“SET

TIN

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STORY

ELE

MEN

T:

By: Erin Durphy, Elizabeth King, Julie Hague, Zavahna Fala

SETTING OF A STORY

• Is the time, place, and conditions in which the action of a book, movie, etc., takes place

•Gives overall mood to the story

•Contains 8 elements;* Central Location * Wider Geography

* Activities and Occupation * Flora and Fauna

* Weather * Local custom

* Particular Building * Soul

SETTING OF A STORY

• Setting can be:

• Historical

• Political

• Social

• Cultural

• Economic

“MOOD” OF OVERALL PIECE

• Examples:

• In “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”

by Marquez, the first paragraph contains the fact

that “The world had been sad since Tuesday”

(356).

• Mood: Sad

• As for “The Lady with the Dog” by Anton Chekhov, although the mention of the setting was stated from the beginning, the mood for the overall doesn’t begin to generate until a little ways into the story. “They walked and talked of the strange light of the sea: the water was of a soft warm lilac hue, and there was a golden streak from the moon upon it.” (253).

• Mood: Romance

ELEMENTS OF SETTINGTHE 8 DIFFERENT ELEMENTS OF SETTING CREATES DIMENSIONS THAT BRINGS A PIECE/STORY TO LIFE…

8 ELEMENTS• Central Location: Place the story takes place in; city, town,

village, ship, prison, etc.

• Like Yalta, a Russian city on the Black Sea; a resort. This is where Dmitri Gurov first sees “The Lady with the Dog” (251).

• Wider Geography: (Zooming out) Surrounding of the central location.

• From Yalta, to Moscow, to Petersburg… Russia.

• Particular Buildings: Like the chicken coop where the angel was kept in Marquez’s “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”.

8 ELEMENTS (CONTINUED…)

• Activities and Occupations: Looking at the characters in the bigger picture:

• “Pelayo watched over him (the angel) all afternoon from kitchen, armed with his bailiff’s club…” (357) points out that Pelayo was of local gov’t official.

• This places the story back in time because of course, no one carry’s clubs anymore… especially bailiffs.

• Flora and Fauna: Of or pertaining to nature, which creates a more realistic setting.

• “… new person had appeared on the sea-front: a lady with a little dog…. at Yalta” (251).

• Yalta is a Russian city on the Black Sea…

ELEMENTS

• Weather: (Connected with Flora and Fauna) Every location has different weathers. Some countries, winter consists of rain, instead of snow. This element connects with nature, and it also makes the place setting more concrete.

• The Lady with the Dog, “At home in Moscow everything was in its winter routine; the stoves were heated, and in the morning it was still dark…” (257).

• Local customs: Another way of adding dimension to setting.

• The Lady with the Dog, “In the evening when the wind had dropped a little, they went out on the groyne to see the steamer come in. There were a great many people walking about the harbour; they had gathered to welcome some one, bringing bouquets” (253).

HISTORICAL SETTING

• In a Very Old Man with Enormous Wings the time is fairly recent. The story mentions airplanes, bayonets, and a mail delivery service (358-359).

• The priest has an important role in the story as well, and the church is mentioned several times.

• The story is not so far past that the reader would have a hard time connecting with it although an angel falls from the sky in which doesn't happen in real life.

ECONOMIC SETTING

• Pelayo and Elisenda were going to let the angel go, but after all the people started coming to their home to see it, they changed their mind and kept him locked up.

• They benefitted from the money people were paying to see him. They were able to “cram their rooms with money…(358).

• Makes the reader question if they would do the same thing if they were in that situation.

SOCIAL SETTING

• The house became like a circus.

• Many traveling acts and sick people came:

• The spider lady

• Carnival with acrobats

• Woman who continuously counted her heartbeats

• Invalids searching for health

• Serves to let the reader see that fun is still going on, even though the angel is suffering and the world is still sad.

CULTURAL SETTING

• Pelayo and Elisenda lived in a fishing village

• They were crab fishermen

• The night the angel came the beach “had become a stew of mud and rotten shellfish (356).

• Serves to help the reader identify with them because they are normal, everyday people.

WORKS CITED

• Chapman, Harvey. "What is a Story Setting." Novel Writing Help. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2014. <http://www.novel-writing-help.com/story-setting.html>.

• The Norton Introduction to Literature. Ed. Kelly J. Mays. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, Inc., 2013. 201-215. Print.