1. When and where a story takes place
Setting
When and where
a story takes place

2. As the place of fiction, setting is generally a physical locale that shapes a story's mood, its emotional aura or quality.

3. Real or imaginary, concrete or symbolic, a moment or an eternity, setting is the dramatic backdrop for a story.

4. Why is Setting Important?

5. Setting is important because...
Setting reveals prevailing atmosphere or mood
If the time or place setting of the story changes,
consider how the changes alter the outcome of the story.

6. Setting is important because...
setting shows internal and external conflicts
setting highlights potential contrasts between characters or ideas

7. Setting is important because...
setting can determine the fate of the protagonist
setting reflects character and often embodies theme.

8. If Victor Frankenstein does all of his experiments in "a solitary chamber, or rather a cell, at the top of the house, and separated from all the other apartments by a staircase" we might conclude that there is something anti-social, isolated, and stale, maybe even unnatural, about his project and his way of learning.

9. Roles of Setting How does Setting function in literature?

10. Roles of Setting:
as a mirror to reflect what is going on inside the characters
as a mold to shape the characters into who they are

11. Setting may also act...
as a challenge providing a test for the character to reveal his or her true self
as an alien setting that creates a sense of exile and loss

12. Setting may also act...
as an escape which allows more whimsical and fantastic parts of the character to be expressed.

13. Another impact of setting:
An external force may enter the setting and change it, causing conflict for the characters.

14. Setting may also act...
As an antagonist, causing conflict with the main character

15. Two settings may also come into conflict with each other, causing conflict in the characters who must live in them and perhaps have to choose between them.

16. Types of Setting Physical Setting Cultural Setting Historical Setting
Geographical Setting
Cultural Setting
Historical Setting

17. Physical Setting Time of day Season Weather / Temperature
Indoors/Outdoors

18. Physical Setting: Objects Colors Imagery—5 senses
Type of room/building
Objects
Colors
Imagery—5 senses

19. Geographical Setting Location, including
country (Japan, Mexico, Scotland)
region (north/south, upper/lower end)
state/ city
neighborhood
street
floor/level (basement, attic etc...)
urban / rural / suburban

20. Cultural Setting: the values, ideals, and attitudes of a place
Physical Cultural Setting
&
Non-Physical Cultural Setting

21. Physical Cultural Setting:
Dialogue
Clothing
Iconography
Routines
Decoration
All of these factors establish the physical cultural setting

22. Non-physical cultural setting:
Education
Social standing
Economic class
Religious belief
These factors establish the non-physical cultural setting

23. Historical Setting Time period/Year Reign of a leader or President
Role of government Major historical events
These historical factors can establish a psychological or sociological understanding of behaviors and attitudes.

24. Historical Setting Transportation Crop yield Epidemics Wars Economy
More Historical factors:
Transportation
Crop yield
Epidemics
Wars
Economy
Natural disasters

25. A note about time:
Clock time: this can be used to provide suspense or create certain moods or feelings—time is also an important literary symbol.
Seasonal time: the seasons or a span of time associated with a particular activity may be important as a symbol.

26. "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

27. How will your setting function?
End of presentation.