Setting in literature
- 1. In three minutes, write everything you know about what setting is, and how it can be used. Try to consider a text (movie, tv, or, even print) that you have encountered that was clearly influenced by its setting.
- 2. Questions to address: What are the components of setting? What do these elements reflect? How might these elements serve as symbols? Why did the author choose these elements? How does a specific element of setting contribute to the meaning of the work as a whole?
- 3. You have always been taught that setting is time & place. Time should be considered as the historical era, the actual date, the time of year, and even the time of day. Place can be broad, such as the continent where the text takes place, or narrow, such as the region, neighborhood, home, or even room.
- 4. Time can range from season of year to exact minute. Any signs of the time of year provided, whether direct or hidden, should be analyzed for the possible purpose for this time of year chosen over another. Historically, spring reflects birth, innocence, & youth, summer is passion, adulthood, & fulfillment, autumn is harvest, exhaustion, & decline, while winter is resentment, death, emptiness.
- 5. Wherever a text is taking place should be considered for its implications. Place can range from region, to locale, to single room. Place often reflects societal norms, but it can also serve to: emphasize theme be a symbol further the plot enhance the mood or atmosphere define or develop a character reflect an element of the lives of the characters
- 6. Consider a scene from a text you have recently encountered that was greatly influenced by the weather. Whether rain, sleet, hail, snow, or fog, weather serves a greater purpose than meets the eye. Some possibilities to consider include: Is this a plot device? Does this enhance the mood or atmosphere? Is this symbolic? If so, what might it represent?
- 7. You will randomly be assigned #1,2, or 3. That number corresponds to a chapter in How to Read Literature Like a Professor. You are responsible for taking the next fifteen minutes to read your assigned chapter, take notes focused on what is most important in the chapter, and prepare to meet with your group of experts to prepare a brief presentation of the chapter to your peers. The presentation should include: ~A gist (15 words or less) of the chapter as a whole ~At least 3 specific quotes from the text, cited properly ~An example and explanation of a given element of setting serving in some capacity in at least two forms of text (print & visual) ex: Starting a story with “It was a dark & stormy night…” does what?
- 8. To reinforce and further your understanding of the multiple elements of setting & their countless roles in literature, you are to: Read p.74-81, 163-174, 175-184 in HtRLLaP Mark the text by highlighting or underlining sparingly writing main ideas in margins bracketing critical portions making notations of thoughts, questions, or connections ~Be prepared to discuss the homework & begin to apply it!