Setting In Literature

WHAT IS SETTING?

A setting, in literature, is the description of the environment and time of the event that occurs in a literary piece. Social conditions, time, geographical locations, and weather are all various features of settings. (LiteraryTerms.net, 2017)

TYPES OF SETTING

• Backdrop Setting

A backdrop setting emerges when it is not important for a story, and it could happen in any setting but is not significant to the plot of the story. Backdrop settings are commonly used in Nancy Drew's novels. (EnglishLiterature,2020)

• Integral Setting

This type of setting influences the theme, character, and action of a story. It controls the characters. An integral setting is described in detail and is important to the plot as it helps to move the story along. Beatrix Potter's "The Tale of Peter Rabbit" can be used as an example. (EnglishLiterature,2020)

IMPORTANCE OF SETTING

"Why do we need setting?"  "Why is it important?"

It is essential to create a setting for a story, it aids the reader in visualizing the story and makes them feel a part of it. Not only are settings needed for the reader, but it is also needed to influence the mood, tone and provide foreshadowing. Tone is the writer's attitude towards a subject and the nature of the setting they are trying to place you in. Mood is all about how the reader feel as a result of the setting. (MaterClass,2020)

Setting provides the reader with hints and helps the reader to connect and understand the actions of the characters.

Some places that can be used as setting:

Example:

It was dark and quiet, a cool breeze sent a shiver down my spine. All the stores were closed and I could hear police sirens in a distance. I looked over my shoulder to see the figure of a man lurking in the corner. My grip on the pepper spray in my hand tightened, I refused to be a victim of the night. 

From reading those few lines above, the narrator of the story is alone in the night. The mention of stores and police sirens suggests that the narrator is in a city. As the scene progresses, the mood of the story is influenced and becomes tense as the mysterious man is introduced. It can also be assumed that the narrator is a female, due to the pepper spray, being followed, and the words "victim of the night" referring to assault. This can be a foreshadowing of what might happen next. All of this has not been directly said but the setting gives it away.

REFERENCES:

 MasterClass staff.(2020).Tone vs. Mood.MasterClass.

retrieved from  https://www.masterclass.com/articles/tone-vs-mood

 Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2016). Setting. Encyclopedia Britannica.  retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/art/setting

 Nina Munteanu.(2021).Importance of Setting in a Novel. Scribophile. 

retrieved from  https://www.scribophile.com/blog/importance-of-setting-in-a-novel/

 Nancy L. Erickson.(2018).The Importance Of Setting In Your Story. 

retrieved from  https://blog.bookbaby.com/2018/02/importance-of-setting-in-your- story-/.

Editors of EnglishLiterature.Net.(2020). Setting definition and example literary device. EnglishLiterature.Net

 retrieved from https://englishliterature.net/literary-devices/setting

Literary Terms. (2015). Setting. Literaryterms.net  

 retrieved from https://literaryterms.net/setting/.