ELEMENTS OF LITERATURE SETTING Prepared by Linda Eder Hazelwood Central HIgh School

1. ELEMENTS OF LITERATURE SETTING Prepared by Linda Eder Hazelwood Central HIgh School Teacher information Proceed to slide show

2. This program is designed to address the following: • reinforce the basic concept of setting in literature and its contribution to the work • MAP Communication arts grade 11 achievement levels to • comprehend and analyze a variety of texts (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama)--proficient level • draw logical conclusions from texts • ShowMe Standards #2--reading and evaluation fiction, poetry and drama continue

3. It is suggested that students complete all work in a journal, and that when sharing their work, they read directly from the journal. This reinforces the importance of clear expression in their writing. Return to title page

4. Setting satisfies two conditions. • It suggests where the story takes place. • It suggests when the story takes place. This may be a specific era, a time of day, a time of year, etc. Return to title page continue

5. This will not only give the reader accurate background, but may also affect his/her perceptions of the actions that are taking place. Often the setting will directly affect the mood of the literary work. Previous slide continue

6. Read the following description of a setting from the short story, “The Devil and Tom Walker.” Notice the mood that is set by this description and cite the details that contribute to the mood. Previous slide continue

7. The swamp was thickly grown with great gloomy pines and hemlocks, some of them ninety feet high, which made it dark at noonday, and a retreat for all the owls of the neighborhood. It was full of pits and quagmires, partly covered with weeds and mosses, where the green surface often betrayed the traveler into a gulf of black, smothering mud; there were also dark and stagnant pools, the abodes of the tadpole, the bullfrog, and the watersnake; where the trunks of pines and hemlocks lay half-drowned, half-rotting, looking like alligators sleeping in the mire. Previous slide continue

8. Now share your writing with the rest of the class. Previous slide continue

9. You probably noted that the mood was very somber and eerie. Clues to this include: • great gloomy pines • it was dark at midday • pits and quagmires • the green surface often betrayed the traveler • black smothering mud • dark and stagnant pools • the trunks…lay half-drowned, half-rotting The setting leads you to believe that something unpleasant will occur.You should pay attention to the signals that the setting gives you. Return to beginning