Hello. Mr. Sato. Let's talk about setting.
Setting is where and when a story takes place, as well as
the social context of that place and time,
and don’t worry, I’ll explain what social context means in a minute.
A story might be set in California during the Great Depression of the 1930s,
the streets of the South Bronx in current-day New York City, or maybe in a small village
in Korea during the 12th Century. It could take place in a future society --
or in a time and place that exists only in the imagination of the author.
Or, of course, it could take place today.
That's setting. It’s the where and when. Simple enough.
But why does setting matter?
Well, for one thing, In some stories, the physical setting is super important to
the plot. Let's say you're reading a murder mystery and the story depends on
your understanding the physical layout of a particular house.
The bedroom, for instance, might be accessible
only by going down a hallway that is monitored by security cameras.
So how could the bedroom's occupant have been murdered when
the security cameras saw nothing? Were the cameras tampered with?
Is there another unknown entrance to the bedroom? Was the murderer hiding in the
false ceiling? You can only understand these crucial questions about the plot by
understanding the physical setting. So, that’s one reason why setting
can be important.
The physical setting can also be important in terms of symbolism. I have a whole other
video about symbolism if you're interested. Let's say there’s a book that takes place
in a boring, beige colored desert. (Not that deserts are necessarily boring,
but this hypothetical author describes this desert as boring.)
All the conflict takes place there. The main character
feels like no one cares about her; no one pushes her to do something with her life;
maybe they even make fun of her dreams. But at the end, the main character moves
to a place that's full of trees! and rainbows! and candy-colored flowers!,
at the same moment that her life is changing for the better.
The desert might represent or symbolize the
absence of caring people, the lack of growth and support and stimulation in her life. And
the new place that's full of color and living things might symbolize the improved state
of her life. That's an example of how physical settings can be symbols for important ideas.
The next element of setting is the time in which the story takes place.
Number the Stars, a young adult novel
by Lois Lowry, is set in Copenhagen in 1943. You can’t really
get that story unless you know at least a little about the persecution of Jewish people
in Europe during that time period. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t know
what the heck was going on.
Another example is To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. There's no way
to understand that story without some knowledge
of the racial conflicts of the time. Without that understanding,
the verdict in the Robinson case would not be as meaningful. So, the WHEN can be just
as important as the WHERE when it comes to setting.
The reason we understand all that stuff in To Kill a Mockingbird and Number the Stars
is because we understand what's called the social context of that time period. The social
context just means "whatever's considered normal at that time and in that place." It's
the customs and assumptions that people at that time take for granted. We understand
that, although today it would be no big deal for a white lawyer to vigorously defend a
black defendant, in small-town Alabama in the 1930s, only a very brave and principled
man would do that.
Social context is useful in non-historical fiction too. In the very funny movie, Clueless,
which is set in modern times, we understand that Tai and Travis here belong to two very
different social groups and that they aren't supposed to cross those clear
social boundaries. He's a skateboarding slacker
and she's been adopted by the popular girls, who look down
on skaters. If you didn't understand that social context, you wouldn't get this story.
You'd think, what's the big deal about Tai liking Travis? And you wouldn't understand
that Tai had stood up for herself as an individual with her own identity,
and that her friend, Cher here, had become
more open-minded by accepting Tai's choice. In other words, the story would
seem kind of pointless if you didn’t understand the story’s social context.
By the way, Clueless was based on Emma,
an 1815 novel by Jane Austen. The director snuck a little
literature into your escapist entertainment there.
Finally, setting is important in establishing mood. Remember that made-up book
I described about the boring, beige desert?
Let's say that there's a scene in it describing the awful
withering heat and the endless rocky expanse of nothingness
surrounding our main character.
Let’s say she's looking out at this desert, imagining being stuck in this
desert, lost. Without water. The author is creating a mood. Mood is the emotions the
reader is made to feel when he or she reads a story. In this example, you're made to feel
fear and concern on her behalf, and an anxious desire
for her to get to a a happier place.
That’s mood being created by setting.
So, setting has three main elements: the place, the time, and the social context.
The setting can be used to assist the plot, like in the murder mystery I described.
It can be central to the conflict, like in Number the Stars,
which in turn has an effect on theme.
It can be a part of the characterization like in Clueless. Furthermore, the POV, who's
telling the story, influences the setting because we're seeing the setting through the
narrator's eyes. And it can be used to create the mood, or the emotions the author wants
you to feel while reading the story. All of the elements of fiction are interconnected.
And setting is an essential thread in this web of storytelling.
And once you understand how setting influences a story, look around you.
Is this the setting you want for the story of your life?
If not, what can you do about that?
Next, look at the social context that surrounds you.
Why do you believe the things you believe?
How much of it is simply because everyone else around you believes them,
so they must be true? Right?
Always question your assumptions. That’s what it means to think.
So, enjoy exploring setting and check out some of my other videos on the 5 basic
elements of fiction. I hope you like them.