What is the definintion of mood when we think about literature?

According to the Glossary of Literary Terms, as provided
by the Hunter College Reading and Writing Center, mood is defined as "the atmosphere
that pervades a literary work with the intention of evoking a certain emotion or feeling
from the audience. In drama, mood may be created by sets and music as well as words; in
poetry and prose, mood may be created by a combination of such elements as SETTING,
VOICE, TONE and THEME. The moods evoked by the more popular short stories of Edgar Allen
Poe, for example, tend to be gloomy, horrific, and desperate".  The example that I
provide all of my students with is think about movies.  Horror movies tend to use music
to foreshadow that something is about to happen.  For example, when a main character is
entering a dark and "spooky" room, the music that accompanies the scene is dark and
spooky as well.  Another example is the music that you personally listen to. What kind
of music do you listen to when you are happy (something upbeat), sad (something slow and
emotional), angry (something loud and full of drum beats).  Authors do the same thing
with the words they use in their texts.  Instead of using music to create the mood,
authors use descriptive language and imagery.  For example, in Walter Dean Myer's
Monster, the opening "scene" depicts a fearful
protagonist:

readability="7">

The best time to cry is at night, when the lights
are out and someone is being beaten up and screaming for help. That way even if you
sniffle a little they won't hear
you.

The mood depicted here
would be one of fear or fright. Another example of mood depiction can be seen in the
poetry of Robert Burns- A Red, Red Rose:

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O my luve's like a red, red
rose

That's newely sprung in
June

O my Luve's like the
melodie

That's sweetly play'd in
tune!

This, like many love
poems, evokes the mood of love.

Mood is simply the feeling
that the author's words cause to errupt when one is reading the work.  For that reason,
the mood of any given work can be very different for each reader.  To determine the mood
of a text, a reader simply must support the reasoning for their own personal
interpretation of the text.