● Setting: an environment in which a story takes place in
● There are two main types of settings:
○ Backdrop setting:
■ Emerges when it is not important for a story; when a setting does not really matter
○ Integral Setting:
■ Place and time influences the theme, character, and action of a story.
The setting controls the characters
● Example of how setting brings out symbols and mood:
○ In Emily Bronte’s novel, Wuthering Heights, the mood of the characters and their actions are determined by the setting in which they are placed in; whether it is in Wuthering Heights or Thrushcross Grange, the characters act differently depending on the setting.
○ Furthermore, these two settings characterize different things. Wuthering Heights is very depressing, dark, gloomy, and mysterious; while Thrushcross Grange is dull, skeptical, yet calm. This affects the characters significantly.
○ Setting is one of the most important things in a story or novel.
○ It affects the plot and characters greatly since it could either be in support of or against the characters in the story, which can lead to an increase or decrease in conflict and tension.
○ It also helps to establish mood, which then allows the audience to relate to the characters in the story more.
○ When reading a prose or passage, make sure to highlight or underline descriptive words and details that reveal the setting, in order to understand the significance of the story better and what the characters actions and attitudes are based off of.
● A character, action, or situation that represents universal patterns of human culture and nature
○ The Hero: goodness, struggles against evil, attempt to restore harmony in society
○ The Mother Figure: Fairy Godmother; guides, directs, and emotionally nourishes the lost
○ The Innocent Youth: inexperienced, weak, and dependent
○ The Mentor: main task is to protect the protagonist
○ The Doppelganger: duplicate or shadow of a character; is more evil
○ The Scapegoat: character that takes the blame for everything bad that happens
○ The Villain: main duty is to go against the hero
○ The Journey: protagonist takes a journey that is either physical or emotional to understand themself and the world
○ The Initiation: events and situations that lead to the maturity of the protagonist
○ Good Versus Evil: clash of forces that represent goodness and evil
○ The Fall: protagonist falls from grace as a result of their own actions; karma in some way
○ Gives a literary work universal acceptance
■ Readers identify the characters and situations in their own society and culture, as a result.
■ Gives writers the opportunity to make their work more realistic
● First person point of view: narrator, often protagonist, tells the story from their experiences and perspective; uses pronouns like: “I,” “me,” and “my.”
● Limited third person point of view: the narrator (who is not involved in the story) tells the story in third person, and focuses on the experiences, emotions, and thoughts of one character.
● Omniscient third person point of view: the narrator knows everything about the characters and events and can move about in time in the minds of all characters.
● Unreliable narrator: narration is biased based off of their experiences and thoughts that may blind them from the truth.
● Stream of consciousness: similar to a rant; usually no punctuation and thoughts are simply spilled onto a page. Mental and emotional flow of a character