1. Setting Out of the Imagination…

2. Have you ever read a story that is ◊set in the past? © 2002-2003 clipart.com ◊set in the future? © 2002-2003 clipart.com ◊set somewhere you’ve never been? © 2002-2003 clipart.com

3. What Is Setting? ◊Setting is the time and place in which a story takes place. Most often the setting is described early in a story. ◊Setting is the time and place in which a story takes place. Most often the setting is described early in a story.

4. The writer doesn’t always tell you directly what the setting is. You may have to look for clues to figure out where the story takes place. Some stories take place in more than one setting.

5. How Setting Affects a Story The setting can contribute to the story’s emotional effect, or mood. ◊Summer! Andrew woke up happily, taking a deep breath of the clean, cool air. He could see the fir-covered mountains outside his window, and could smell the logs that formed the walls of his family’s cabin, mixed in with the scent of pancakes cooking downstairs. ◊Andrew opened the window and stuck his head out into the bright sunlight. Down below, a squirrel chattered at him from a pine branch, and a moose strolled through the trees toward the lake. The wind rushed through the firs and jangled the wind chimes that hung on the porch.

6. How Setting Affects a Story The setting can play an important role in a story’s plot, especially one that centers on a conflict between a character and nature. ◊So far Nicole hadn’t experienced any problems kayaking the course. The river had been slow and peaceful, so she could kayak quickly through the winding turns. Now, however, the river began to rush forward, carrying her with it. Thick weeds growing in the river grabbed at her paddle, and she had to struggle to keep it from being pulled from her hands. Her sunglasses fell overboard in her struggle. The river rushed around a turn, and Nicole gasped. Just ahead, the water was swirling violently around some large rocks, and she was being swept right toward them!

7. What Have You Learned? Are the statements below true or false? _____________ The setting is the time and place in which a story takes place. _____________The setting never contributes to the story’s emotional effect. _____________Some stories take place in more than one setting. _____________The setting can play an important role in the story’s plot. True False True