1. Setting Unit 1: Fiction Lecture Notes Outline [Mirrors & Windows logo]
Literary Analysis
Unit 1: Fiction
Setting
Level IV
NOTE: This presentation contains slides with fields for recording student responses. Any text you insert will remain in the fields until you delete it manually.

2. Fiction is like a spider’s web, attached ever so lightly perhaps, but still attached to life at all four corners.
—Virginia Woolf
Lecture Notes Outline
Fiction is like a spider’s web, attached ever so lightly perhaps, but still attached to life at all four corners. —Virginia Woolf
Navigation Note
In all Unit 1 Literary Analysis presentations, slides 3–7 introduce the genre of fiction. If you choose to skip the genre introduction, use the “<skip intro>” button below the quotation. This button will advance the presentation to the introduction of the specific literary element on slide 8.
Extension Options
Have students respond to other famous quotations about fiction:
• “Fiction reveals truth that reality obscures.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson
• “Fiction is the truth inside the lie.” —Stephen King
• “The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense.” —Tom Clancy
• “But I hate things all fiction…. There should be some foundation of fact for the most airy fabric—and pure invention is but the talent of a liar.” —Lord Byron
• “Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn’t.” —Mark Twain
• “Detail is the lifeblood of fiction.” —John Gardner
<skip intro>

3. What is fiction?
Fiction is a genre, or category of literary composition, that includes any work of prose that tells an invented or imaginary story.
Lecture Notes Outline
What is fiction? Fiction is a genre, or category of literary composition, that includes any work of prose that tells an invented or imaginary story.
Extension Options
• Explain the difference between commercial fiction and literary fiction.
• Tell students that the American Library Association sponsors the John Newbery Medal, an award given annually to the author of the most distinguished American children’s book, and the Randolph Caldecott Medal, an award given annually to the artist of the most distinguished American children’s book. One criterion for this award is that the nominated book be suitable for children through age 14. For a list of past medal winners, have students visit the American Library Association website at

4. What are the two main forms of fiction?
The two main forms of fiction are the short story and the novel.
Lecture Notes Outline
What are the two main forms of fiction? The two main forms of fiction are the short story and the novel.
Extension Options
Ask students to consider the difficulties of writing a short story versus writing a novel.

5. What are your favorite types of fiction?
Realistic fiction
Mystery
Science fiction
Romance
Historical fiction
Horror
Fantasy
Sports fiction
Lecture Notes Outline
What are your favorite types of fiction? Different types of fiction that students are familiar with include realistic fiction, mystery, science fiction, romance, historical fiction, horror, fantasy, and sports fiction.
Extension Options
• Discuss with students their experiences with fiction, their favorite types of fiction and why they like them, and the hallmarks of memorable fiction.
• Take an informal classroom poll to determine which type of fiction is most popular among students.

6. What are the purposes of fiction?
To entertain readers
To enlighten readers by sharing the human experience
To provide readers with an escape from reality
To teach readers empathy
To help readers explore unknown worlds
Lecture Notes Outline
What are the purposes of fiction? Fiction can entertain readers, enlighten readers by sharing the human experience, provide readers with an escape from reality, teach readers empathy, and help readers explore unknown worlds.
Extension Options
• Have students discuss the different purposes of reading fiction and nonfiction and the merits of reading each genre.
• Ask students what factors have contributed to the recent popularity of reading fiction. Possible answers: book clubs, appealing book series (Harry Potter, Twilight), and media based on fictional books.

7. What are the five elements of fiction?
Plot
Point of view
Characters
Setting
Theme
Lecture Notes Outline
What are the five elements of fiction? Plot, point of view, characters, setting, theme

8. Setting
The setting of a literary work is the time and place in which the action occurs.
Lecture Notes Outline
The setting of a literary work is the time and place in which the action occurs.
• In reference to time, a story can cover one hour, one day, one week, one month, one year, one decade, one lifetime—or anything in between. “American History” covers one day—November 22, 1963—in the life of its main character, Elena. “The Necklace” covers one decade in the life of its main character, Madame Loisel.
• In reference to place, a story can unfold in a single location or in multiple locations. “The Interlopers” takes place in one location: a forest in the Carpathian Mountains. “Tears of Autumn” takes place in several locations: Oka Village, Japan; Angel Island, off the coast of California; and San Francisco, California.

