Example
Illustrations in Text – Summary
Frequently Asked Questions on Illustrations

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Basics on the topic Illustrations: Mood, Characters and Setting

Illustrations – Mood, Character, and Setting

Have you ever read a comic book? Comic books have very little text, but a lot of details in the illustrations! But how can pictures help you understand the text better? Find out by learning how illustrations contribute to a story with this text.

What is the Purpose of Illustration?

How does the illustration help the reader understand the text? Sometimes, authors use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events. Can pictures help us understand the story? Authors also use them to affect the mood, or how the reader feels when they read a story and to give the reader more information about what is happening in a story.

If you’re still wondering, “how illustrations contribute to a story?”, continue onto the next section to see an example!

Using Illustrations to Understand Texts – Example

In order to analyse the illustration, first read the text. Next, look carefully and ask yourself: How does the illustration contribute, or add to the story?

zayd-in-bed-holding-a-pillow-with-a-frightened-look-the-noise-woke-Zayd-up-how-illustrations-contribute-to-a-story.jpg

What do pictures bring to a story? In order to analyse the illustration, first read the text. Here we see the text, The noise woke Zayd up.

Next, look carefully and ask yourself: How does the illustration contribute, or add, to the story?

Here, we see the setting is Zayd's bedroom. Zayd looks frightened because he is holding the pillow close and has a fearful expression on his face. Since Zayd has a terrified expression and the illustration has dark features, we can say the mood is scary.

Illustrations in Text – Summary

Sometimes, authors use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events. Authors also use them to affect the mood, or how the reader feels when they read a story and to give the reader more information about what is happening in a story. This is how you use an illustration in a text to gather thoughts, information and details about a characters, setting and the meaning of that text.

Step #	What to do
1	Read the text
2	Look at the illustration carefully
3	Ask yourself: How does the illustration contribute, or add to the story?

Want to see more about how illustrations contribute to a story? On this website you will find videos, interactive exercises and printable worksheets on how illustrations contribute to a story.

Frequently Asked Questions on Illustrations

How can pictures help reading?

How do images help you understand the text?

Illustrations: Mood, Characters and Setting exercise

Would you like to apply the knowledge you’ve learnt? You can review and practice it with the tasks for the video Illustrations: Mood, Characters and Setting.

What information do the illustrations give the reader?

Hints

The second illustration has five correct answers.

Darker images usually create scary or spooky moods.

Solution

The first image shows the inside of a bright home. It contains flowers, which create a peaceful mood.
The next image takes place outside in a graveyard. There are trees shaped like monsters, witches and flying ghosts. It has a spooky mood.
Using illustrations to tell stories.

Hints

To begin with, Pip has an idea to go surfing.

After a fun event, we can take photos and print the pictures!

Solution

First, Pip is in his treehouse thinking about going surfing. Next, Pip and Koko go to the beach. Then, Pip gets on his surfboard and surfs! After that, Koko takes a picture of him for their memories. Finally, they put the picture on the wall of the treehouse.
Identify the character, the setting and the mood.
Hints

There is only one character in this illustration.

There are three things to highlight: Zayd, the forest and the candy cane trees.

There is only one correct option for each colour.

Solution
- Mood
The bright, candy cane trees in the right of the illustration create a fantastical, fun mood. They are highlighted green.
- Character
Zayd is the only character. He is highlighted yellow.
- Setting
The setting is the forest. The trees to the left of Zayd show he's in the forest. They should be highlighted blue.
Write your own story using illustrations.

Hints

Narratives start with setting. Setting can be a place or a time of day or night.

Captions give more information about the characters and tell who is in the story.

Solution

To determine which piece of text fits best, ask yourself how is the illustration contributing to the story?
The story reads:
It was night and Pip was in bed...but he was scared to fall asleep! He woke up Koko...and she read him a bedtime story.
Match illustrations with the opposite moods.
Hints

The mood in this image is dark and spooky. What would the opposite mood be?

What kind of mood does rain create? What is the opposite of that mood?

Solution
1. The two illustrations with the similar setting of the beach match. In one, rain makes the mood gloomy. In the other, the sun makes the mood fun.
2. The two illustrations with Jane the owl match. In one, the vampire creates a scary mood because he is a dark shadow. In the other, the vampire eats pizza so the mood is light.
3. The two illustrations with the ship in the ocean match. In one, the waves and dark lines create an angry mood. In the other, the ocean is calm and the lighting is bright. It is peaceful.
4. The two illustrations of the park match. In one, there are no characters so there is a calm and quiet mood. In the other, there are lots of children playing so the mood is exciting.
Analyse the illustration for mood, setting and characters.
Hints

What is the mood? The friends are sitting together roasting hot dogs on the fire.

Look at how many characters are in the scene, use this information to help choose the correct names.

Setting is where and when a narrative takes place.

Solution
Setting
- Forest
Mood
- Adventure
Characters
- Pip, Koko and Bertha