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Setting
By Cindy Grigg
Writers imagine a story
to be happening in a
particular place and time.
The writer paints the
reader a picture of the
setting with words just as
an artist paints pictures on
canvas. Sights, sounds, colors, and textures are all vividly described
to help the reader see the same setting that the writer sees in his mind.
The setting is where and when the story takes place. Does it
occur in the past, present, or future? Does it take place in a palace, a
dungeon, or on a plantation? Or does it take place on Earth, the
moon, or on another planet far away? The setting of a story affects
the mood and the characters. It can act as a symbol. The setting can
even be the antagonist in a person-against-nature conflict. A good
example of this is the Gary Paulsen book, Hatchet.
Eudora Welty, a Pulitzer Prize winning author, said, "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."
An integral setting is essential to the plot. It influences action,
character, or theme. A story with an integral setting could not
happen in any other place or time. An integral setting can add an
important dimension of meaning to the story. If we understand the
setting, it helps us understand the values, ideas, and attitudes of the
characters of that particular place or time.
Sometimes the writer leaves many details of the setting to the
readers' imaginations. A backdrop setting is relatively unimportant
to the plot. It's like the flat painted scenery of a theater backdrop. A
story with a backdrop setting could happen almost anywhere.
Setting should be apparent from the book's first chapters. It is
commonly where the story takes place and can include a particular
location, a city, a country, or a planet. There will almost always be
more than one setting in a novel. Setting can include a time period if
the book takes place before the present or in the future. Setting is
not the same as the context because it is directly related to the action
that takes place.
A setting may be used to create the mood or tone of the story. It
makes a story seem real if the setting is realistic. Settings can even
be used to distract the reader. If a reader is focusing on the creepy
old house where a madman lived, he might not pay attention to what
the characters are doing in that house.
Settings have a way of drawing the reader into the story and
helping him understand the characters and their actions. Authors
capture the attention of readers by painting a picture for us using
words. If you have "traveled" to the land of Middle Earth in J.R.R.
Tolkien's The Hobbit or have "watched" a Quidditch game brilliantly
described by J.K. Rowling, then you have been drawn into a setting.
Creating a vivid setting is one way authors pull readers into a
story and make them feel what it is like for the characters to be in
that time and place. Being able to imagine themselves as part of the
story helps readers understand why characters act and feel the way
they do. It gives readers a better understanding of the author's theme.
Setting
Questions
1. What is setting?
A. the time period of the story
B. the place where the story happens
C. where and when the story takes place
D. all of the above
2. A story usually has just one setting.
A. true
B. false
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3. Setting works in a story:
A. by establishing mood or tone
B. by acting as the antagonist or as a symbol
C. influencing action, character, or theme
D. all of the above
4. Setting is the same as the context of the story.
A. false
B. true
5. Sometimes a setting could be used to distract a reader from
what is happening in the story.
A. false
B. true
6. What kind of setting is relatively unimportant to the plot?
A. a backdrop setting
B. an integral setting
C. a realistic setting
D. a fictional setting
Describe how setting helps tell a story.
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Write a paragraph describing a setting from your imagination. Use
descriptive words to help your readers "see" sights, colors, and
textures. Involve the other senses, too; make your readers hear, feel,
smell, and taste whatever you choose.