9. 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.
—Eudora Welty
What can setting reveal to readers about the characters, plot, and mood of a story?
Lecture Notes Outline
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. —Eudora Welty
What can a setting reveal to readers about the characters, plot, and mood of a story?
Navigation Note
An interactive text field has been provided to record student responses. Please note that any text you insert will remain in the text field unless manually deleted.
Extension Options
• Ask students to discuss memorable settings from their reading. Have them analyze the reasons why these particular settings allowed them to visualize and experience the story. If possible, have students share book excerpts that describe these settings.
• Have students write a descriptive essay about a specific, familiar place. Students should choose a place, plan the spatial order of description, and use descriptive language (sensory details, vivid imagery) that captures the overall mood or feeling of the place.

10. Purposes of Setting A story’s setting can serve several purposes.
For example, setting may
affect the events of a plot
reveal a story’s theme
influence a character’s behavior
emerge as an antagonist
reflect or contrast a character’s mood
Lecture Notes Outline
A story’s setting can serve several purposes. For example, setting may affect the events of a plot, reveal a story’s theme, influence a character’s behavior, emerge as an antagonist, or reflect or contrast a character’s mood.

11. Characteristics of Setting
A story’s setting may
be real or imagined
be described by the writer or suggested through the writer’s use of detail
express the character of a particular place or culture
become an additional “character” in the story
Lecture Notes Outline
A story’s setting may be real or imagined, be described by the writer or suggested through the writer’s use of detail, express the character of a particular place or culture, or become an additional “character” in the story.
• Whether real or imagined, the writer must carefully analyze, research, and construct a story’s setting so that it becomes authentic and familiar to readers. In short stories, in particular, the writer might devote a portion of the introduction to a description of the setting. For longer works, details of the setting might unfold as the story progresses.
• In “The Most Dangerous Game,” the uncivilized, remote island becomes another antagonist for the major character Rainsford, as he struggles to flee his pursuer through the dangerous terrain. In “The Scarlet Ibis,” author James Hurst has said that there are three major characters in his story: the narrator, Doodle, and the setting. In this selection, the setting is an outward depiction of the narrator’s inner emotional turmoil.
Extension Options
• Ask students to discuss other stories that they have read where the setting seems to be an additional “character” in the story—whether serving as an antagonist (such as the wilderness setting of Jack London’s “To Build a Fire”) or as a reflection of the emotions or mindset of a major character (such as the barren and wild moors reflecting the character of Heathcliff in Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights).

12. Time Factor in Setting
To reflect a particular time, a writer might refer to a
historical backdrop (cultural, political, or social movement)
season
time of day
weather pattern
Lecture Notes Outline
To reflect a particular time, a writer might refer to a historical backdrop (cultural, political, or social movement), season, time of day, or weather pattern.

13. “American History” is set against the historical backdrop of the Kennedy assassination on November 22, 1963.
There was an eerie feeling on the streets. … Even the traffic on one of the busiest intersections in Paterson…seemed to be moving slower. There were no horns blasting that day. … No music spilled out from open doors in the hallway. When I walked into our apartment, I found my mother sitting in front of the grainy picture of the television set.
She looked up at me with a tear-streaked face and just said, “Dios mío,” turning back to the set as if it were pulling at her eyes. I went into my room.
Though I wanted to feel the right thing about President Kennedy’s death, I could not…
—from “American History,”
by Judith Ortiz Cofer
Lecture Notes Outline
“American History” is set against the historical backdrop of the Kennedy assassination on November 22, 1963.
There was an eerie feeling on the streets. … Even the traffic on one of the busiest intersections in Paterson…seemed to be moving slower. There were no horns blasting that day. … No music spilled out from open doors in the hallway. When I walked into our apartment, I found my mother sitting in front of the grainy picture of the television set.
She looked up at me with a tear-streaked face and just said, “Dios mío,” turning back to the set as if it were pulling at her eyes. I went into my room.
Though I wanted to feel the right thing about President Kennedy’s death, I could not…. —from “American History,” by Judith Ortiz Cofer
The time factor is critical to this story. The detail of the assassination is important to the way readers understand the thoughts and actions of Elena, the main character.

