Setting

What is setting? The natural, manufactured, political, cultural, and temporal environment, including everything the characters know and own.

Or… Time Place Mood (atmosphere)

Time Can include not only the historical period- past, present, or future-but also a specific year, season, or time of day.

Place May involve not only the geographical place, but also the social economic, or cultural environment.

How would “Harrison Bergeron” have been different if the story took place in 1881? How would setting have affected “The Yellow Wallpaper” if the story took place in Las Vegas in 2014? How would the setting have affected Georg and Ulrich if “The Interlopers” took place in the city? How would setting have affected “The Yellow Wallpaper” if the story took place in Las Vegas in 2014?

Three basic types of setting Nature & Outdoors It’s important to note natural surroundings (hills, shorelines, mountains, valleys, etc.) the seasons, living creatures, and the weather. Any and all of these may influence character and action.

Three basic types of setting Objects of human manufacture and construction Houses, cities, possessions, and objects that are created by people also motivate and affect characters and motivation.

Three types of setting Cultural Conditions Historical and cultural conditions and assumptions add to a story just as much as a physical setting does.

Why is setting important? Helps a work become real and credible Brings out qualities in a character May be an aspect of the story’s organization May be symbolic May create atmosphere and mood May emphasize story’s irony

Mood and atmosphere Feeling created in the reader by a literary work or passage. The mood is often suggested by descriptive details. The mood can be described in a single word.

Dreary

Cheery

Some common mood words Positive mood words: amused calm cheerful exhilarated mellow Negative mood words: aggravated anxious desolate enraged numb