Fiction - Setting

Terms Related to Fiction - Setting

Setting –

the environment in which the action occurs

Physical setting –

the place where the action occurs: a park, a supermarket

Historical setting –

the moment in history where the action occurs

Geographical setting –

the town, state, country, or other geographical place

Cultural setting –

the ethnic, religious, or other setting relating to culture such as sociological

Atmosphere –

the general feeling in the environment created as a result of the tone and mood

Tone –

the attitude of the author toward the characters and events; in describing the situation as “one of many self-imposed troubles,” the author created a non-sympathetic tone,

Mood –

the resulting emotional setting from the tone; the feelings of the characters toward a character described as creating his own problems would not non-sympathetic or possibly indifference.

Character analysis –

the analysis of a character’s personality based on the behavior described in the work of literature; may be described in everyday language such as selfish, kind, thoughtful, or mean or in psychological terms such as having a narcissistic personality disorder or depressed.

Cultural context –

the consideration of the cultural setting in order to do a character analysis such as the pre-Women’s Movement in America in a rural community in the 1920s or 1930s.