14. Place Factor in Setting
To reflect a particular place, a writer might refer to
geography (the landscape, an urban or rural scene)
climate
housing and transportation
cultural elements (celebrations, symbols, customs)
clothing, occupations, and
activities
thoughts, dialogue, and speech
patterns
Lecture Notes Outline
To reflect a particular place, a writer might refer to geography (the landscape, an urban or rural scene); climate; housing and transportation; cultural elements (celebrations, symbols, customs); clothing, occupations, and activities; or thoughts, dialogue, and speech patterns.

15. “The Cask of Amontillado” is set against the Carnival celebration in Italy.
We continued our route in search of the amontillado. We passed through a range of low arches, descended, passed on, and, descending again, arrived at a deep crypt in which the foulness of the air caused our flambeaux rather to glow than flame.
At the most remote end of the crypt there appeared another less spacious. Its walls had been lined with human remains, piled to the vault overhead.… Three sides of this interior crypt were still ornamented in this manner. From the fourth side the bones had been thrown down and lay promiscuously upon the earth, forming at one point a mound of some size.
—from “The Cask of Amontillado,”
by Edgar Allan Poe
Lecture Notes Outline
“The Cask of Amontillado” is set against the Carnival celebration in Italy.
We continued our route in search of the amontillado. We passed through a range of low arches, descended, passed on, and, descending again, arrived at a deep crypt in which the foulness of the air caused our flambeaux rather to glow than flame.
At the most remote end of the crypt there appeared another less spacious. Its walls had been lined with human remains, piled to the vault overhead…. Three sides of this interior crypt were still ornamented in this manner. From the fourth side the bones had been thrown down and lay promiscuously upon the earth, forming at one point a mound of some size. —from “The Cask of Amontillado,” by Edgar Allan Poe
The place factor is critical to the selection “The Cask of Amontillado.” The merrymaking of the celebration in the streets is a sharp contrast to the evilness that lurks in the catacombs that lie beneath the streets.

16. Sensory Details
Sensory details are words and phrases that describe how things look, sound, smell, taste, and feel.
A writer may use sensory details to establish an effective setting or achieve a particular effect.
Lecture Notes Outline
Sensory details are words and phrases that describe how things look, sound, smell, taste, and feel. A writer may use sensory details to establish an effective setting or achieve a particular effect.

17. In “The Scarlet Ibis,” the author uses sensory details to create a unified effect: the death of living things in autumn.
The flower garden was stained with rotting brown magnolia petals and ironweeds grew rank amid the purple phlox. The five o’clocks by the chimney still marked time, but the oriole nest in the elm was untenanted and rocked back and forth like an empty cradle. The last graveyard flowers were blooming, and their smell drifted across the cotton field and through every room of our house, speaking softly the names of our dead.
It’s strange that all this is still so clear to me, now that that summer has long since fled and time has had its way. A grindstone stands where the bleeding tree stood, just outside the kitchen door, and now if an oriole sings in the elm, its song seems to die up in the leaves, a silvery dust.
—from “The Scarlet Ibis,”
by James Hurst
Lecture Notes Outline
In “The Scarlet Ibis,” the author uses sensory details to create a unified effect: the death of living things in autumn.
The flower garden was stained with rotting brown magnolia petals and ironweeds grew rank amid the purple phlox. The five o’clocks by the chimney still marked time, but the oriole nest in the elm was untenanted and rocked back and forth like an empty cradle. The last graveyard flowers were blooming, and their smell drifted across the cotton field and through every room of our house, speaking softly the names of our dead.
It’s strange that all this is still so clear to me, now that that summer has long since fled and time has had its way. A grindstone stands where the bleeding tree stood, just outside the kitchen door, and now if an oriole sings in the elm, its song seems to die up in the leaves, a silvery dust. —from “The Scarlet Ibis,” by James Hurst

