1. Putting the Story into Context
Setting
Putting the Story into Context

2. Stories do not happen in the vacuum of a black hole…
Well, okay, maybe they do if it’s a space story… The characters and action in literature do not happen in an empty box or against a plain white canvas… they happen inside vary particular contexts. We call these contexts the setting.

3. Setting as Time
Year
Season
Time of Day
Elapsed Time

4. Setting as Place Country/State/City Type of Place
Immediate Surroundings
Weather
Sensory Details

5. Setting as Cultural Context
Daily Life
Local Color
Beliefs and Customs
Historical Climate
Social/Economic/ Political Situations

6. Two Big Questions…
1. What details about the setting can I identify and infer in the text?
2. Why are these details of setting important?

7. Consider Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet video

8. Setting in Romeo and Juliet
Place
Cultural Context
Time
The very distant past (1500’s)
4 days (Sunday – Wednesday)
Many key scenes happen at night
Verona, Italy
Public streets
Capulet and Montague households
Masquerade ball
The church
Juliet’s bedchamber
The graveyard/tomb
Dialogue (“thou” “thee” “art”)
Arranged marriages
Marriage at young age
Obedience to parents
Family ties/loyalty
Religion/church

9. Why are the details of setting important in Romeo and Juliet
Why are the details of setting important in Romeo and Juliet? just a few examples…
Mood/Atmosphere
Plot
Character
The masquerade ball gives the meeting of the two teenagers a mysterious and magical quality
The night scenes make things mysterious, as well as secretive and dangerous
The short time span of the play (4 days worth of time) gives a sense of urgency
The period of the 1500’s makes it possible for a family feud serious enough to cause bloodshed to be possible
The time period also makes it possible for characters to challenge each other to duels and fight with swords
The cultural context of arranged marriages and obedience to authority allows the reader to better understand how rebellious and dangerous the choices are that the main characters make
The time period and cultural context makes the options available to the characters more limited and their solutions more extreme