A Guide to Understanding the

 Defined as “the WHEN and WHERE of a piece of literature”  But, setting is MORE than just time and place

 Includes: time, place, environment, mood and conditions (social, weather, etc.)  Social setting  Economic  Political  Religious  Environmental  Cultural

 Plays just as much a role as characters and plot  Can provide information about a work’s theme  “Every story would be another story, and unrecognizable if it took up its characters and plot and happened somewhere else... Fiction depends for its life on place. Place is the crossroads of circumstance, the proving ground of, What happened? Who's here? Who's coming?...“ -Eudora Welty

 Nature and the outdoors  Hills, shorelines, valleys, mountains, meadows, forests, lakes, etc.  Living creatures  Seasons, time and conditions ▪ Day or night, summer or winter, wind or stillness, rain or snow, fogginess or clarity, stormy or calm

 Objects of Human Manufacture or Construction  Cityscape  Interior/exterior of houses, churches, etc.  Details about personal possessions  Mention of furnishings in rooms

 Historical and Cultural Conditions and Assumptions  Catholic rituals, for example  Religious skepticism  Political climates ▪ Communism ▪ Nazism  Historical eras  1700s, 1800s, 1920s, etc.

 Helps establish literary credibility  Serves as a strong guide to character  As an organizing element  May serve as a literary symbol  Can indicate theme  To establish atmosphere or mood  Can be used ironically

 The setting of a novel or short story can include multiple types.  Social and historical, for example  In plays, each scene is set in a different place/location.  These all work together to form an entire setting.