Importance of a Setting in a Short Story - 1255 Words

The Importance of Setting Setting is the psychological time or place in a story. Setting plays an important role in the success of stories. Three examples of this importance can be explained through â€Å"To Build a Fire† by Jack London and â€Å"The Cask of the Amontillado† by Edgar Allan Poe and â€Å"A Worn Path† by Eudora Welty. The settings used in these stories set the reader’s mood. A good writer’s depiction of setting puts the reader right into the story. â€Å"To Build a Fire† by Jack London takes place on a trail in the Yukon. This setting is vital to the story because nature, the cold and the snow become the the main character’s worst enemy. Nature is flatly indifferent to mankind’s survival. The cold will not change because of man nor does it care†¦show more content†¦The greatest use of irony is when Montresor says he is a member of the masons. Fortunato thinks he means he is of a fellow member of a society when what he really means is that he is a bricklayer about to brick him in for all eternity. This conversation also provides foreshadowing in the story. This is the first clue the reader gets about how Montresor will kill Fortunato. The overall mood of the story is one of impending evil. The ending of the story is filled with suspense. You see Montresor carefully construct each row of stone. At this point Montresor is fully committed to finishing his horrifying deed even at the desperate pleas from Fortunato. When the last brick is set in place, we know Fortunato’s fate has been sealed. â€Å"A Worn Path† by Eudora Welty is set in December at the first stirs of morning. The story features main character, Phoenix Jackson’s, journey through the woods to a town called Natchez. The story describes Jackson with words such as â€Å"granny†, â€Å"old Negro woman† and â€Å"a hundred years old.† The setting plays an important role in this story wi th its black imagery. Not only is the tone and the setting draped with a black overtone, but the main character is as well. The setting helps establish the strong theme of dedication, love and selflessness. A horrible dark and scary setting must be traveled by this old woman in order to receive medication for her grandson. The hardships ofShow MoreRelatedFiction Essay1407 Words   |  6 PagesFormat Compare and Contrast Short Story Fiction Essay Jessica Jack Liberty University English 102-B43 Outline for Compare and Contrast Essay Thesis: â€Å"The Rocking-Horse Winner† by D.H. Lawrence and â€Å"The Lottery†, by Shirley Jackson provide two contrasting uses of Setting in a short story which accentuate the importance of the element in a story. One author has the ability to distract the reader, while the other author creates the structure of the story. 1. Introduction a. ARead MoreEssay on the setting of there will come soft rains786 Words   |  4 PagesEssay on the setting of â€Å"August 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains† by Ray Bradbury In â€Å"August 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains†, a short story by world renown author Ray Bradbury, the narrator tells the story of a house in Allendale California, in the year 2026. The setting in this short story is very particular; it is set in a post-apocalyptic world that most likely illustrates the aftermath of a devastating nuclear war. The story takes place over the course of one day: â€Å"August 4, 2026†. The houseRead MoreDevices In The Most Dangerous Game By Richard Connell876 Words   |  4 Pagespossess the ability to reason. Other animal species only have instinct, thus making them less smart. 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In the story, Hurst uses the elements of setting, foreshadowing, and symbolism to create a bittersweet, nostalgicRead MoreSummary Of Hills Like White Elephants By Ernest Hemingway940 Words   |  4 PagesSeptember 2015 Importance of Setting in â€Å"Hills like White Elephants† Ernest Hemingway’s short story â€Å"Hills like white Elephants† is a minimalistic story about a young American girl named Jig and her lover, an American man. Throughout the story, Hemmingway uses an abundant amount of dialogue so the reader can interpret that Jig and the man are contemplating some decision. Arguably, the setting is the most important aspect of â€Å"Hills like White Elephants†, and Ernest Hemingway uses setting subtly but effectivelyRead MoreAnalysis Of Daniel Orozco s Orientation 1034 Words   |  5 PagesThe Analysis of Daniel Orozco’s â€Å"Orientation† In the short story, â€Å"Orientation†, by Daniel Orozco there is a major contrast in the setting of the workplace and of the detailed descriptions of those who work there. Orozco successfully utilizes the literary elements of tone, symbolism, setting, point of view, characters and structure to emphasize the idea that a workplace does not successfully identify those who are employed. In the story, the narrator is giving a somewhat unusual orientation toRead MoreA Rose For Emily And Barn Burning By William C. Faulkner949 Words   |  4 Pagesmost unique short stories were written by William C. Faulkner who embodied the Southern sensibility, and to this day his stories continue to be enjoyed by many. Faulkner was born from a rich family who had accumulated wealth before the Civil War, but like many families in the South they had lost all of it during the conflict. His family moved to Oxford, Mississippi which is the basis for the fictional town of Jefferson in most of his s tories from Yoknapatawpha County. Faulkner’s stories create a moodRead MoreCharacterisation In Nadine Gordimers The Moment Before The Gun Went Off 1577 Words   |  7 Pagesexplores the characterisation of the main characters in Nadine Gordimers The Moment before the Gun Went Off, a short story about the shooting of a black man in the years of the apartheid, and Margaret Atwoods Death by Landscape, a short story about a womans painful memories. I will begin by looking at the main themes the two short stories have in common. Considering also the different settings and the society portrayed in the texts. Both Gordimers The Moment before the Gun Went Off and AtwoodsRead MoreEvaluation Argument Hills Like White Elephants1388 Words   |  6 Pageswhite elephant is an idiom for a valuable but burdensome possession, but also it means a rare and sacred creature. In Ernest Hemingway’s short story Hills Like White Elephants, Hemingway uses an unborn child as a white elephant. This short story depicts a couple of an American man and young women at a train station somewhere in Spain. Hemingway tells the story from watching the couple from across the bar and listening to their troublesome conversation. Through overhearing the couple’s conversationRead MoreThe Use of Language in The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe625 Words   |  3 PagesEdgar Allan Poe became an author that has grasped the importance of language in his short stories to form the perfect mood and the ability to affect his readers emotionally. In the short story, The Fall of the House of Usher, a ma n decides to go on a trip to reunite with a friend from his childhood, who suffers from an unknown illness. During the visit, bizarre events occur while staying in his friend’s home. This short story allows Poe to use hints of horror and gothic prose to drive the protagonists