Understanding the Setting

1. Which questions about the story will the setting answer?

• What is the author's attitude toward the characters?

• Where and when does the story take place?

• Who are the people the story is about?

  Why and why did the author write the story?

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2. Setting can give clues about a story's _____.

• plot

• mood

• conflict

• all of the above

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Which of the following might describe the setting of a story?

• a frog and a witch

• happy and loving

• a high school in 1956

• love is stronger than fear

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What is the setting of the passage below?

One summer day, Randolph the Bright slept alone in his room in the castle at Reddington. The light of the morning seeped slowly through his curtains. Randolph blinked against the day, smiling as his dream came to a peaceful conclusion.

• winter in a train station of a busy city

• a hospital in the future

• a summer morning in a castle

• a grocery store in the 1980's

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In the passage below, what can you infer about Randolph using clues from the setting?

One summer day, Randolph the Bright slept alone in his room in the castle at Reddington. The light of the morning seeped slowly through his curtains. Randolph blinked against the day, smiling as his dream came to a peaceful conclusion.

• Randolph is a mean person.

• Randolph is a prince or king.

• Randolph has an older sister.

• The setting doesn't give me any clues about Randolph.

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If that passage below were set at Lena's birthday party, what could you infer?

Lena laughed loudly. "I can't believe you did that!" she said, smiling.

• Lena might have received an unexpected present.

• Lena might be a very selfish character.

• Lena might be mad at her best friend.

• Lena might be talking to her uncle.

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If the passage below were set in a snowy park where children were playing, what could you infer?

Lena laughed loudly. "I can't believe you did that!" she said, smiling.

• Lena might have been gently hit by a snowball.

• Lena might be lost.

• Lena might be playing a board game or card game.

• Lena might be talking to herself.

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Which description of a setting would best create a mood of loneliness for a story?

• "The sun was bright, and the breeze was warm in the park. In the distance, there was the pleasant noise of children laughing."

• "The restaurant was packed. The waitress balanced three dishes on her arm and moved carefully around the large, round tables. Everyone's plates were full."

• "At the amusement park, the ticket counter hadn't opened yet. It was still too early. But the warm smell of hot dogs and pretzels was already filling the air with the promise of fun."

• "The sky was gray that cool November afternoon in the empty playground. The swings were rusted. The wood was rotted. There was silence except for the wind blowing through the dead leaves."

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In the passage below, what can you infer about the setting of the story?

When the men reached Oregon, they stepped out of their wagons and embraced. The journey was long and dangerous, but they made it. Soon, their families would follow their trail in their own wagons, leaving their homes in the East to meet them in this brand new land: the West.

• The story might take place on a different planet.

• The story might take place in the past.

• The story might take place in a desert.

• We can't make any inferences about the setting from this passage.

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What can you infer about the setting based on the passage below?

Dorothy lived in the midst of the great Kansas prairies, with Uncle Henry, who was a farmers and Aunt Em, who was the farmer's wife. Their house was small, for the lumber to build it had to be carried by wagon many miles. There were four walls, a floor and a roof, which made one room; and this room contained a rusty looking cooking stove, a cupboard for the dishes, a table, three or four chairs, and the beds. Uncle Henry and Aunt Em had a big bed in one corner, and Dorothy a little bed in another corner. There was no garret at all, and no cellar - except a small hole, dug in the ground, called a cyclone, cellar, where the family could go in case one of those great whirlwinds arose, mighty enough to crush any building in its path. It was reached by a trap-door in the middle of the floor, from which a ladder led down into the small, dark hole.

• The story is sest in a place where the weather is always mild and pleasant.

• The story is set near a river that sometimes floods.

• The story is set on a farm where only very rich people can afford to live.

• The story is set on a farm where there are sometimes cyclones.

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