5.1 Researching the Setting

CONNECTION Why do we read fantasy? The stories are incredible. Everything is more important, more intense, more vivid. Choices can have greater impact—like saving or dooming the world! When you study fantasy, you are really studying the human condition. The stories aren’t really about elves and hobbits! They’re about good versus evil, the quest to be better than we are, and how our choices have consequences. If you become a powerful reader of fantasy, you become a powerful reader of different types of texts too! Fantasy is complicated!

TEACHING POINT Today I want to teach you that fantasy readers have to figure out where their story takes place and what kind of place it is by investigating clues.

TEACHING Often fantasy novels take place in certain kinds of settings. Medieval—castles, horses, dragons, like Lord of the Rings Futuristic—like the Hunger Games Ordinary world—everything seems normal…at first! Then magical elements sneak in. Like Harry Potter!

TEACHING Look for clues about what kind of world it is before even starting “The Paperbag Princess” by Robert Munsch title Cover art Book blurb Back of book First lines Any pictures

ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT “Thief of Always” Use your clues. What kind of place is this?

LINK Use your strategies to think about setting in your novels today and always!

MIDWORKSHOP Sometimes books have more than one setting—like Narnia or The Secret Zoo. You will have to think about what kind of place each setting is and what matters most about these places.

SHARE Who has power in these places? Stop and jot…then talk to your group about what you think! Sophisticated Readers of Fantasy… Research the setting (what kind of place is it?) Ask about power—who has it, evidence, kinds of power