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Setting is the atmosphere that provides the reader a look of the narrative.

The ‘color’ of the story. All aspects of setting, whether place or time, serve to

further the story.

~Setting is more than merely where the story takes place~

Setting is the when and where of literary works. Setting is time: past, present, future, season, year,

hour, minute Setting is place: social, economic, cultural

environment, specific geographical location

Setting can be both real and imaginary locations, places such as a town in the deep south of North America or Narnia, which was created by C.S. Lewis. These places often create the atmosphere of a story, using weather and other aspects to further flesh out the author’s writing. An exemplary use of language to establish as atmospheric setting can be seen in Anton Chekhov’s “The Lady with the Dog”.

Some authors keep the specific geographical location ambiguous; they instead make the characteristics of the location the focal point(s). This can be seen in Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s story “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”.

A story’s temporal setting can have just as much importance as the geographical setting. In many cases, specifically in veins of historical fiction, a story’s plot doesn’t make sense without the historical setting and accuracy to reinforce it. Also, historical setting greatly influences the characters of the story, often impacting their behaviors and attitudes. A.S. Byatt’s “The Thing in the Forest” showcases this.

“The Lady With The Dog” Anton

Chekhov

Begins in Yalta-Southern Ukraine Late nineteenth-century, Beginning

stages of Bolshevik revolution. Tensions were high, period of unrest.

A man away from his wife, Dmitri “had begun to take an interest in new arrivals” as he noticed the lady with the Pomeranian.

She, a wife on vacation without her husband, surrounded by a ‘sultry’ summer, complete with grasshoppers chirruping. Dmitri and Anna soon find themselves enveloped in a deep romance.

Atmospheric setting helped to move this story along. With the story being is set in a well-known vacation spot, it allows the mood of our characters to act differently than they would in their normal day to day lives. Yalta allows the characters, for the most part, to be acting without responsibilities or worries. When combined, the entire story had to have this setting: the mood, the weather, the ocean, all of it critical pieces to the whole puzzle. • Vivid Language

• Words that paint romantic setting

The change of seasons and setting act as a transition in the story. It was Dmitri’s signal to leave.

“Here at the station was already a scent of autumn; it was a cold evening. ‘It’s time for

me to go north…” Moscow

› Winter› Dark, dreary› Cold, lonely› Closed-in› Time of reflection› Consequence and isolation

This setting sets the stage for a sad, lonely time without his forbidden love.

"The Lady with the Dog“

It was early Fall when Gurov was in Yalta.  There had been rumors of a young lady with a dog in town but no one knew who she was.  Yalta seemed to be a place of leisure not a place for business. Well-dressed people took their evening walks by the harbor. In the evenings you hear the sound of the waves and under the moon you could see the soft warm lilac hue of the sea.  People came and went some people arrive to Yalta by steamer and others by coach.  Gurov describes Yalta as being dull and slow moving that is makes it unbearable to be there. 

Gurov had been curious about "the lady with the dog".  That afternoon he made her acquaintance and was intrigued by Anna's inexperienced youth.  It must have been the beginning of fall when Gurov and Anna began their long affair.  During the beginning of their affair Gurov reminisced about his previous affairs and contemplated that this would be another one. 

Their affair came to an erupt halt when Anna received a letter from her husband that he was having trouble with his eyes and needed her to come back home.  Gurov and Anna thought that this would be the end of their affair and they would never see each other again.  Unbeknown to Gurov he had become infatuated with Anna at every waking moment all he thought. In Conclusion

“A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” Gabriel García

Márquez

Oh, I do like to be beside the seaside.

Except for the crabs.

…And the old geezer falling from the sky.

Where are we?Marquez leads readers to visualize we are in a Spanish speaking land on the coast.

Our characters live in a home with a seaside view, and an obvious crab infestation.

The characters names are also a great insight into where we are!

Pelayo: used in Spanish speaking countries. Is Old Greek meaning: Of the sea.Elisenda: popular in Spanish speaking countries.Father Gonzaga: Father referring to Catholicism, Gonzaga is a Spanish surname.

“On the third day of rain they had killed so many crabs inside the house that Pelayo had to cross his drenched courtyard and throw them into the sea…” (356)

What Time Is It?“Others of sterner mind felt that he should be promoted to the rank of five-star general in order to win all wars.”

*The rank of five star general was not approved until December 14, 1944.*

“He argued that if wings were not the essential element in determining the different between a hawk and an airplane, they were even less so in the recognition of angels.” *First commercial jet flew May 2, 1952.*

Mood/AtmosphereSocial Conditions• Three days of rain

• Sky ash gray• “World has been sad since Tuesday…”

•Very Catholic: Mention of the Supreme Pontiff and Rome, Father Gonzaga, Latin is considered God’s Language, the navel question also makes an appearance.

"The Very Old Man with the Enormous Wings" 

Pelayo and his wife lived on an island near the sea shore.  It had been raining for days that the sea and sky looked of ash gray.  Pelayo and his wife had been gathering crabs from within their home and the court yard and throwing then back to sea.  While returning from throwing the crabs back at sea Pelayo encountered a thing stuck in the mud at the corner of the court yard. Although, not knowing what to do with the Angel, Pelayo proceeded to lock him up in the chicken coop. Pelayo and Elisenda benefit from the Angel injuries financially and their son became healthy again. The patience and passivity that the Angel had was the only thing that helped him endure the abuse of the on seers. 

The Angel had been captive in the chicken coop for five long years, until the rain came again and destroyed the chicken coop. The Angel started wondering around the premises and into the house to the point that Pelayo and Elisenda allowed the Angel to stay in the shed.  Until then Pelayo and Elisenda did not realize that the Angel had a slight fever.  This was the first time that Pelayo and Elisenda showed compassion and concern for the Angel. 

The Angel kept himself hidden from everyone.  Could it have been that since his feathers started growing again that he did not want anyone knowing? Was the Angel sent on a mission to find out if Pelayo and his wife could become good and caring people, was this why it took too long for his feathers to grow until compassion was bestowed on him?  As the Angel took flight back to where he had come from, this could have been a sign that his mission had been accomplished.

The Thing in the Forest A.S. Byatt

The Blitz

The entire story of “The Thing in the Forest”, is dependent upon the setting of World War II.

Due to the constant and unforgiving air raids, children were sent from London to the English countryside for safety. The children, however, feel a great sense of abandonment, and this is evident when the mansion in the countryside is described…

“There was no lighting, because of the blackout. All the windows were shuttered. . .They had camp beds (military issue) and gray shoddy blankets.” (304)

Post WarAfter the war ends, the girls try to regain a sense of normalcy in their lives.

Penny becomes a child psychologist and Primrose becomes a story-teller. Neither, though, can forget the thing they saw in the forest.

When Penny and Primrose become adults, they must face the repercussions of war, and in turn become examples of their environment.

Byatt, A.S. “The Thing in the Forest.” The Norton Introduction to Literature. Ed. Spencer Richardson-Jones. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2013. 302-317. Print. Chekhov, Anton. “The Lady with the Dog.” The Norton Introduction to Literature. Ed. Spencer Richardson-Jones. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2013. 251-262. Print."Gonzaga Family Name, Coat of Arms, and Name History." 6 September 2013. HouseOf Names.com. Web. 14 October 2015.Marquez, Gabriel Garcia. "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings." The Norton Introduction to Literature. Ed. Spencer Richardson-Jones. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2013. 356-361. Print.Pushkar, Robert G. "Comet's Tale." June 2002. Smithsonian.com. Web. 14 October 2015."U.S Army Five Star Generals." 7 May 2015. U.S Army Center of Military History. Web. 14 October 2015.