Elements of Setting
This element identifies the physical location where a narrative occurs.
What is place?
This term refers to the background information and circumstances that help readers understand a narrative.
What is context?
This refers to the emotional quality or feeling a setting creates for the reader.
What are mood and atmosphere?
If a writer wants readers to physically experience a setting, what should the writer include?
What are sensory details?
A story takes place at midnight during a blizzard. Midnight establishes this element, while the blizzard contributes to this one.
What are specific time and environment?
A character remains silent at dinner because the culture discourages young people from speaking directly to elders. This type of context best explains the behavior.
What is cultural context?
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Read the description below:
The abandoned station sat beneath a bruised sky. Rust climbed the railings, and the empty tracks stretched into the distance. The building was a skeleton waiting beside the tracks.
The bolded sentence is an example of which figurative device?
What is a metaphor?
A story occurs in a coastal village during the first winter after a major economic collapse. Coastal village establishes this setting element, while the collapse primarily provides this type of information.
What are place and historical context?
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An isolated island prevents characters from receiving outside help and forces them to make difficult decisions about whom to trust. These TWO aspects of the narrative are most directly affected.
What are character and conflict/events?
An important part of effective setting development is making purposeful descriptive choices. Read the description below:
The abandoned house smelled of damp wood and dust. Torn curtains shifted slightly although the windows were closed. A cracked family portrait leaned sideways above the fireplace. The faded wallpaper was covered in tiny blue flowers. Somewhere upstairs, a floorboard creaked.
Which line is least helpful in developing the setting as unsettling and abandoned?
“The faded wallpaper was covered in tiny blue flowers.”
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A writer moves a confrontation from a crowded restaurant to an isolated road at midnight. Identify TWO ways this change in setting could alter the narrative and briefly explain how.
A story set during wartime shows a family rationing food while the oldest child is expected to leave school and work to support the household. These TWO types of context help explain the situation.
What are historical and social context?
A once-thriving public square becomes damaged and abandoned as citizens lose trust in their leaders. Beyond creating atmosphere, the changing setting could help develop this larger narrative element.
What is theme?
A believable setting does not have to be realistic, but its details should remain consistent with the world the writer has established. Read the description below:
For three years, the desert village had received almost no rain. Families collected every drop of water in clay jars, and the town well was opened for only one hour each morning. Along the central street, merchants shaded their stalls beneath faded cloth awnings. In the village square, fountains sprayed continuously into wide stone pools.
Which detail weakens the believability of the setting?
“In the village square, fountains sprayed continuously into wide stone pools.”