Setting
- 2. What is setting? The setting of a story is its time and place. Setting can spark the plot. Setting can be highly symbolic. Sometimes, the setting itself is the antagonist. One of setting’s major functions is to create an atmosphere. The setting of a story is much more
- 3. Battle Royal by Ralph Ellison The battle takes place in a very wealthy hotel ballroom for a group of white-upper class Southerners “”It was in the main ballroom of the leading hotel.” “All of the town’s big shots were there in their tuxedos, wolfing down the buffet foods, drinking beer and whiskey and smoking black cigars. It was a large room with a high ceiling A dark and crowded room with lots of people in attendance “In fact, as the warmly lighted floors flashed past the elevator we had words over the fact that I, by taking part in the fight, had knocked one of their friends out of a night’s work.” “It was foggy with cigar smoke.” “Something we could not see was going on up front. A clarinet was vibrating sensuously and the men were standing up and moving eagerly forward.”
- 4. Two Kinds by Amy Tan The United States of America “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan takes place in San Francisco, California. In this story there are many signs of the setting. “America was where all my mother's hopes lay. She had come to San Francisco in 1949 after losing everything in China.” “All I knew was the capital of California, because Sacramento was the name of the street we lived on in Chinatown.” Both of these quotes from the story are examples of setting.
- 5. A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner A Rose for Emily takes place in Jefferson in the Late 1800’s, more specifically in Emily’s home. Beginning in the second paragraph Emily’s home is mentioned, as well as the town in which the story takes place, Jefferson. “It was a big, squarish frame house that had once been white, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies in the heavily lightsome style of the seventies, set on what had once been our most select street. But garages and cotton gins had encroached and obliterated even the august names of that neighborhood; only Miss Emily's house was left, lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay above the cotton wagons and the gasoline pumps-an eyesore among eyesores. And now Miss Emily had gone to join the representatives of those august names where they lay in the cedar-bemused cemetery among the ranked and anonymous graves of Union and Confederate soldiers who fell at the battle of Jefferson.” Emily is a shut-in, therefore, the setting takes place in her home and the mysteries that surround it, which play a great part in the plot of the story. It is mentioned that, “mostly out of curiosity to see the inside of her house, which no one save an old
- 6. Concluding the Importance of Setting in a Story For this week’s assignment we each read three stories and made a point to focus on the stories setting, more than the other aspects of the stories. Why is setting important? Setting is more than a geographical location or a period of time that makes a nice backdrop to a story, although they are the primary objective when thinking of setting. The setting creates the mood, the atmosphere, the characters personalities, and ultimately shapes the whole story. In Battle Royal by Ralph Ellison, knowing the time and place is important to understand the content of the story, as people do not have similar cultures today as they did then. If we did not have a good understanding and description of their time period, we would have a hard time picturing how they act and interact among one another in the story. At the same time, having the mood set with a gloom overshadowing each room, gives such a strong emotional connection to the story and the characters. Two Kinds by Amy Tan uses Descriptive terms in a different way, but also hits the reader’s emotions. Using the right terms to set the stories setting creates a sad background, but with the glimmer of hope that each immigration story presents. Knowing the protagonists parent’s background helped place these emotions in the minds of each reader. A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner, again creates a very descriptive setting and is able to hit the audience's emotions using these tools. Each story has a unique and complex setting that sets it apart from other stories that have a similar plot or message. Understanding setting in the analysis of a story is extremely important part of understanding terms and language of writing, but it is even more important for the author to use in order to create a strong connection with the intended audience. Setting is more than just a time and place, although it does represent a time and a place.