Elements of Fiction: Setting & Point of View

Elements of Fiction: Setting & Point of View Mr. Wheeler & Mr. Young Freshpeople English

Setting • Setting: The time and place in which a story takes place. • What was the setting of The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet? • Setting is introduced in the exposition phase of the narrative arc with the characters.

Aspects of Setting • Social environments impacts characterization • The manners, customs, and moral values of the characters' society. • The environment in which the character lives may help the reader to understand the character's motives and behavior.

Questioning Setting • Atmosphere • What feeling is being created at the beginning of the story? • Weather conditions • What does the weather say about the mood? • Place • What is the geographical location where the story takes place? • Time • What is the era does the story takes place in?

Types of Settings • Backdrop Setting • When the setting is unimportant and contributes little to the story • Integral Setting • When a setting influences the story

Functions of Setting • Setting as Antagonist • When the setting opposes the main character. • Often seen in person v. nature conflicts • Setting as character: When setting acts a character in the story. • Setting as Symbolism: When the setting is symbolic of a theme in the story.

Functions of Setting • Setting as Symbolism • spring ~ morning ~ youth • summer ~ noon ~ maturity • fall ~ evening ~ old age • winter ~ night ~ death

Point of View • Point of view - A story is told through the eyes of a character or narrator. • The point of view influences how characters are developed in a story. • The point of view also influences the plot. The POV affects the amount of information that is revealed to the audience. Please take a moment to reflect on your memory of POV in “The Pony Spell” with your elbow partner

First Person POV • The narrator is a character in the story • Use first person pronouns (I, we, me, my, our) • Readers learn about the character’s thoughts, feeling, and actions first-hand. • Their thoughts may be unreliable or inaccurate. Take a second to talk with your elbow partner about why this might be so.

First Person Example The truth was, I was sorry not to have started school the year before. In my innocence, I had imagined going to school meant certain privileges worthy of all my brothers’ and sisters’ complaints. The fact that my lung infection in fifth grade, which was mistakenly diagnosed as TB, earned me some reprieve, only made me long for school more.

Third Person Limited - POV • The narrator is NOT a character in the story. • The narrator tells the story from one character’s vantage point–we find out what this one character thinks, feels etc. • Uses third person pronouns (he, him, she, her, they, them) Take a second to talk with your elbow partner about where you’ve seen this method used.

Third Person Limited Example Hecuba had dreamed that the tiny Paris, who lay so quietly in her arms at this moment, had turned into a burning touch that set all Troy aflame. The old woman, a dream prophet, had then said that a terrible end would come to Troy if the baby were allowed to live.

Omniscient Narrator • The narrator is all-knowing & all-seeing of story’s progression. • The author can enter the minds of the characters and can describe what all characters are thinking and feeling.

Omniscient Narrator Example Colleen grazed longingly out the window, noticing the blue sky and bright sun. She sighed wistfully—a perfect day outside. Next to her, Michael fidgeted in his seat feeling restless. He wondered how time could move so slowly. Mrs. Howell knew she was fighting a losing battle. She breathed a sigh of relief as the final bell rang signaling the start of summer vacation.

Objective Narrator • The narrator never enters a character’s mind. • The story is a record of only what is seen and heard. Some call this the “fly on the wall” narrator. • This method allows inferences to be made by the readers.

Objective Narrator It was a record-breaking snow fall. The wind gusts blew violently, swirling the snow around and making visibility nearly impossible. A red car slowly inched out of the driveway and proceeded down the roads, slick with ice. As the car approached the stop sign, the driver hit the breaks but the car did not stop.

Your Turn – What is the POV? For a moment, my mother seemed to hesitate. Her mouth softened and a line deepened between her eyebrows. We stepped into the night and started walking down the mountain in the direction of the town, some 4 miles away.

Your Turn – What is the POV? So far so good, Jake though. This girl was bugged by cursing and smoking. He had news for her. He intended to do a whole lot of both. He took a long drag on his cigarette and blew the smoke at her. She turned away and moved down to the other end of the porch steps.

Your Turn – What is the POV? His mind seesawed miserably to and from between the opposite and irreconcilable (conflicting) facts, and he found himself hating Perry for having had the stupid brilliant idea in the first place.

Your Turn – What is the POV? The house had that neglected air, as if no one had stepped foot inside for years. The paint was peeling, the garden overgrown and a pile of yellowing newspapers blocked the entrance to the front door.

Your Turn – What is the POV? Kate gave Jeff Hedges a withering glance. The top math student in the class, he never missed an opportunity to embarrass Kate or put her down. Only that day, he had made a fool of her by deliberately drawing the teacher’s attention to her when he knew she wasn’t listening.

Your Turn – What is the POV? The last thing I wanted to do on my summer break was to blow up another school. But there I was Monday morning, the first week of June, sitting in my mom’s car in front of Goode High School on Grant Ave. Staring up at the fancy stone archway, I wondered how long it would take me to get kicked out of this place.

Elements of Fiction: Setting & Point of View