Setting

When and where a story takes place

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

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

Why is Setting Important?

Setting is important because...

Setting reveals prevailing atmosphere or mood

Time and place affect the outcome of the story.

• setting shows internal and external conflicts • setting highlights potential contrasts between

characters or ideas

Setting is important because...

• setting can determine the fate of the protagonist• setting reflects character and often embodies

theme.

Setting is important because...

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.

Roles of Setting How does Setting function in literature?

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

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

as an escape which allows more whimsical and fantastic parts of the character to be expressed.

Setting may also act...

An external force may enter the setting and change it, causing conflict for the characters.

Another impact of setting:

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

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.

Types of Setting

• Physical Setting

• Geographical Setting

• Cultural Setting• Historical Setting

PHYSICAL SETTING Types of Setting

Physical Setting

Time of day Season Weather / Temperature Indoors/Outdoors

Physical Setting: Type of

room/building

Objects

Colors

Imagery—5 senses

GEOGRAPHICAL SETTING Types of Setting

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

CULTURAL SETTING:Types of Setting

Cultural Setting: the values, ideals, and attitudes of a place

• Physical Cultural Setting

&

• Non-Physical Cultural Setting

Physical Cultural Setting: • Dialogue• Clothing• Iconography• Routines• Decoration

All of these factors establish the physical cultural setting

Non-physical cultural setting:

• Education• Social standing• Economic class• Religious belief

These factors establish the non-physical cultural setting

HISTORICAL SETTING Types of Setting

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.

Historical Setting

More Historical factors:

• Transportation• Crop yield• Epidemics• Wars• Economy• Natural disasters

Clock time:This can be used to provide suspense or create certain moods or feelings—time is also an important literary symbol.

Seasonal timeThe seasons or a span of time associated with a particular activity may be important as a symbol.

"Every story would be

another story, and

unrecognizable if it took

up its characters and

plot and happened

somewhere else...”

--Eudora Welty

End of presentation.