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Geography Matters…

Dive into the importance of the setting in storytelling through famous literary works, exploring how geography shapes characters, plots, and underlying meanings. Discover why 'where' is a crucial aspect in understanding and interpreting literature.

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Geography Matters…

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  1. Geography Matters…

  2. Is It Easy To Say ‘Where’? • Where story takes place = Big deal! • William Faulkner • Fictional Yoknapatawpha repeated • Thomas Hardy • Mythical Wessex repeated

  3. Yoknapatawpha As I Lay Dying

  4. Wessex Under the Greenwood Tree

  5. Why Is ‘Where’ Important? • Only one place fits = characters could not say or do same thing • Such as: • The Old Man and the Sea Only in Caribbean/ Cuba • The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn  Only on Mississippi River

  6. So What’s Geography Then? • Rivers, hills, valleys, glaciers, swamps, mountains, prairies, seas, islands, etc. • Such as: • Napoleon conquering Russia  Terrain and weather

  7. But Wait, That’s Not All! • Psychology, attitude, finance, industry • Theme, symbolism, plot • Such as: • “The Fall of the House of Usher”  Really sets readers emotions into action

  8. Geography and Characters • Define or develop • Not just social, but from land • Such as: • Bean Trees  Main character changes name and leaves town to become a new person (closed to open environment)

  9. Geography AS THE character • Major hurdle to overcome • Such as: • Going After Cacciato  American soldiers do not understand land/ dangers in alien environment in Vietnam (land becomes enemy)

  10. Geography and Plot • When writers send characters south, it’s so they can run amok • Direct, raw encounters with subconscious • Such as: • Heart of Darkness  Marlow discovers darkness in own heart • A Room with a View  Lucy sheds racial stiffness, falls in love, struggles with what she “knows” and what she feels

  11. The Type of Place • Specific to broader • Understand geography to understand text • Such as: • “In Praise of Prairie”  understand experience/ imagination of author

  12. Underlying Meanings; It Matters! • Authors pick this carefully on purpose • Low: Swamps, crowds, fog, darkness, heat, unpleasant, life, death, etc. • High: Snow, ice, purity, life, death, isolation, clarity, etc. • Such as: • “The Snows of Kilimanjaro”  Leopard death on mountain top : clean, cold, pure vs. Mans death on plain: ugly, unpleasant, horrible

  13. So…Geography, huh? • Geography is all detail • It’s done on purpose • It’s important and adds to the meaning of the piece

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