The Setting

In this part of the guide, we will focus on the setting of the story and give you some ideas on how to comment and interpret this element of the narrative.

The setting is the environment in which a story or event takes place. Settings can include specific information about time and place or can simply be descriptive. Settings provide a backdrop for the action.

Think about setting not just as the factual information about where the story unfolds, but as an essential part of a story's mood and emoti…

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Elements of the setting:

Below we have listed some of the elements of the setting in this short story

Location: Alaska

“She had long since fled Alaska, but continued to watch from afar - television broadcasts, the Anchorage newspaper, emails from old friends”. (p. 109, l. 120- p. 110, l. 2)

Time of the day: Daytime

“The early-morning sun pools in the tundra ponds beneath the wings of the airplane, and as far as she can see in any direction the earth is made of rust-coloured flatlands broken up by odd-shaped, glistening slices of water.” (p. 110, l. 130-p…