Setting

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

• The story is set 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.

Setting can also affect the plot, or the events that make up the story or novel. Some plots can take place only in certain times and places.
Which option describes a plot that can only take place in a specific setting?

• A selfish child tries to be a better person.

• A young woman falls in love with her family’s enemy.

• A ship’s captain chases a whale across the sea.
  

• A poor, hardworking woman becomes a successful chef.
  

In addition to plot and character, setting can shape the mood of a story. A story’s mood is its general atmosphere or overall feeling. The mood of a story can be energetic, nervous, peaceful or many other feeling words.

Which of the following settings suggest a tense and nervous mood?

• A city playground full of laughing, playing children and parents.

• A long line of people waiting for a few concert tickets.

• A stream running through a quiet, isolated forest.

• An empty mall parking lot early on a Sunday morning.

Setting can often be connected to theme. A theme is a universal message of a story or novel. Themes are about big topics, like exploration, freedom, love and loss. Themes can include morals or lessons. So how is setting connected to theme? Certain times and places lead to explorations of certain big topics. If a novel is set during a war, for example, it might have themes about freedom and loyalty.

Which option is the most likely setting for a story with the theme “humans vs nature?”

• nursing home

• middle school

• forest

• lawyer’s office

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

• Randolph is a mean person.

• Randolph is a prince or king.

• Randolph has an older sister.

• The setting doesn’t give us any clues about Randolph.

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

• Lena might have been gently hit by a snowball.

• Lena might be lost.

• Lena might be playing a boardgame or card game.

• Lena might be talking to herself.

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

• 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.

If the 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.

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?

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