18. A Sensory Details Chart can help you organize these descriptive details.
Smell
Taste
Touch
Sound
Sight
Stained flower garden
Untenanted oriole nest in the elm
A grind- stone outside the kitchen door
Graveyard flowers speaking the names of our dead
Fading or dying song of an oriole
Rotting magnolia petals
Rank ironweeds
Smell of last graveyard flowers
Lecture Notes Outline
A Sensory Details Chart can help you organize these descriptive details.
Sight: Stained flower garden, untenanted oriole nest in the elm, a grindstone outside the kitchen door
Sound: Graveyard flowers speaking the names of our dead, fading or dying song of an oriole
Smell: Rotting magnolia petals, rank ironweeds, smell of last graveyard flowers
Note: Readers should only complete the sensory categories that apply to the selected passage; it is not necessary for all the categories to be filled out. In this example, there were no sensory details in the passage that pertained to the categories of “touch” and “taste.”
Graphic Organizer Sources
A blank Sensory Details Chart in both interactive and printable PDF formats can be found in the Graphic Organizers section of the Visual Teaching Package. Students may access interactive graphic organizers at

19. Mood
The excerpt on death in autumn reveals several significant details about the setting, including
time (a flashback to the past)
place (a home with surrounding flower garden)
season (autumn)
More important, the author’s use of sensory details helps set the mood of the story.
Mood is the emotion created in readers by part or all of a story.
Lecture Notes Outline
The excerpt on death in autumn reveals several significant details about the setting, including time (a flashback to the past), place (a home with surrounding flower garden), and season (autumn). More important, the author’s use of sensory details helps set the mood of the story. Mood is the emotion created in readers by part or all of a story.

20. Mood
Below is a list of words that are commonly used to describe the mood of a story.
Which words do you think capture the mood of the excerpt from “The Scarlet Ibis”?
lonely
dreary
fearful
eerie
tense
melancholy
mysterious
peaceful
ominous
joyful
humorous
exciting
cheerful
suspenseful
sad
somber
anxious
passionate
sinister
angry
light-hearted
violent
frightening
depressed
Lecture Notes Outline
Below is a list of words that are commonly used to describe the mood of a story. Which words do you think capture the mood of the excerpt from “The Scarlet Ibis”?
Student responses will vary; students may also want to come up with other adjectives that describe the mood of the passage.

21. The setting of a story often reflects the mood of a major character.
How does the excerpt below reflect the mood of the narrator, Elena?
It was a cold gray day in Paterson. The kind that warns of early snow. I was miserable, since I had forgotten my gloves, and my knuckles were turning red and raw from the jump rope. I was also taking a lot of abuse from the black girls for not turning the rope hard and fast enough for them.
… I felt a burning on my cheeks and then my glasses fogged up so that I could not manage to coordinate the jump rope with Gail. The chill was doing to me what it always did; entering my bones, making me cry, humiliating me. I hated the city, especially in winter. I hated Public School Number 13.
—from “American History,”
by Judith Ortiz Cofer
Lecture Notes Outline
The setting of a story often reflects the mood of a major character. How does the excerpt below reflect the mood of the narrator, Elena?
It was a cold gray day in Paterson. The kind that warns of early snow. I was miserable, since I had forgotten my gloves, and my knuckles were turning red and raw from the jump rope. I was also taking a lot of abuse from the black girls for not turning the rope hard and fast enough for them.
… I felt a burning on my cheeks and then my glasses fogged up so that I could not manage to coordinate the jump rope with Gail. The chill was doing to me what it always did; entering my bones, making me cry, humiliating me. I hated the city, especially in winter. I hated Public School Number 13. —from “American History,” by Judith Ortiz Cofer

22. Choose a setting from another story in this unit and use it to complete a Sensory Details Chart. Then write a brief statement that describes the mood you think the author is trying to establish.
Smell
Taste
Touch
Sound
Sight
Lecture Notes Outline
Choose a setting from another story in this unit and use it to complete a Sensory Details Chart. Then write a brief statement that describes the mood you think the author is trying to establish.
“The Most Dangerous Game,” “The Cask of Amontillado,” “Destiny,” and “The Ravine” are all good choices for this activity.
Navigation Note
An interactive text field has been provided to record student responses. Please note that any text you insert will remain in the text field unless manually deleted.
Graphic Organizer Sources
A blank Sensory Details Chart in both interactive and printable PDF formats can be found in the Graphic Organizers section of the Visual Teaching Package. Students may access interactive graphic organizers at
Statement of mood:

23. SUMMARY: Setting An effective setting establishes time and place
uses sensory details and vivid language
creates a mood or an atmosphere
Lecture Notes Outline
An effective setting establishes time and place, uses sensory details and vivid language, and creates a mood or an atmosphere.