1. How setting(s) can affect a narrative and how we can make sense of it

2. Setting
In its simplest form, we may think of this as where the story takes place.

3. Setting
There are plenty of contexts within which the narrative takes place.
They aren’t just locations that we might find on a map.

4. Kinds of Settings
Geographic location: something we might locate on a map
Whether a story is set in the mountains or New York City or rural Virginia or the slums of Bombay or the fantasy world of Narnia is very important

5. Kinds of Settings
Natural settings: the particular blend of landscape and climate
Is the setting harsh and hostile? comfortable and nurturing? obliterated by buildings and roads?

6. Kinds of Settings
Cultural context: what values, opportunities, expectations, conventions, and the like are available in this setting?
Is it a setting where religious fundamentalism dominates? where sexism is rampant? where people are free to shape their lives? where the past is very important?

7. Kinds of Settings
Social context: how do the people here tend to think and behave? What pressures do they put on people (or not)?
Suspicion of strangers or education or new ideas; great importance placed on being conventionally respectable; casual disregard for common morality.

8. Kinds of Settings
Familial setting: what do the values, expectations, traditions, pressures, and natural tendencies of the people in this family tend to be?
Can be much the same as social.
What baggage does one carry as a result of coming from a certain family?

9. Kinds of Settings
Architectural setting: what sorts of buildings (if any) do events take place in?
A vast mansion, a small shed, an office building, an opera house, a barn, a subway station—any construction brings certain meanings and expectations to the story—and others can be added by characters and events.

10. Why setting matters usually contributes to atmosphere
usually helps us make sense of what is going on (Robinson Crusoe makes no sense without setting)
often helps us understand characters and their choices
contributes to our understanding of the themes of the narrative

11. More abstract notions of setting
a narrative is set in a world in which God (or the gods) behave in certain ways
or in which nature or fate or economic forces behave in certain ways
or in which time’s passage is fundamentally important

12. More or less important
Physical setting can be absolutely central to what happens (Robinson Crusoe, The Wizard of Oz) or much less so (High Fidelity—moved to Chicago)
But the other settings are usually very important and worth our attention

13. More or less important
Integral Setting: action, character, or theme are influenced by the time and place in important ways
Backdrop Setting: time and place are not essential to our understanding of plot and character (but may still contribute in significant ways to the work)

14. To recap:
geographical
natural
cultural
social
familial
architectural

15. The End